Injury Prevention in Pevely, MO. Whether you’re an athlete and want to improve your performance, or you just retired and want to dedicate your time to being physical fit, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the happy, healthy lifestyle you desire. While our licensed Pevely, MO physical therapists work extensively with athletes and others to 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 prevent injury. Request an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or contact the location most convenient for you.
Physical activity is an essential part of many Pevely, MO people’s lives. We love active endeavors such as playing sports, biking, and more. Furthermore, committing to an active lifestyle helps prevent chronic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, eurodegenerative disease, anxiety, and many types of cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Pevely, MO physical therapists help you return to action and perform even better than before, 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, for both healing from and preventing injury, are based on evidence-backed techniques and are developed uniquely for each client and the lifestyle they desire.
If you’ve recently sustained an injury, or have a lingering injury that won’t heal on its own, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location most convenient for you in Pevely, MO for a complimentary injury screening. To reduce your chance of an injury and ensure that you can continue with your active lifestyle, keep reading or inquire about an appointment today.
Injuries Axes PT Can Help Prevent in Pevely, MO
Most injuries happen for one of two reasons:
- Chronic injuries are injuries that are caused by repetitive movements over time. They are common in overhead athletes athletes who use throwing or striking motions and commonly reveal themselves with joint pain.
- Acute injuries are injuries that happen because of a specific and sudden trauma. Examples include landing on uneven ground or receiving a blow. These can result in bruises, sprains and strains, fractures, and dislocations.
Some common injuries, like rotator cuff tears, can result from either overuse or acute trauma. Other injuries, such as ACL tears, almost always occur spontaneously, such as receiving a direct blow to the knee.
What Causes Injuries? | Injury Prevention in Pevely, MO
While anyone can suffer an injury almost at any time and for numerous different reasons, they generally occur because of dysfunction or instability and your body and between body parts. There are three common dysfunctions that lead to injury:
Muscle Imbalance
Muscle balance is essential to maintaining healthy joints and reducing injury. Imbalance can result in dependency on one muscle group, causing it to perform actions it cannot do safely. It can also lead to poor 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 within muscle groups, such as an imbalance between the four muscles of the rotator cuff. Symptoms include:
- Muscle weakness
- Muscle inflexibility
- Poor muscle recruitment
- Coordination deficiency
Personalized injury prevention with our certified physical therapists in Pevely, MO will ensure that different muscles and muscle groups are equally strong.
Movement Dysfunction
Movement dysfunction can impact your stability and impede your body’s ability to naturally perform functional movements, causing injury. Neurological issues, inflammation, previous injuries, and muscle imbalance call all contribute to movement dysfunction. Symptoms include:
- Joint mobility restrictions
- Muscle imbalance
- Poor coordination
- Decreased balance
At our initial injury prevention appointment in Pevely, MO, we’ll evaluate 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 medical professionals treating you, we’ll develop a tailored game plan been proven to work by research and studies to get your body moving as it should.
Posture Dysfunction
Bad posture is not just an issue for people with desk jobs. Athletes and other physically active people can suffer from postural dysfunction when resting, using the computer, or in specific stances related to a given activity. Healthy posture refers to proper alignments of the neck, torso, pelvis, and extremities in a way that does not remove the spine from its natural curves. Poor posture can compact the joints in the spine, which disrupts our body’s internal communications and makes it challenging to attain 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
By helping you understand correct posture, we’ll aid in your injury prevention by ensuring you are using your muscles equally, your flexibility can be improved and maintained, and your spine is in its natural position.
How to Prevent Injury in Pevely, MO
You can still suffer an injury even if you did everything you could to reduce that risk. We cannot promise that our injury prevention program completely negates the risk of injury. However, there are several steps you can take to greatly reduce the risk of injury:
- Take a rest — Your body needs time to rest and recover after any moderate to intense activity. If you have a very high activity level, one or two rest days a week will signal to your body to engage in its natural healing and recovery processes. If you have a more moderate activity level, take a break after activity so your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints become too fatigued.
