Preston Woods, MO

Preston Woods, MO

Don't let a mental block over reinjury prevent you from participating in the things what you do best.

Injury Prevention in Preston Woods, MO. Whether you’re an athlete and want to improve your performance, or you just retired and want to spend more time bike riding, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the activities you love. While our licensed Preston Woods, 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 movement, muscle and joint strength, and flexibility to show you measures that are proven to reduce the risk of injury. Make an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or call the location nearest you.

Being physically active is vitally important to many Preston Woods, MO residents. Many of us participate in activities such as playing sports, playing golf, or other physical activities. Additionally, pursuing an active lifestyle reduces the risk of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, dementia, anxiety, and certain cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Preston Woods, MO physical therapists allow you to come back as fierce as ever, but our injury prevention specialists can help preserve your active lifestyle by optimizing your overall movement health. All of our treatment plans, for both healing from and preventing injury, have been prove to work and are customized for each client and the activities they want to return to.

If you’ve recently sustained an injury, or have a nagging injury that won’t heal on its own, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location nearest you in Preston Woods, 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 at your earliest convenience.

Types of Injuries We Prevent Prevent in Preston Woods, MO

Most injuries happen for one of two reasons:

  1. Repetitive demand injuries are injuries happen gradually as a body part degrades because of repetitive movements. In sports, we see them the most in in overhead athletes such as water polo or soccer goalies and commonly manifest themselves as joint pain.
  2. 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, broken bones, and dislocations.

Some of the injuries we see most frequently, such as rotator cuff tears, can either develop over time or occur suddenly. Other injuries, like ACL tears, almost always occur spontaneously, such as receiving a direct blow to the knee.

Injury Prevention Preston Woods, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Preston Woods

What Causes Injuries? | Injury Prevention in Preston Woods, MO

While anyone can suffer an injury almost at any time and for numerous different reasons, they generally happen because of dysfunction or instability and your body and between body parts. There are three primary causes of why your body cannot adjust to an activity:

Muscle Imbalance

Muscle balance is crucial to maintaining healthy joints and preventing injury. Imbalance can cause dependency on one muscle group, causing it to perform actions it cannot do safely. It also causes posture dysfunction, and the weaker muscles will become tired more quickly, making them more susceptible to injuries. Muscle imbalance can refer to insufficient muscle balance between 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. Symptoms include:

Tailored injury prevention with our knowledgeable physical therapists in Preston Woods, MO will ensure that different muscles and muscle groups are equally strong.

Movement Dysfunction

Movement dysfunction can result in poor balance and lead to your body bending in unnatural ways, increasing your risk of injury. It can be caused by numerous musculoskeletal issues. Symptoms include:

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

At our first injury prevention appointment in Preston Woods, MO, we’ll go through your medical records and analyze your current movement health, strength, and flexibility. Then, together with your physician or any additional medical professionals treating you, we’ll come up with a personalized treatment plan been proven to work by research and studies to get your body moving as it should.

Posture Dysfunction

Bad posture doesn’t just affect people who sit a lot. Athletes and other physically active people can be affected by postural dysfunction when resting, driving, or in certain poses necessary for a given activity. Good posture refers to proper alignments of your body from your head to your toes in a way that encourages our spine to stay in its natural curves. Poor posture can bring the bones of the spine closer together, which disrupts your nervous system and makes it difficult to achieve the strength and range of motion you need to achieve. It causes injuries through:

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

Good posture is a necessary part of injury prevention because it ensures muscle balance, range of motion, and that your nervous system can communicate as its intended to.



Injury Prevention Best Practices in Preston Woods, MO

You can still suffer an injury even if you did everything possible to prevent one. No one safety tip is 100% foolproof in injury prevention. However, there are several steps you can take to make sure your body is strong and flexible enough for your intended activity:

