ACL Tear Greater Black Jack, MO. ACL tears can suddenly upend your active and daily routine. You go from having a blast in a sport or playing with your kids, to suddenly wondering whether you’ll get to play or even go to work again. At Axes Physical Therapy in Black Jack, MO, we have devoted our practice to helping our patients regain their strength and mobility, and getting them back to the activities they love. Our ACL tear rehabilitation specialists work in tandem with you as a team and create personalized treatments plans that have been empirically proven to be effective. If you’ve sustained an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Black Jack, MO, contact us online or locate the most convenient Axes location for you. We dedicate ourselves to getting every patient positive results and getting you back to the things that matter most to you, whether that means burning corners in your local Black Jack, MO flag football league, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament | Black Jack, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of durable, flexible fibrous tissue that attach two bones. The ligaments in the knee work to keep your knee stable by affixing your tibia (shinbone) to your femur (thigh bone). The ACL, or anterior cruciate ligament, is in the center of your knee and crosses the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) so they make an “x”. The ACL and PCL work together to stabilize the forward and backward motion of your knee, and the ACL stops the tibia from moving too far forward on the femur and provides rotational stability.

ACL tears can be either partial or complete. Depending on the grade of your ACL tear, your ability to put weight on your knee and your movement will be affected. Regardless of how significant your injury, trust in the Black Jack, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you accomplish a complete recovery.

Causes of an ACL Tear | Black Jack, MO Physical Therapy

There are up to 250,000 ACL injuries nationwide every year, and it is one of the most common knee injuries and sports injuries. Athletes who play contact sports and/or sports where there is a lot of cutting and changing direction are at high risk for ACL tears. According to data from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, 70% of ACL tears occur in non-contact injuries, such as cutting quickly, and the rest are due to direct blunt force trauma. External and internal factors could both be at play when you sustain an ACL tear:

External Factors

These are when your movement is disrupted immediately before the injury. Some examples are:

• Landing on uneven ground or landing with improper form
• Something or someone knocking into you
• A sudden reduction in speed or changing direction
• Pivoting with a firmly planted foot
• Receiving a direct blow to the knee

Internal Factors

These concern the structure and anatomy of the knee and legs. Some examples are:

• The anatomical differences between men and women
• How flexible the hamstring and other surrounding muscles are
• Differences in genetics

ACL tears don’t just transpire in sports, falls and work-related injuries can hurt they ACL as well. The elderly are also at high risk, as our bodies degenerate as we age. Women are 4-6 times more likely to suffer an ACL tear, likely because of anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Black Jack, MO Physical Therapy

When you suffer an ACL tear, the pain will likely be in the middle of the knee. You might not necessarily feel sever pain after an ACL tear except if other parts of the knee were also injured. Some signals that you may have torn your ACL are:

• A “popping” sensation or sound in your knee
• Not being able to continue activity
• Your knee becoming inflamed quickly
• Loss of range of motion
• Not being able to bear weight your knee

If you suspect you’ve suffered an ACL tear, it’s imperative to see a physician or a licensed physical therapist in Black Jack, MO to confirm your injury and get you the treatment you need. We offer free, no strings attached injury screenings and know many trusted doctors in Black Jack, MO that we can refer you to. Your Axes physical or occupational therapist is an essential part of your recovery team, working closely with you and your doctors and medical providers to collaborate on your safe and efficient recovery.

How to Treat an ACL Tear | Black Jack, MO Physical Therapy

It is important to get prompt, effective, personalized treatment for your ACL tear. If you don’t, it can cause problems such as obesity or osteoarthritis, which can significantly impact your quality of life.

In the minutes after your ACL tear, you should use over-the-counter pain medication and the R.I.C.E. method to reduce pain and inflammation. In an examination, a doctor will assess your range of motion, and likely order an MRI to verify the ACL tear and gauge the completeness and grade of your tear.

Because ligaments do not receive blood flow, a complete ACL tear will not be able to regenerate by itself. This means that you will need the help of licensed professional physical therapists in order to get back to the activities you love. The only way to fully repair an ACL tear is through surgery. So, surgery is often recommended for younger people, athletes who need their knee reconstructed in order to play, patients with other serious injury to their knee, or those whose ACL tear causes pain or weakness when carrying out basic, everyday activities. ACL surgery is usually done by taking a graft from another tendon — either one of yours or a deceased donor’s — and then using small incisions to attach the graft to the femur and tibia.

Once the new ligament is in place, your journey back to normalcy and the activities you love is still a long way from over. After surgery, you’ll likely need crutches to move around, as your quadriceps muscles will weaken from disuse. Axes Physical Therapy offers both pre- and post-surgical rehabilitation for ACL tears in Black Jack, MO to get you the best results for both your physical rehabilitation and your surgery. Our ACL tear physical therapy professionals will guide you through your recovery process with a personalized treatment plan that has been proven to work. As part of your treatment plan, we will:

• Reduce pain and swelling
• Educate you on your injury and the rehab process
• Gradually and effectively get you back to bearing weight
• Fit you for a brace and teach you how to safely use it
• Do movement exercises and balance exercises to return mobility
• Do strength exercises to return you to full strength
• Possibly implement electrical stimulation as a supplement to the exercises

When you work with the knowledgeable Black Jack, MO area physical therapists of Axes and take an active role in your rehabilitation, you have the best chance of a complete and timely recovery. Before you know it, we will get you back to dominating the local softball league, or just enjoying the ability to sit down and stand up without your knee buckling.

How to Prevent an ACL Tear | Black Jack, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, many people sustain a second ACL tear and they can lead to permanent consequences. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in Black Jack, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will educate you on how to avoid another ACL tear in the future. We recommend some of the following steps to prevent further injury:

• Having a strong core
• Having strong hip and leg muscles
• Practice correct technique, for instance keeping knees shoulder width apart while landing
• Stretch consistently
• Perform balance exercises
• Perform warm-up exercises before sports or other physical activities
• Make sure you are using appropriate footwear

Our physical therapists committed themselves not only to retuning you to the activities you love, but doing everything possible to make sure that you can continue doing them without being interrupted by another injury.

Some of the other services we offer in Black Jack, MO are:

• 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

ACL Tear in Black Jack, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to experience anxieties about your your future after being seriously injured. If you’ve sustained an ACL tear, you might be impatient to return to your active lifestyle and physical activities you value. Trust in the experienced professionals of Axes Physical Therapy to work in concert with you to produce a proven, tailor-made rehabilitation plan to return you to the football field, gymnasts’ mat, or just back to your normal, pain-free daily activities. Contact us online or call the location are closest to you.