Injury Prevention in Wildwood, MO. Whether you play a sport and are hoping for a shot at the next stage, or a recent retiree who wants 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 Wildwood, 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 movement, muscle and joint strength, and flexibility to show you techniques 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.

Being physically active is vitally important to many Wildwood, MO residents. We love active endeavors such as playing sports, playing golf, or other physical activities. Furthermore, committing to an active lifestyle reduces the risk of chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, dementia, anxiety, and many types of cancers. Not only can physical therapy with one of Axes’ licensed Wildwood, MO physical therapists help you come back as fierce as ever, but our injury prevention professionals can help preserve your active lifestyle by optimizing your overall movement health. All of our treatment plans, 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 activities they want to return to.

If you’ve recently suffered an injury, or have a lingering injury that is not getting better with time, contact the Axes Physical Therapy location most convenient for you in Wildwood, MO for a free injury screening. To take preventative measures and protect 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 Wildwood, MO

Injuries typically happen for one of two reasons:

1. Overuse injuries are injuries happen gradually as a body part degrades because of repetitive movements. They are common in overhead athletes athletes who are required to repeat throwing or striking motions and typically reveal themselves with joint pain.
2. Acute injuries are sudden and spontaneous. Examples include landing on uneven ground 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, such as ACL tears, are almost always the result of trauma, such as receiving a direct blow to the knee.

What Causes Injuries? | Injury Prevention in Wildwood, MO

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

Muscle Imbalance

Muscle balance is key to supporting joints and preventing injury. Imbalance can cause 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 probability of injury. Injuries can be caused by insufficient muscle balance between 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. Symptoms include:

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

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

Movement Dysfunction

Movement dysfunction can result in poor balance and lead to your body moving in unnatural ways, increasing your risk of injury. Problems in your nervous system, swelling, previous injuries, and muscle imbalance call all contribute to movement dysfunction. Symptoms include:

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

When you initially visit our injury prevention experts in Wildwood, MO, we’ll evaluate your medical records and perform a base evaluation to identify the root causes of your movement dysfunction. Then, alongside with your doctor or any additional providers treating you, we’ll design a customized game plan been proven to work by research and studies to get your movement health to the level you need it to to do what you love.

Posture Dysfunction

Bad posture doesn’t just affect people who spend a lot of time doing the same activity. Athletes and others with active lifestyles can have postural dysfunction when at lest, driving, or in specific body positions related to a given activity. Optimal posture refers to proper positioning of the neck, torso, pelvis, and extremities in a way that keeps the spine within its natural curves. Poor posture can compress the joints in the spine, which disrupts your nervous system and makes it harder to reach the strength and range of motion you need to achieve. It causes injuries through:

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

By helping you understand ideal posture, we’ll aid in your injury prevention by ensuring you are using the right muscles for the right movements, your flexibility can be improved and maintained, and your vertebrae remain in place.

How to Prevent Injury in Wildwood, 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 things you can do 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 allow your body to naturally heal any mild pain or soreness. If you have a more moderate activity level, rest for the rest of the day after an activity so your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints become too fatigued.
• Use the appropriate equipment — Helmets, chin straps, protective eyewear, and other required equipment in sports and other activities helps you avoid injuries such as bruises or brain injuries. If you’re returning to activity after an injury, your Wildwood, MO doctor or injury prevention professional may suggest braces or Kinesio Taping® to stabilize the affected area. Other methods like tying your cleats tightly offers further stabilization.
• Increase muscle strength — Strengthening soft tissue helps it withstand the rigors your body is put through in sports and other activities. Our Wildwood, MO injury prevention specialists will work to achieve optimal muscle balance and strengthen the often forgotten muscles needed to safely participate in the activities you want to participate in.
• Enhance flexibility — Stretching contributes to injury prevention in three way:
  1. It enhances which movements you can make and how far you can extend them, which lets for the tendons and ligaments connecting your muscles to your bones to adapt to more drastic positions.
  2. It improves blood flow, which carries nourishing blood to your muscles, removing waste byproduct and re-energizing the muscles.
  3. It boosts your posture, which we already know is an is one of the most important factors of injury prevention.

  According to research, sports like football that include dynamic activities require soft tissue compliant enough to perform those movements. Also, it’s important to stretch and warm up before games or training to further reduce the risk of injury.

• Use correct technique — In every sport, there is an accepted way to position and move your body. These techniques not only help you perform better but help prevent injuries by not forcing your body into unnatural positions and movements. Football players are taught to tackle a certain way to avoid a head injury, and rotational athletes like golfers and baseball players learn how to best apply torque to your body. We use DorsaVi video motion analysis to slow down your movement and educate you on how to both improve your performance and reduce your risk of injury.
• Listen to your body — 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, immediately stop all physical activity and get the appropriate medical treatment. If your body isn’t holing up well in a particularly rigorous workout, don’t force it.
• Don’t play through an injury — While gritting through pain is often seen as a heroic act among competitors, forcing your body to perform with an injury to a muscle, joint, tendon, or ligament could exacerbate an existing injury and leave you off the field or court for much longer than you would have been sitting out. Depending on the severity of your injury, recommended actions may be using R.I.C.E. method, seeing your doctor, and a series of physical therapy sessions to ensure your recovery and return to action go as well as possible.
• 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 helmet to helmet hits in football, rules against head-first sliding in baseball, and even the existence of special lanes on the street and sidewalk for bikers are examples of rules put in place to prevent injuries to ourselves and others. There’s a reason those rules exist, and a reason that there are penalties for them.
• Consult a professional physical therapist — It’s a good idea to have a medical evaluation before starting another season or starting up a new activity or training regimen. While there, inquire with your doctor if injury prevention with a professional physical therapist in Wildwood, MO is right for you. Every treatment plan we employ has been demonstrated to prevent injury, and we’ll personalize your program to how old you are, any previous injuries, and how physically active you wish to be.

Injury Prevention for Older Wildwood, MO Adults

Falls in senior citizens accounted 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 like arthritis that accumulate over time can be more bearable and take longer to progress with physical therapy exercises that keep your muscles, tendons, ligaments, and joints healthy. While the physical demands for seniors may not be as high as an athlete, healthy strength, balance, flexibility, and ideal posture can greatly aid in injury prevention.

Other services we offer in Wildwood, 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

Wildwood, MO Injury Prevention | Axes Physical Therapy

Being injured in one of your favorite activities can create a mental block that keeps us from experiencing the same joy. The experienced Wildwood, 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 confident that you do not have to fear going back to what you love. You deserve to feel the physical and mental health benefits that you once valued so much. Request an appointment online or reach out to the location nearest you to see what our Wildwood, MO injury prevention specialists can do for you.