Injury Prevention in Scotsdale, MO. Whether you’re an athlete trying to get a shot at the next level, or you just retired and want to spend more time taking ski vacations, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the happy, healthy lifestyle you desire. While our professional Scotsdale, MO physical therapists spend much of their time helping athletes and others heal after an injury, we are complete movement health specialists who can evaluate your body’s current condition and how you move to guide you through measures that are proven to reduce the risk of injury by preparing your body for the stressors of your desired activity. Make an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or contact the location most convenient for you.

Physical activity is vitally important to many Scotsdale, MO residents. We love active endeavors such as playing sports, swimming, or other physical activities. Additionally, pursuing an active lifestyle reduces the risk of chronic conditions including type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, eurodegenerative disease, anxiety, and many types of cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Scotsdale, MO physical therapists allow you to come back even stronger after an injury, but our injury prevention professionals can help keep you active by optimizing your overall movement health. All of our methods, both when helping restore motion health and when looking to improve it, have been prove to work and are developed uniquely for each client and the level of activity they want to reach.

If you’ve recently suffered an injury, or have a nagging injury that won’t heal on its own, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location most convenient for you in Scotsdale, MO for a no-risk, no-obligation injury screening. To reduce your chance of an injury and ensure that you can continue with your sport or hobby, read on below or call to speak to a physical therapist at your earliest convenience.

Types of Injuries We Prevent Prevent in Scotsdale, MO

Most injuries happen for one of two reasons:

1. Chronic 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 such as tennis or quarterbacks and typically manifest themselves as joint pain.
2. Acute injuries are injuries that happen because of a specific and sudden trauma. Examples include falling or a sudden impact by an object or another person. These can result in bruises, sprains and strains, fractures, and dislocations.

Some of the injuries we see most frequently, like rotator cuff tears, can either develop over time or occur suddenly. Other injuries, like 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 Scotsdale, MO

While injuries can happen in a variety of circumstances, and some are unpreventable, they generally happen because of dysfunction or imbalance and your body and between body parts. There are three common dysfunctions that lead to injury:

Muscle Imbalance

Muscle balance is key to maintaining healthy joints and staving off injury. Imbalance can cause an overreliance on 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 probability of injury. Muscle imbalance can refer to poor muscle balance between muscle groups, such as having a strong chest and weak back, or in the same muscle group, such as an imbalance between the four muscles of the rotator cuff. Symptoms include:

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

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

Movement Dysfunction

Movement dysfunction can result in poor balance and lead to your body bending in ways it is not designed to, increasing your risk of 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 limitations
• Muscle imbalance
• Poor coordination
• Decreased balance

When you first see our injury prevention specialists in Scotsdale, MO, we’ll evaluate your medical history and perform a base evaluation to identify the root causes of your movement dysfunction. Then, in concert with with your physician or any other medical professionals involved in your treatment, we’ll come up with a tailored treatment plan been proven to work by 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 doing the same activity. People who play sports and others with active lifestyles can have postural dysfunction when resting, driving, or in specific poses they need to be in for their sport. Optimal posture refers to correct positioning of the different joints and muscles of your body in a way that encourages our spine to stay in its natural curves. Poor posture can bring the joints in the spine closer together, which disrupts your nervous system and makes it difficult to reach ideal motion health. Symptoms include:

• Muscle weakness
• Muscle imbalance
• Poor positioning
• Joint mobility restrictions
• 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.

How to Prevent Injury in Scotsdale, MO

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

• Take breaks — 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 processes. If you have a more moderate activity level, take it easy for the few hours after an activity so your body doesn’t become too fatigued.
• Use protective equipment — Helmets, shin guards, safety pads and guards, and other equipment necessary in sports and other activities can help prevent injuries like bruises or brain injuries. If you’ve already suffered an injury to a joint or muscle, tendon, or ligament, your Scotsdale, MO physician or physical therapist may suggest braces or Kinesio Taping® to stabilize the affected area. Other methods like tying your athletic footwear tightly offers further protection.
• Strengthen muscles — Strengthening soft tissue helps it withstand the rigors your body is put through in sports and other activities. In your customized injury prevention program with our certified Scotsdale, MO physical therapists, we’ll work to build up your body to be able to avoid injury in the activities you love.
• Increase flexibility — Increasing your flexibility contributes to injury prevention in three way:
  1. It enhances your range of motion, which allows for the tendons and ligaments connecting your muscles to your bones to adapt to more drastic positions.
  2. It increases blood flow, which allows for nutrient-rich blood to flow to your soft tissue, removing waste byproduct and fortifying the muscles.
  3. It enhances your posture, which we already know is an is one of the most important aspects of injury prevention.

  According to research, sports like football that necessitate dynamic activities require soft tissue flexible enough to perform those movements. Also, remember to stretch and warm up before any physical activity to further reduce the risk of injury.

• Use proper technique — In every sport, there are accepted techniques to use. These techniques not only help you perform better but help reduce the risk of injury. Football players are taught to tackle a certain way to avoid brain damage, and swimmers learn the proper strokes to make sure their muscles are moving unnaturally. We utilize DorsaVi video motion analysis to break down your movement and educate you on how to improve it.
• Don’t ignore what your body is telling you — If you feel pain in a muscle or joint, that’s your body’s way of telling you something is wrong. If you feel a sudden crack or grinding sensation, stop immediately and get the appropriate medical treatment. If your body isn’t feeling up to a particularly rigorous workout, save it for another day.
• Don’t play through an injury — While teammates, competitors, and fans appreciate an athlete that plays through pain, 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 urgent care, and a series of physical therapy sessions to ensure your recovery and return to action go as well as possible.
• 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 targeting in football, rules against head-first sliding in baseball, and even the existence of special lanes on the street and sidewalk for bikers are all rules that were adopted to prevent injuries to ourselves and others. There’s a reason those rules exist, and a reason that there are penalties for them.
• Speak a professional physical therapist — It’s a good idea to get a physical before a new season or starting up a new physical activity. During your appointment, ask your doctor if injury prevention with a professional physical therapist in Scotsdale, MO is something you should consider. All of our techniques have been demonstrated to help athletes remain healthy, and you plan will be completely unique to you and catered to your age, any previous injuries, and which activities you want to participate in.

Injury Prevention for Senior Citizens in Scotsdale, MO

Falls in adults over 65 were responsible 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 that limit mobility such as arthritis that are wear and tear injuries can be slowed down by physical therapy exercises that keep your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints strong. While seniors typically do not exert themselves as much as an athlete does, the same principles of strength, balance, flexibility, and ideal posture are great agents in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Scotsdale, MO include:

• Soft Tissue Mobilization
• Post Surgical Rehabilitation
• Shin Splint Treatment
• Direct Access Physical Therapy
• Gait Analysis
• Pelvic Floor Therapy
• Dry Needling Near Me
• Tendonitis Treatment
• Manual Physical Therapy
• Orthopedic Rehab Near Me

Scotsdale, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Being injured in something you love doing can lead to a mental block that keeps us from experiencing the same elation. The experienced Scotsdale, MO physical therapists at Axes are here to guide you through your own personalized injury prevention program that will keep your body as safe and healthy as can be, and your mind at ease that you can safely return to the activities you love doing most. You deserve to feel the physical and mental health benefits of doing what you do best. Request an appointment online or reach out to the location nearest you to discover what our Scotsdale, MO injury prevention specialists can do for you.