ACL Tear Bridgeton, MO

ACL Tear Bridgeton, MO

Get back to the activities you love with a customized, evidence-based rehabilitation plan.

ACL Tear Greater Bridgeton, MO. ACL tears have an enormous effect on your active routine and daily life. One instant you’re running down the field, playing your favorite sport or playing with your kids, and the next instant you’re don’t know if you’ll get to play or even go to work again. At Axes Physical Therapy in Bridgeton, 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 with you as a team and create customize treatments plans that have been empirically proven to be effective. If you’ve suffered an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Bridgeton, MO, contact us online or find the most convenient Axes location for you. Our priority is getting every patient great results and getting you back to the things that matter most to you, whether that means burning corners in your local Bridgeton, MO flag football league, or picking up your grandchildren without any pain.

What is the ACL? | Bridgeton, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of tough, flexible connective tissue that affix two bones. The ligaments in the knee work to maintain stability in your knee by affixing your tibia (shinbone) to your femur (thigh bone). The ACL, or anterior cruciate ligament, runs down the center of your knee and forms an “X” with the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). The ACL and PCL work together to control the front and back movement of your knee, and the ACL safeguards the tibia from sliding too far forward on the femur and supplies rotational stability.

Most ACL tears are partial, but they can be completely torn as well. Depending on the grade of your ACL tear, your capacity to bear weight and your motion will be affected. Regardless of how severe your injury, trust in the Bridgeton, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully recover.

Why an ACL Tear Happens | Bridgeton, MO Physical Therapy

There are up to 250,000 ACL injuries nationwide every year, and it is one of the most frequent knee injuries and sports injuries. They are common in contact sports that require frequent and fast cutting and switching directions, such as football, baseball, soccer, and basketball. According to reporting from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, 70% of ACL tears occur in non-contact injuries, such as cutting rapidly, and the rest are caused by direct blows to the knee. External and internal factors could both contribute to an ACL tear:

External Factors

These are when your movement is interrupted just before the injury. Some examples are:

  • Landing on uneven footing or landing awkwardly
  • Something or someone knocking into you
  • A sudden reduction in speed or changing direction
  • Swiveling with a firmly planted foot
  • Sustaining a direct blow to the knee

Internal Factors

These are related to the structure and anatomy of the body. Examples include:

  • The differences in anatomy 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 harm they ACL too. 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 | Bridgeton, MO Physical Therapy

After an ACL tear, the pain will likely be at the center of the knee. You might not necessarily feel significant pain after an ACL tear except if other constructive damage was done to the knee. Some indicators that you may have suffered an ACL tear are:

  • Feeling or hearing a pop in your knee
  • Having to cease activity
  • Rapid swelling
  • Loss of range of motion
  • Instability when putting weight on your knee

If you suspect you’ve suffered an ACL tear, it’s important to contact a physician or a licensed physical therapist in Bridgeton, MO to verify your injury and get you the treatment you need. We offer no-cost, no strings attached injury screenings and work with many excellent doctors in Bridgeton, MO that we can refer you to. Your Axes physical or occupational therapist, your doctor and medical providers, and you will form a close team and work together to ensure your recovery is safe and efficient.

ACL Tear Therapy Bridgeton, MO | Physical and Occupational Therapy Near Bridgeton

ACL Tear Treatments | Bridgeton, MO Physical Therapy

It is vital to get effective and personalized treatment soon after your ACL tear. If you delay, or your treatment is ineffective, it can cause complications such as obesity or osteoarthritis, which can greatly affect your quality of life.

Directly following your ACL tear, it’s best to use over-the-counter pain medication and the R.I.C.E. method to mitigate pain and swelling. In an examination, a doctor will evaluate your mobility, and likely order an MRI to verify the ACL tear and assess the severity of the injury.

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. Surgery is the only means available to completely heal an ACL tear. So, surgery is often recommended for younger people, athletes who need their knee reconstructed in order to perform, patients with other serious damage to their knee, or those whose ACL tear causes pain or weakness when carrying out basic, everyday activities. In an ACL surgery, a surgeon will remove the damaged ACL, take a graft from another one of your or a donors tendons, and use small incisions to attach it to the bones.

Once the new ligament is in place, you still have a long way to go before you’ll feel fully back to normal. After surgery, you’ll likely need crutches to move around, as your quadriceps muscles will have weakened. Axes Physical Therapy offers both pre- and post-surgical rehabilitation for ACL tears in Bridgeton, MO to optimize your recovery and the success of your operation. Our ACL tear physical therapy professionals will work with you throughout your recovery process with a personalized treatment plan that has been proven to work. Our treatment methods will help to:

  • Reduce pain and swelling
  • Educate you on your injury and the rehab process
  • Gradually and effectively allow you to put weight on your knee again
  • Provide you with a brace and teach you how to safely use it
  • Perform movement exercises and balance exercises to return mobility
  • Do strength exercises to return you to full strength
  • Possibly employ electrical stimulation to return strength and flexibility

You have the best chance for a full recovery by actively participating in it and trusting the expert Bridgeton, MO area physical therapists of Axes. Before you know it, we will get you back to tearing up the local pickleball league, or just enjoying the ability to sit down and stand up without feeling any instability in your knee.

How to Prevent an ACL Tear | Bridgeton, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, second ACL tears are common and they can result in permanent consequences. Included in your treatment program in Bridgeton, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will help you understand the best practices that help to avoid another ACL tear later on. We recommend some of the following steps to prevent further injury:

  • Strengthen your core
  • Having strong hip and leg muscles
  • Practice proper technique, for instance landing evenly on both feet
  • 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 devote themselves not only to retuning you to the activities you love, but doing what we can to ensure that you stay off the sidelines.

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

ACL Tear in Bridgeton, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to experience anxieties about your what your life will look like in the future after suffering a severe injury. If you’ve sustained an ACL tear, you probably want to get back to your normal, active lifestyle as quickly as possible. Trust in the knowledgeable professionals of Axes Physical Therapy to work alongside you to implement a proven, tailor-made physical therapy plan to get you back to the basketball court, gymnasts’ mat, or just back to your normal, pain-free daily activities. Contact us online or call the location are closest to you.

Services Offered

Services Offered
  • Physical Therapy
    • Pre/Post Surgical Rehabilitation
    • Acute Injury Management
    • Chronic Injury Management
  • Occupational Therapy
    • Certified Hand Therapy
  • Work Conditioning/Hardening
  • Functional Capacity Evaluations
  • Sports Physical Therapy
  • Trigger Point Dry Needling
  • Pediatric Orthopedic Physical Therapy
  • Geriatric Orthopedic Physical Therapy
  • Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization (IASTYM)
  • Spine Specialty – Manual Therapy Certified
  • Free Injury Screenings
  • Kinesio Taping®
  • Blood Flow Restriction Therapy

Our Team

Sara Crain
PT, CEAS, Astym Cert.
Sarah Schroeder
MOTR/L, CHT, Astym Cert
Brandi Arndt
PT, DPT, CMPT
Brett Shelton
PT, DPT, OCS, COMT, CSMT
TJ Jung
PT, DPT
Lorinda Gaines
Front Office
Chris Casner
PT, Clinic Director

Locations

Begin Your Recovery Today

Injuries and pain shouldn’t keep you from moving and doing the things you love.