Parkdale, MO

Parkdale, MO

Don't let a mental block over reinjury prevent you from participating in the activities you love.

Injury Prevention in Parkdale, MO. Whether you play a sport and are trying to get a shot at the next stage, or a recent retiree who wants to spend more time bike riding, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the activities you love. While our licensed Parkdale, MO physical therapists spend much of their time helping athletes and others heal after an injury, we are experts in the entire musculoskeletal system who can evaluate your body’s current condition and how you move to guide you through exercises that are proven to reduce the risk of injury. Request an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or reach out to the location nearest you.

Being physically active is vitally important to many Parkdale, MO residents. Many of us participate in activities like playing sports, kayaking, and more. Furthermore, pursuing an active lifestyle helps prevent chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, eurodegenerative disease, mental health issues, and certain cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Parkdale, MO physical therapists help you come back as fierce as ever, but our injury prevention professionals can help you reduce the risk of further injury by optimizing your overall movement health. All of our treatment plans, both when helping restore motion health and when looking to improve it, are proven to be effective and are developed uniquely for each client and the lifestyle they desire.

If you’ve recently sustained an injury, or have a persistent injury that won’t heal on its own, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location most convenient for you in Parkdale, MO for a no-risk, no-obligation injury screening. To reduce your chance of an injury and protect your sport or hobby, keep reading or call to speak to a physical therapist today.

Types of Injuries We Prevent Prevent in Parkdale, MO

Most injuries happen for one of two reasons:

  1. Repetitive motion injuries are injuries that occur when a part of the body repeats the same motion time and time again. In sports, we see them the most in in overhead athletes athletes who are required to repeat throwing or striking motions, with joint pain usually being the first indicator.
  2. Acute injuries are injuries that happen suddenly. Examples include landing on uneven ground or a sudden impact by an object or another person. These can result in bruises, twisting joints, fractures, and dislocations.

Some common injuries, for example rotator cuff tears, can result from either overuse or acute trauma. Other injuries, such as ACL tears, almost always occur spontaneously, with a sudden impact to the knee.

Injury Prevention Parkdale, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Parkdale

Why Do Injuries Happen? | Injury Prevention in Parkdale, MO

While injuries can happen in a variety of circumstances, and are sometimes inescapable, they generally occur because your soft tissue, bones, and joints cannot handle the force, torque, or stretching that they are subjected to in a given movement or collision. There are three main causes of why your body cannot adjust to an activity:

Muscle Imbalance

Muscle balance is key to supporting joints and preventing injury. Imbalance can cause dependency on one muscle group, causing it to perform actions it cannot do safely. It also prevents you from having good posture, and the weaker set of muscles will be pushed past its limit, resulting in failure and a higher likelihood of injury. Muscle imbalance applies to insufficient muscle balance in relation to other muscle groups, such as having a strong chest and weak back, or in the same muscle group, such as the four muscles in the rotator cuff having different levels of strength. Muscle imbalance can lead to:

Customized injury prevention with our experienced physical therapists in Parkdale, MO will ensure that your muscles are at optimal proportional strength.

Movement Dysfunction

Movement dysfunction can result in poor balance and lead to your body moving in ways it is not designed to, causing injury. Neurological issues, swelling, previous injuries, and muscle imbalance call all contribute to movement dysfunction. It can lead to:

  • Joint mobility limitations
  • Muscle imbalance
  • Poor coordination
  • Lessened balance

At our initial injury prevention appointment in Parkdale, MO, we’ll discuss your medical history and perform a base evaluation to identify the root causes of your movement dysfunction. Then, in tandem with with your doctor or any additional providers involved in your treatment, we’ll come up with a tailored treatment plan based on empirically-backed research and studies to get your movement health to reach its potential.

Posture Dysfunction

Bad posture is not just an issue for people who spend a lot of time in the same position. Athletes and other physically active people can suffer from postural dysfunction when resting, sitting, or in specific positions they need to be in for their sport. Correct posture means proper alignments of your body from your head to your toes in a way that does not remove the spine from its natural curves. Poor posture can bring the vertebrae closer together, which disrupts our body’s internal communications and makes it difficult to reach the strength and range of motion you need to achieve. It can also lead to:

  • Muscle weakness
  • Muscle imbalance
  • Poor positioning
  • Joint mobility limitations
  • Poor muscle recruitment

Good posture is an important part of injury prevention because it ensures muscle balance, range of motion, and that your spine is in its natural position.