- Use the correct equipment — Helmets, chin straps, protective eyewear, and other required equipment in sports and other activities can help prevent injuries like rashes or concussions. If you’re returning to activity after an injury, your Pevely, MO physician or injury prevention professional may fit you for stabilizing braces or Kinesio Taping®. Other methods like making sure all the equipment is snug can further help injury prevention by stabilizing your joints.
- Strengthen muscles — Strengthening your muscles, tendons, and ligaments helps them withstand the rigors necessary for in sports and other activities. Our Pevely, MO injury prevention professionals will work to achieve ideal muscle balance and strengthen the smaller muscles needed to safely participate in the activities you love.
- Boost flexibility — Increasing your flexibility achieves three important things for injury prevention:
- It enhances which movements you can make and how far you can extend them, which allows for your soft tissue to handle more drastic movements.
- It improves blood flow, which allows for protein-rich blood to flow to your soft tissue, removing waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to recover.
- It encourages good posture, which we already know is an is one of the most important factors of injury prevention.
According to studies, sports like soccer that require sudden twists and movements require muscles and tendons compliant enough to store and expel the high levels of energy required. Stretching and warm up exercises before games or training further helps prevent injuries.
- Use proper technique — In every physical activity, there are accepted techniques to use. These techniques not only help you perform better but help prevent injuries. Football players are taught to tackle with the shoulder in order to reduce the risk of brain damage, and rotational athletes like golfers and baseball players learn how to best apply torque to your body. We use DorsaVi video motion analysis to capture how you move and educate you on how to both improve your performance and prevent injury.
- Listen to your body — If a part of your body is bothering you, that means that body part is telling your brain that something isn’t right. If you feel a sudden pop or grinding sensation, immediately stop all physical activity and seek proportional medical care. If your body does not feel well enough for a particularly rigorous training session, save it for another day.
- Don’t play through an injury — Even though teammates, competitors, and fans appreciate an athlete that plays through pain, forcing your body to perform with an injury to a muscle, joint, tendon, or ligament could make that injury worse and leave you off the field or court for longer than it originally would have. Depending on what caused your injury and how severe it is, recommended actions may be using R.I.C.E. method, seeing an emergency room, and a series of physical therapy sessions to make sure your body heals naturally and can withstand the activity you want to return to.
- Follow the rules — Depending on the sport or activity and age level of the participants, it likely has special rules to help prevent injury. Penalties for leading with the helmet in football, rules against slide-tackling in soccer, and even the existence of special lanes on the street and sidewalk for bikers are examples of rules put in place to keep participants safe. There’s a reason those rules exist, and a reason that violations of those rules are punished.
- Consult a professional physical therapist — It’s a good idea to have a medical evaluation before a new season or starting up a new activity or training regimen. While there, inquire with your doctor if injury prevention with a expert physical therapist in Pevely, MO is a good idea for you. Every treatment plan we employ has been demonstrated to reduce the risk of injury, and we’ll personalize your program to how old you are, any previous injuries, and which activities you want to participate in.
Injury Prevention for The Elderly in Pevely, MO
Falls in senior citizens accounted for more than 3 million urgent care admissions and over 34,000 deaths. Research demonstrates that physical activity is a great method for preventing falls. Other conditions such as arthritis that are wear and tear injuries can be slowed down by physical therapy exercises that keep your soft tissue and joints active. While the physical demands for older adults may not be as high as an athlete, appropriate strength, balance, flexibility, and proper posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.
Other services we offer in Pevely, MO include:
- Total Knee Replacement Physical Therapy
- Vestibular Therapy
- Concussion Treatment
- Soft Tissue Mobilization
- Post Surgical Rehabilitation
- Shin Splint Treatment
- Direct Access Physical Therapy
- Gait Analysis
- Pelvic Floor Therapy
- Dry Needling Near Me
Pevely, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy
Being injured in one of your favorite activities can lead to a mental block that keeps us from experiencing the same joy. The experienced Pevely, MO physical therapists at Axes are here to develop your personalized injury prevention program that will keep your body prepared for the rigors of physical activity, 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 that you once valued so much. Schedule an appointment online or contact the location nearest you to find out more about what our Pevely, MO injury prevention specialists can do for you.