Injury Prevention in Wilbur Park, MO. Whether you’re an athlete and want to up your game, or a recent retiree who wants to spend more time bike riding, don’t let the fear of reinjury keep you from the happy, healthy lifestyle you deserve. While our certified Wilbur Park, 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 movement, muscle and joint strength, and flexibility to show you methods that are proven to reduce the risk of injury. Request an appointment at Axes Physical Therapy today or call the location most convenient for you.

Being physically active is an essential part of many Wilbur Park, MO people’s lives. Many of us participate in active endeavors like playing sports, playing golf, and more. Additionally, committing to an active lifestyle helps stave off chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, depression, and many types of cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Wilbur Park, MO physical therapists allow you to return to action as fierce as ever, but our injury prevention experts can help preserve your active lifestyle by optimizing your overall movement health. All of our treatment plans, for both healing from and preventing injury, are based on evidence-backed techniques and are personalized to each client and the activities they want to return to.

If you’ve recently sustained an injury, or have a lingering injury that just won’t go away, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location most convenient for you in Wilbur Park, MO for a complimentary injury screening. To take preventative measures and protect your sport or hobby, read on below or call to speak to a physical therapist today.

Types of Injuries We Prevent Prevent in Wilbur Park, MO

Most injuries fall into two categories:

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 such as water polo or quarterbacks and typically manifest themselves as joint pain.
2. Acute injuries are sudden and spontaneous. Examples include landing on uneven ground or receiving a blow. These can result in bruises, twisting joints, broken bones, and dislocations.

Some common injuries, for example rotator cuff tears, can either develop over time or occur suddenly. Other injuries, such as ACL tears, are almost always the result of trauma, such as receiving a direct blow to the knee.

Why Do Injuries Happen? | Injury Prevention in Wilbur Park, MO

While injuries occur for many different reasons, and some are inescapable, they generally occur because of dysfunction or imbalance and your body and between body parts. There are three chief causes of why your body cannot adjust to an activity:

Muscle Imbalance

Muscle balance is essential to supporting joints and staving off injury. Imbalance can lead to overemphasis for one set of muscles, causing it to perform actions it cannot do safely. It also prevents you from having optimal posture, and one set of muscles becoming tired more quickly, increasing the risk of injury. Injuries can be caused by poor muscle balance between muscle groups, such as having a strong hamstring and weak quadriceps, or in the same muscle group, such as the four muscles in the rotator cuff not having proportionate strength. Symptoms include:

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

Customized injury prevention with our experienced physical therapists in Wilbur Park, 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. Neurological issues, swelling, previous injuries, and muscle imbalance call all contribute to movement dysfunction. Symptoms include:

• Joint mobility restrictions
• Muscle imbalance
• Coordination deficiency
• Decreased balance

At our first injury prevention appointment in Wilbur Park, MO, we’ll go over 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 treating you, we’ll come up with a personalized game plan 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 with slouched shoulders. People who play sports and other physically active people can have postural dysfunction when at lest, using the computer, or in certain poses necessary for their sport. Optimal posture refers to proper positioning 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 vertebrae closer together, which has a negative affect on our body’s ability to communicate with itself and reach the strength and range of motion you need to achieve. Symptoms include:

• 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, flexibility, and that your nervous system can communicate as its intended to.

Injury Prevention Techniques in Wilbur Park, MO

You can still suffer an injury even if you did everything possible to reduce that risk. No one technique is guaranteed to be effective in injury prevention. However, there are several steps you can take to make sure your body is prepared for your intended activity:

• Take breaks — Injuries are more common in overworked bodies. If you have a very high activity level, one or two rest days a week will signal to your body to naturally heal any mild pain or soreness. If you’re moderately active, relax for the rest of the day after an activity so your body doesn’t become too fatigued.
• Wear the correct equipment — Helmets, chest guards, protective eyewear, and other equipment necessary in sports and other activities helps you avoid injuries like rashes or brain injuries. If you’ve already suffered an injury to a joint or soft tissue, your Wilbur Park, MO physician or injury prevention specialist may recommend stabilizing braces or Kinesio Taping®. Other methods like tying your athletic footwear tightly offers further protection.
• Improve muscle strength — Strengthening soft tissue helps it withstand the rigors of heavy activity. In your tailored injury prevention program with our experienced Wilbur Park, MO physical therapists, we’ll work to build up your body to be able to avoid injury in the activities you love.
• Improve flexibility — Stretching accomplishes three important things for injury prevention:
  1. It improves which movements you can make and how far you can extend them, which lets for your soft tissue to handle more dramatic positions.
  2. It increases blood flow, which carries protein-rich blood to your soft tissue, eliminating waste byproduct and encouraging the muscles to recover.
  3. It increases your posture, which we already know is an is one of the most important factors of injury prevention.

  According to a peer-reviewed sports medicine paper, sports like football that require dynamic movements require muscles and tendons 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 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 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 capture how you move and evaluate how to both be a better athlete and prevent injury.
• Listen to your body — If you feel pain in a muscle or joint, that means that body part is telling your brain that something isn’t right. If you feel a sudden pop or grinding sensation, stop immediately and get the appropriate medical treatment. If your body isn’t holing up well in an intense training session, save it for another day.
• Don’t play through an injury — While gritting through pain is often seen 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 on the sidelines for much longer than if you had sat out at the time of the injury. Depending on the nature of your injury, recommended actions may be using R.I.C.E. method, visiting your doctor, and a series of physical therapy sessions to ensure your body heals naturally and can withstand a return to physical activity.
• Follow the rules — Most sports have special rules at different levels to help prevent injury. Penalties for helmet to helmet hits in football, rules against coming from behind in soccer, 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. 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 physical, inquire with your doctor if injury prevention with a experienced physical therapist in Wilbur Park, MO is right for you. Every treatment plan we employ has been proven to reduce the risk of injury, and you plan will be completely unique to you and catered to your age, your injury history, and which activities you want to participate in.

Injury Prevention for Senior Citizens in Wilbur Park, MO

Falls in senior citizens accounted for more than 3 million emergency room visits and more than 34,000 fatalities. Studies show that physical activity can go a long way in reducing the risk of falls. Other conditions like arthritis that are wear and tear injuries can be more bearable and take longer to progress with physical therapy exercises that keep your soft tissue and joints active. While the physical demands for older adults may not be as high as an athlete, appropriate strength, balance, flexibility, and correct posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Wilbur Park, 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

Wilbur Park, 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 euphoria. The professional Wilbur Park, 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 confident that you can safely return to the activities you love doing most. We will aid you in feeling the physical and mental health benefits of doing what you do best. Schedule an appointment online or reach out to the location nearest you to learn more about what our Wilbur Park, MO injury prevention professionals can do for you.