How to Prevent Injury in Parkdale, MO

All sports and physical activities can potentially lead to an injury. No one technique is guaranteed to be effective in injury prevention. However, there are precautions to make sure your body is prepared for your intended activity:

  • Take a rest — Injuries are more common when you do not give your body time to restore itself. If you have a very high activity level, make sure to take one or two days off per week to signal to your body to naturally heal any mild pain or soreness. If you have a more modest activity level, relax for the rest of the day after an activity so your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints become too fatigued.
  • Use the correct equipment — Helmets, mouth guards, safety pads and guards, and other equipment necessary in sports and other activities helps you avoid injuries such as lacerations or head injuries. If you’re returning to activity after an injury, your Parkdale, MO doctor or physical therapist may advise stabilizing braces or Kinesio Taping®. Other methods like tying your shoes tightly can further help injury prevention by stabilizing your joints.
  • Boost muscle strength — Strengthening your muscles, tendons, and ligaments helps them withstand the rigors of heavy activity. Our Parkdale, MO injury prevention experts will work to achieve optimal muscle balance and strengthen the smaller muscles needed to safely participate in the activities you love.
  • Increase flexibility — Stretching contributes to injury prevention in three way:
    1. It improves your range of motion, which lets for your soft tissue to adapt to more dramatic movements.
    2. It boosts circulation, which carries nutrient-rich blood to your soft tissue, eliminating waste byproduct and re-energizing the muscles.
    3. It encourages good posture, which, as we’ve discussed, is an important part of injury prevention.

    According to a peer-reviewed sports medicine paper, sports like basketball that necessitate sudden twists and movements require muscles and tendons with sufficient flexibility to store and exert the high levels of energy required. Also, it’s important to stretch and warm up before any physical activity to further reduce the risk of injury.

  • Use accepted technique — In every sport, there are accepted techniques to use. These techniques not only help you get be the best player you can be but help prevent injuries by not forcing your body into unnatural positions and movements. Football players are taught to tackle with the shoulder in order to reduce the risk of brain damage, and swimmers learn the proper strokes to make sure their muscles are moving unnaturally. We utilize DorsaVi video motion analysis to slow down your movement and evaluate how to improve it.
  • Listen to your body — If you feel pain in a muscle or joint, that’s your body’s way of telling you something is wrong. If you feel sudden pain, stop immediately and seek proportional medical care. If your body isn’t holing up well in a particularly rigorous workout, don’t force it.
  • Don’t play through an injury — While gritting through pain is often viewed as a courageous act among competitors, forcing your body to perform with an injury to a muscle, joint, tendon, or ligament could aggravate an existing injury and put you out of commission for much longer than you would have been sitting out. Depending on what caused your injury and how severe it is, you may use methods like the R.I.C.E. method, visiting urgent care, and rehab with a physical therapist to ensure your body heals properly and can withstand a return to physical activity.
  • Play by the rules — Most sports have special rules at different levels to help prevent injury. Penalties for targeting in football, rules against head-first sliding in baseball, and even the presence of special lanes on the street and sidewalk for bikers are examples of rules that were adopted to keep players safe. Those are in place for a reason, and there’s a reason that there are penalties for them.
  • Speak a licensed physical therapist — It’s in your best interest to see a doctor before another season begins or committing yourself to any strenuous physical activity. During your visit, ask your doctor if injury prevention with a expert physical therapist in Parkdale, MO is a good idea for you. All of our techniques have been proven to help athletes remain healthy, and you plan will be completely unique to you and catered to your age, your injury history, and how physically active you wish to be.

Injury Prevention Parkdale, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Parkdale

Injury Prevention for Older Parkdale, MO Adults

Falls in adults over 65 were responsible for more than 3 million urgent care visits and more than 34,000 deaths. Studies show that being physical active is invaluable in preventing falls. Other conditions that limit mobility such as arthritis that are wear and tear injuries can be more bearable and take longer to progress with physical therapy exercises that keep your soft tissue and joints active. While the physical demands for seniors may not be as high as an athlete, the same principles of strength, stability, flexibility, and correct posture are great agents in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Parkdale, MO include:

Parkdale, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Suffering in injury in something you love doing causes a mental block that keeps us from experiencing the same elation. The knowledgeable Parkdale, MO physical therapists at Axes are here to guide you through your own personalized injury prevention program that will keep your body strong and flexible, and your mind at ease that you can safely return to the activities you love. You deserve to feel the physical and mental health benefits of doing what you do best. Make an appointment online or contact the location nearest you to start your program with one of our injury prevention experts in Parkdale, MO.

Services Offered

Services Offered
  • Physical Therapy
  • Pre/Post Surgical Rehabilitation
  • Acute Injury Management
  • Chronic Injury Management
  • Work Conditioning/Hardening
  • Functional Capacity Evaluations
  • Sports Physical Therapy
  • Pediatric Orthopedic Physical Therapy
  • Geriatric Physical Therapy
  • Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization
  • DorsaVi Video Motion Analysis
  • Vestibular Therapy and Post-Concussion Rehabilitation
  • Trigger Point Dry Needling
  • Free Injury Screenings
  • Kinesio Taping®
  • Blood Flow Restriction Therapy

Locations

Begin Your Recovery Today

Injuries and pain shouldn’t keep you from moving and doing the things you love.