Injury Prevention in Robertsville, MO. Whether you’re an athlete hoping for a shot at the next stage, or a recent retiree who wants to dedicate your time to being physical fit, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the activities you love. While our professional Robertsville, 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 show you methods that are proven to reduce the risk of injury. Make an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or call the location most convenient for you.

Physical activity is an essential part of many Robertsville, MO people’s lives. We love activities like playing sports, biking, and more. Furthermore, pursuing an active lifestyle reduces the risk of significant health problems such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, degenerative brain diseases, mental health issues, and many types of cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Robertsville, MO physical therapists allow you to come back even stronger after an injury, but our injury prevention professionals can help you reduce the risk of further injury by improving your overall strength, flexibility, and posture. All of our treatment plans, for both recovery and injury prevention, are proven to be effective and are customized for each client and the level of activity they want to reach.

If you’ve recently sustained an injury, or have a nagging injury that is not getting better with time, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location nearest you in Robertsville, MO for a complimentary 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 Robertsville, MO

Injuries generally happen for one of two reasons:

1. Overuse injuries are injuries that are caused by repetitive movements over time. They are common in overhead athletes athletes who are required to repeat throwing or striking motions, with joint pain usually being the first warning sign.
2. Acute injuries are injuries that happen in an instant. Examples include landing on uneven ground or receiving a blow. These can result in bruises, sprains and strains, 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, are almost always the result of trauma, with an immediate impact to or twisting of the knee.

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

While injuries can happen in a variety of circumstances, and are sometimes unpreventable, they generally occur because your soft tissue, bones, and joints cannot handle the force, torque, or stretching that are required or are possible in a given activity. There are three common dysfunctions that lead to injury:

Muscle Imbalance

Muscle balance is key to supporting joints and staving off injury. Imbalance can cause overemphasis for one set of muscles, which may cause your body to use it in a way it shouldn’t. It also causes posture dysfunction, 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 poor muscle balance between muscle groups, such as having a strong chest and weak back, or within muscle groups, such as the four muscles in the rotator cuff not having proportionate strength. Muscle imbalance can cause injury through:

• Muscle weakness
• Muscle inflexibility
• Poor muscle recruitment
• Poor coordination

Tailored injury prevention with our professional physical therapists in Robertsville, MO will bring balance to your muscles.

Movement Dysfunction

Movement dysfunction can result in poor balance and impede your body’s ability to naturally perform functional movements, causing injury. Problems in your nervous system, swelling, previous injuries, and muscle imbalance call all contribute to movement dysfunction. It can cause injury through:

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

When you first visit our injury prevention specialists in Robertsville, MO, we’ll evaluate your medical records and analyze your current movement health, strength, and flexibility. Then, alongside with your physician or any other providers involved in your care, we’ll create a tailored treatment plan based on empirically-backed research and studies to get your body moving as it should.

Posture Dysfunction

Bad posture is not just an issue for people with slouched shoulders. Athletes and others with active lifestyles can have postural dysfunction when lying down, using the computer, or in certain body positions related to a given activity. Correct posture means correct alignments when both static and moving in a way that does not remove the spine from its natural curves. Poor posture can bring the vertebrae closer together, which has a negative affect on our body’s ability to communicate with itself and achieve the strength and range of motion you need to achieve. Symptoms include:

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

By guiding you to the best practices for posture, we’ll aid in your injury prevention by ensuring muscle balance, range of motion, and that your spine is in its natural position.

Keys to Injury Prevention in Robertsville, MO

You can still suffer an injury even if you did everything you could to prevent one. No one technique is 100% foolproof 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 in overworked bodies. If you have a very high activity level, make sure to take one or two days off per week to allow your body to naturally heal any mild pain or soreness. If you have a more modest activity level, take a break after activity so your body doesn’t become too fatigued.
• Wear the right equipment — Helmets, shin guards, elbow pads, and other equipment necessary in many sports can help prevent injuries such as contusions or brain injuries. If you’ve had a previous injury, your Robertsville, MO physician or physical therapist 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 stand up to the force and torque your body is put through in sports and other activities. Our Robertsville, MO injury prevention experts will work to achieve optimal muscle balance and strengthen the smaller muscles needed to safely participate in the activities you want to participate in.
• Boost flexibility — Stretching achieves three critical things for injury prevention:
  1. It boosts which movements you can make and how far you can extend them, which allows for the tendons and ligaments connecting your muscles to your bones to handle more drastic movements.
  2. It increases blood flow, which carries nourishing blood to your muscles, removing waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to recover.
  3. It encourages good posture, which we already know is an an essential part of injury prevention.

  According to studies, sports like basketball that include dynamic motions require soft tissue with sufficient flexibility to perform those movements. Also, don’t forget to stretch and warm up before any physical activity to further reduce the risk of injury.

• Use correct technique — In every sport, there are accepted techniques to use. These techniques not only help you get be the best athlete you can be but help prevent injuries. Football players learn to tackle a certain way to avoid brain damage, and rotational athletes like golfers and baseball players learn how to best rotate their body. We utilize DorsaVi video motion analysis to capture how you move and analyze how to both be a better athlete 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 a sudden pop or grinding sensation, immediately withdraw from the activity and seek proportional medical care. If your body isn’t feeling up to a particularly rigorous training session, don’t force it.
• Don’t play through an injury — Even though gritting through pain is often viewed as a courageous act among competitors, forcing your body to perform with soft tissue or structural damage could make that injury worse and leave you off the field or court for longer than it originally would have. Depending on the severity of your injury, you may use methods like the R.I.C.E. method, visiting an emergency room, and a series of physical therapy sessions to ensure your body heals naturally and can withstand the activity you want to return to.
• Play by the rules — Depending on the sport or activity and age level of the participants, it likely has special rules to reduce the risk of injury. Penalties for targeting in football, rules against head-first sliding in baseball, and even the presence of bike lanes are examples of rules that were adopted to prevent injuries to ourselves and others. There’s a reason those rules exist, and a reason that violations of those rules are punished.
• Speak a licensed physical therapist — It’s always advisable to have a medical evaluation before starting another season or committing yourself to any strenuous activity or training regimen. During your appointment, inquire with your doctor if injury prevention with a knowledgeable physical therapist in Robertsville, MO is right for you. Every treatment plan we employ has been demonstrated to reduce the risk of injury, 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 for Senior Citizens in Robertsville, MO

Falls in adults over 65 were responsible for over 3 million emergency room admissions and more than 34,000 deaths. Studies show that physical activity can go a long way in reducing the risk of falls. Other conditions that limit mobility such as arthritis that accumulate over time can be slowed down by physical therapy exercises that keep your soft tissue and joints active. While seniors typically do not exert themselves as much as an athlete does, appropriate strength, balance, flexibility, and good posture are great agents in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Robertsville, MO include:

• Physical Therapy Clinic
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment
• Sciatica Treatment
• Sports Medicine
• Hand Pain Physical Therapy
• Foot & Ankle Pain Treatment
• Hip Pain Treatment
• Plantar Fasciitis Treatment
• Stroke Rehabilitation
• Hip Replacement Physical Therapy

Robertsville, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Suffering in injury in one of your favorite activities causes a mental block that won’t allow us to experience the same exhilaration. The knowledgeable Robertsville, MO physical therapists at Axes are here to design for you a 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 doing most. We will aid you in feeling the physical and mental health benefits that you once valued so much. Schedule an appointment online or contact the location nearest you to start your program with one of our injury prevention experts in Robertsville, MO.