Injury Prevention in Shrewsbury, MO. Whether you’re an athlete trying to get a shot at the next stage, or a recent retiree who wants to dedicate your time to taking ski vacations, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the activities you love. While our professional Shrewsbury, MO physical therapists spend much of their time helping athletes and others recover from injury, we are experts in the entire musculoskeletal system who can evaluate your movement, muscle and joint strength, and flexibility to teach out techniques that are proven to reduce the risk of injury. Make an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or reach out to the location nearest you.

Physical activity is vitally important to many Shrewsbury, MO residents. Many of us participate in activities such as playing sports, playing golf, or other physical activities. Furthermore, committing to an active lifestyle reduces the risk of chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, eurodegenerative disease, depression, and many types of cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Shrewsbury, MO physical therapists help you return to action as fierce as ever, but our injury prevention specialists can help you reduce the risk of further injury by optimizing your overall movement health. All of our methods, for both healing from and preventing injury, are based on evidence-backed techniques and are customized for each client and the activities they want to return to.

If you’ve recently sustained an injury, or have a lingering injury that is not getting better with time, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location nearest you in Shrewsbury, MO for a complimentary injury screening. To take preventative measures and protect your sport or hobby, keep reading or inquire about an appointment today.

Types of Injuries We Prevent Prevent in Shrewsbury, MO

Injuries typically happen for one of two reasons:

1. Wear-and-tear injuries are injuries that are caused by repetitive movements over time. In sports, we see them the most in in overhead athletes athletes who use throwing or striking motions and typically reveal themselves with joint pain.
2. Acute injuries are sudden and spontaneous. Examples include falling or receiving a blow. These can result in bruises, sprains and strains, broken bones, and dislocations.

Some of the injuries we see most frequently, for example rotator cuff tears, can result from either overuse or acute trauma. 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 Shrewsbury, MO

While anyone can suffer an injury almost at any time and for numerous different reasons, they generally happen because your soft tissue, bones, and joints cannot hold up under 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 essential to supporting joints and staving off injury. Imbalance can lead to an overreliance on one muscle group, causing it to perform actions it cannot do safely. 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. Injuries can be caused by inadequate muscle balance in relation to other muscle groups, such as having a strong hamstring and weak quadriceps, or within muscle groups, such as an imbalance between the four muscles of the rotator cuff. Muscle imbalance can cause injury through:

• Muscle weakness
• Muscle inflexibility
• Poor muscle recruitment
• Coordination deficiency

Personalized injury prevention with our experienced physical therapists in Shrewsbury, 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 bending in ways it is not designed to, causing injury. It can be caused by a range of musculoskeletal issues. It can cause injury through:

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

When you first visit our injury prevention experts in Shrewsbury, MO, we’ll discuss your medical records and perform a base evaluation to identify the root causes of your movement dysfunction. Then, in concert with with your physician or any other providers treating you, we’ll come up with a tailored plan of attack based on empirically-backed research and studies to get your movement back on track.

Posture Dysfunction

Bad posture is not just an issue for people who sit a lot. People who play sports and other physically active people can suffer from postural dysfunction when resting, sitting, or in certain poses they need to be in for their sport. Correct posture refers to proper positioning of the neck, torso, pelvis, and extremities 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 reach optimal motion health. Symptoms include:

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

By helping you understand the best practices for posture, we’ll aid in your injury prevention by ensuring muscle balance, flexibility, and that your nervous system can communicate as its intended to.

Injury Prevention Best Practices in Shrewsbury, MO

All sports and physical activities carry an inherent risk of injury. We cannot promise that our injury prevention program completely negates the risk of injury. However, there are precautions to greatly reduce the risk of injury:

• Take breaks — 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 encourage your body to naturally heal any mild pain or soreness. If you’re moderately active, take a break after activity so you don’t overwork your muscles and joints.
• Use the appropriate equipment — Helmets, chest guards, elbow pads, and other equipment necessary in sports and other activities can help prevent injuries like rashes or head injuries. If you’re returning to activity after an injury, your Shrewsbury, MO doctor or injury prevention expert may recommend braces or Kinesio Taping® to stabilize a joint. Other measures like making sure all the equipment is snug can further help injury prevention by stabilizing your joints.
• Boost muscle strength — Strengthening soft tissue helps it withstand the force and torque your body is put through in sports and other activities. Our Shrewsbury, MO injury prevention professionals will work to build up your body to be able to stay healthy in the activities you love.
• Increase flexibility — Increasing your flexibility contributes to injury prevention in three way:
  1. It increases your range of motion, which allows for your soft tissue to handle more drastic positions.
  2. It improves circulation, which allows for protein-rich blood to flow to your muscles, removing waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to heal.
  3. It increases your posture, which we already know is an an essential part of injury prevention.

  According to research, sports like basketball that include dynamic motions require muscles and tendons with sufficient flexibility to store and release the high levels of energy required. Also, remember 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 ways to position and move your body. These techniques not only improve performance but help prevent injuries. Football players are taught to tackle a certain way to reduce the risk of a concussion, and swimmers learn the proper strokes to make sure their muscles are moving unnaturally. We use DorsaVi video motion analysis to capture how you move and evaluate how to both be a better athlete and prevent injury.
• Don’t ignore what your body is telling you — If you feel pain in a muscle or joint, that means that body part is telling your brain that something is wrong. If you feel sudden pain, immediately withdraw from the activity and get the appropriate medical treatment. If your body isn’t holing up well in an intense workout, save it for another day.
• Don’t play through an injury — While gritting through pain is often seen as a courageous act among competitors, playing with an injury to a muscle, joint, tendon, or ligament could aggravate a current injury and leave you on the sidelines for much longer than if you had sat out at the time of the injury. Depending on what caused your injury and how severe it is, you may use methods like the R.I.C.E. method, visiting an emergency room, and scheduling appointments with a physical therapist to make sure 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 helmet to helmet hits in football, rules against coming from behind in soccer, and even the existence of special lanes on the street and sidewalk for bikers are all rules that leagues enacted to prevent injuries to ourselves and others. Those are in place for a reason, and there’s a reason that there are penalties for them.
• Consult a professional physical therapist — It’s a good idea to get a physical before starting another season or committing yourself to any strenuous activity or training regimen. During your appointment, ask your doctor if injury prevention with a experienced physical therapist in Shrewsbury, MO is right 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 how old you are, any previous injuries, and how physically active you wish to be.

Injury Prevention for Senior Citizens in Shrewsbury, MO

Falls in the elderly accounted for over 3 million emergency room visits and more than 34,000 deaths. Studies show that physical activity is invaluable in preventing falls. Other conditions that cause pain such as arthritis that are wear and tear injuries can be slowed down by physical therapy exercises that keep your soft tissue and joints healthy. While the physical demands for older adults may not be as high as an athlete, healthy strength, stability, flexibility, and optimal posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Shrewsbury, MO include:

• Neck Pain Treatment
• 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

Shrewsbury, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Being injured in one of your favorite activities can lead to a mental block that won’t allow us to experience the same happiness. The professional Shrewsbury, 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 do not have to fear going back to what you love doing most. We will aid you in feeling the physical and mental health benefits of doing what you do best. Make an appointment online or contact the location nearest you to find out more about what our Shrewsbury, MO injury prevention specialists can do for you.