Injury Prevention in Washington, MO. Whether you’re an athlete and want to improve your performance, or you just retired and want to spend more time being physical fit, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the happy, healthy lifestyle you desire. While our licensed Washington, MO physical therapists work extensively with athletes and others to recover from injury, we are experts in the entire musculoskeletal system who can evaluate your body’s current condition and how you move to teach out methods that are proven to reduce the risk of injury. Request an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or call the location nearest you.
Physical activity is an essential part of many Washington, MO people’s lives. We love activities such as playing sports, biking, or other physical activities. Furthermore, keeping an active lifestyle reduces the risk of serious health problems including type 2 diabetes, heart disease, eurodegenerative disease, mental health issues, and many types of cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Washington, MO physical therapists help you come back and perform even better than before, but our injury prevention specialists can help keep you active by improving your overall strength, flexibility, and posture. All of our methods, both when helping restore motion health and when looking to improve it, are based on evidence-backed techniques and are customized for each client and the level of activity they want to reach.
If you’ve recently suffered an injury, or have a persistent injury that is not getting better with time, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location nearest you in Washington, MO for a no-risk, no-obligation 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.
Injuries Axes PT Can Help Prevent in Washington, MO
Most injuries fall into two categories:
- 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 and commonly manifest themselves as joint pain.
- Acute injuries are injuries that happen suddenly. Examples include falling or receiving a blow. These can result in bruises, twisting joints, broken bones, and dislocations.
Some of the injuries we see most frequently, for example rotator cuff tears, can either develop over time or occur suddenly. Other injuries, for example ACL tears, almost always occur spontaneously, such as receiving a direct blow to the knee.
What Causes Injuries? | Injury Prevention in Washington, 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 common dysfunctions that lead to injury:
Muscle Imbalance
Muscle balance is essential to supporting joints and staving off injury. Imbalance can result in an overreliance on one set of muscles, 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. Injuries can be caused by inadequate muscle balance in relation to other muscle groups, such as having a strong hamstring and weak quadriceps, 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
- Coordination deficits
Tailored injury prevention with our professional physical therapists in Washington, 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. It can be caused by a range of musculoskeletal issues. It can lead to:
- Joint mobility restrictions
- Muscle imbalance
- Coordination deficits
- Reduced balance
When you first see our injury prevention specialists in Washington, 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 doctor or any other medical professionals involved in your care, we’ll devise 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. People who play sports and other physically active people can be affected by postural dysfunction when at lest, sitting, or in certain poses necessary for their sport. Optimal posture refers to correct positioning of the different joints and muscles of your body in a way that does not remove the spine from its natural curves. Poor posture can compact the joints in the spine, which disrupts communication between your brain and body and makes it harder to attain optimal movement health. It causes injuries through:
- Muscle weakness
- Muscle imbalance
- Poor positioning
- Joint mobility limitations
- Poor muscle recruitment
By teaching you good posture, we’ll aid in your injury prevention by ensuring you are using your muscles equally, your flexibility is not jeopardized, and your spine is in its natural position.
Injury Prevention Techniques in Washington, MO
All sports and physical activities can potentially lead to an 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 a rest — Your body needs time to rest and recover after any moderate to intense activity. 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 it easy after activity so your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints become too fatigued.
- Wear protective equipment — Helmets, chest guards, protective eyewear, and other equipment necessary in many sports helps you avoid injuries such as lacerations or concussions. If you’ve already suffered an injury to a joint or soft tissue, your Washington, MO physician or physical therapist may fit you for braces or Kinesio Taping® to stabilize the injured area. Other methods like tying your shoes tightly offers further protection.
- Strengthen muscles — Strengthening soft tissue helps it withstand the force and torque your body is put through in sports and other activities. In your customized injury prevention program with our expert Washington, MO physical therapists, we’ll work to build up your body to be able to avoid injury in the activities you love.
- Enhance flexibility — Increasing your flexibility contributes to injury prevention in three way:
- It increases your range of motion, which lets for your soft tissue to adapt to more drastic movements.
- It boosts blood flow, which allows for nutrient-rich blood to flow to your soft tissue, removing waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to restore themselves.
- It boosts 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 dynamic motions require soft tissue with sufficient flexibility to perform those movements. Also, remember to stretch and warm up before games or training to further reduce the risk of injury.
- Use proper 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 learn to tackle a certain way to reduce the risk of a head injury, 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 evaluate how to both improve your performance and reduce your risk of injury.
- Don’t ignore what your body is telling you — If you feel pain in a muscle or joint, 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 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 plays through pain, forcing your body to perform with soft tissue or structural damage could make that injury worse and leave you on the sidelines for much longer than you would have been sitting out. Depending on what caused your injury and how severe it is, you may use methods like the R.I.C.E. method, visiting your doctor, and scheduling appointments with a physical therapist to ensure your recovery and return to action go as well as possible.
- Play by the rules — Many sports have special rules at different levels to help prevent injury. Penalties for helmet to helmet hits in football, rules against head-first sliding in baseball, and even the presence of special lanes on the street and sidewalk for bikers are examples of rules that were adopted to keep participants safe. Those were enacted for a reason, and there’s a reason that violations of those rules are punished.
- Speak a licensed physical therapist — It’s always advisable to have a medical evaluation before another season begins or committing yourself to any strenuous activity or training regimen. During your physical, inquire with your doctor if injury prevention with a licensed physical therapist in Washington, MO is a good idea for you. Every treatment plan we employ has been demonstrated to help athletes remain healthy, and we’ll personalize your program to your age, any previous injuries, and how physically active you wish to be.
Injury Prevention for Senior Citizens in Washington, MO
Falls in senior citizens accounted for over 3 million emergency room visits and over 34,000 fatalities. Studies show that being physical active is a great method for reducing the risk of falls. Other conditions like arthritis that develop over the course of several years can be slowed down by physical therapy exercises that keep your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints active. While the physical demands for older adults may not be as high as an athlete, healthy strength, stability, flexibility, and ideal posture are great agents in injury prevention.
Other services we offer in Washington, 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
Washington, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy
Being injured in in an activity you prepare and train for and love can create a mental block that keeps us from experiencing the same exultation. The professional Washington, MO physical therapists at Axes are here to design for you a 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 do not want to lose. Schedule an appointment online or reach out to the location nearest you to discover what our Washington, MO injury prevention professionals can do for you.