  • Take breaks — Injuries are more common in overworked bodies. If you have a very high activity level, make sure to take one or two days off per week to encourage your body to naturally heal any mild pain or soreness. If you have a more moderate activity level, take it easy after activity so your body doesn’t become too fatigued.
  • Wear protective equipment — Helmets, chest guards, elbow pads, and other equipment necessary in sports and other activities helps you avoid injuries like rashes or head injuries. If you’ve had a previous injury, your Preston Woods, MO physician or injury prevention expert may fit you for braces or Kinesio Taping® to stabilize the affected area. Other techniques like tying your cleats tightly offers further stabilization.
  • Strengthen muscles — Strengthening soft tissue helps it withstand the rigors of heavy activity. Our Preston Woods, MO injury prevention professionals will work to achieve ideal muscle balance and strengthen the smaller muscles needed to be able to stay healthy in the activities you love.
  • Boost flexibility — Stretching accomplishes three important things for injury prevention:
    1. It boosts your range of motion, which allows for your tendons and ligaments to handle more dramatic positions.
    2. It boosts blood flow, which allows for nourishing blood to flow to your soft tissue, eliminating waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to heal.
    3. It improves your posture, which we already know is an an essential part of injury prevention.

    According to a peer-reviewed sports medicine paper, sports like football that necessitate sudden twists and movements require muscles and tendons with sufficient flexibility to store and release the high amount of energy required. Also, don’t forget to stretch and warm up before games or training to further reduce the risk of injury.

  • Use accepted technique — Through the years, each sport and physical activity develops a consensus of the best 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 avoid a head injury, and rotational athletes like golfers and baseball players learn how to best apply torque to your body. We utilize DorsaVi video motion analysis to slow down your movement and educate you on how to both improve your performance and prevent injury.
  • Don’t ignore what your body is telling you — If a part of your body is sore, your body is trying to send you a message. If you feel something suddenly that doesn’t feel right, immediately stop all physical activity and get the appropriate medical treatment. If your body isn’t feeling up to an intense training session, save it for another day.
  • Don’t play through an injury — Even though teammates, competitors, and fans appreciate an athlete that guts it out through pain, forcing your body to perform with an injury to a muscle, joint, tendon, or ligament could make that injury worse and put you out of commission 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, visiting urgent care, and a series of physical therapy sessions to ensure your recovery and return to action go as well as possible.
  • Play by the rules — Most sports have special rules at different levels to help prevent injury. Penalties for leading with the helmet in football, rules against head-first sliding in baseball, and even the existence of bike lanes are examples of rules that were adopted to keep players safe. Those were enacted for a reason, and there’s a reason that there are penalties for them.
  • Speak a professional physical therapist — It’s in your best interest to get a physical before starting another season or committing yourself to any strenuous physical activity. While there, inquire with your doctor if injury prevention with a expert physical therapist in Preston Woods, MO is right for you. All of our techniques have been demonstrated to reduce the risk of injury, and we’ll personalize your program to how old you are, any previous injuries, and how physically active you wish to be.

Injury Prevention Preston Woods, MO | Sports Therapy | Physical Therapy Near Preston Woods

Injury Prevention for Senior Citizens in Preston Woods, MO

Falls in senior citizens were responsible for more than 3 million urgent care admissions and over 34,000 deaths. Studies show that physical activity is invaluable in reducing the risk of falls. Other conditions that limit mobility such as arthritis that accumulate over time can be effectively managed with physical therapy exercises that keep your soft tissue and joints healthy. While seniors typically do not exert themselves as much as an athlete does, appropriate strength, balance, flexibility, and ideal posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Preston Woods, MO include:

Preston Woods, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Being injured in something you love doing can create a mental block that won’t allow us to experience the same euphoria. The knowledgeable Preston Woods, MO physical therapists at Axes are here to guide you through your own personalized injury prevention program that will keep your body prepared for the rigors of physical activity, and your mind at ease that you do not have to fear going back to what you love. You deserve to feel the physical and mental health benefits that you do not want to lose. Make an appointment online or reach out to the location nearest you to start your program with one of our injury prevention specialists in Preston Woods, MO.

Services Offered

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

Our Team

Sara Crain
PT, CEAS, Astym Cert.
Julie Freiner
OTR/L, CHT
Matt Williams
MS, OTR/L, ATC/L, CHT
Brian Freund
Partner, DPT, CMPT, TPS, MBA
Kaysie Cope
Front Office
Lauren Vaughn
PT, DPT, CMPT, Astym Cert.
Kelly Thornton
Clinic Director, PT, DPT
Justin Bridwell
Front Office

Locations

Begin Your Recovery Today

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