ACL Tear Greater Calverton Park, MO. ACL tears have an enormous effect on 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 back to your job again. At Axes Physical Therapy in Calverton Park, MO, we have dedicated our practice to restoring our patients’ mobility and returning them to the activities they love. Our ACL tear rehabilitation specialists work in concert with you as a team and put in place customize treatments plans that have been empirically proven to be effective. If you’ve sustained an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Calverton Park, MO, contact us online or check out the most convenient Axes location for you. We dedicate ourselves to getting every patient a positive outcome and getting you back to what’s most important to you, whether that means running the bases in your local Calverton Park, MO league, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.

What is the ACL? | Calverton Park, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of durable, pliable fibrous tissue that attach two bones. The ligaments in the knee work to maintain stability in your knee by attaching 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 control the front and back motion of your knee, and the ACL impedes the tibia from moving too far forward on the femur and supplies stability when the knee rotates.

ACL tears can be either partial or complete. Depending on the grade of your ACL tear, your capacity to bear weight and your movement will be affected. Regardless of how severe your injury, trust in the Calverton Park, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully heal.

Why an ACL Tear Happens | Calverton Park, MO Physical Therapy

There are up to 250,000 ACL injuries in the United States each 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 the most likely to get ACL tears. According to reporting from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, the vast majority of ACL tears happen in non-contact injuries, such as changing direction rapidly, and the rest are the result of direct blunt force trauma. External and internal factors could both contribute to an ACL tear:

External Factors

These are when your coordination is interrupted immediately before the injury. Some examples are:

• Landing on uneven footing or landing awkwardly
• Colliding with something or someone
• A sudden reduction in speed or switching direction
• Spinning with a firmly planted foot
• Receiving a direct hit to the knee

Internal Factors

These have to do with the structure and anatomy of the knee and legs. Some examples are:

• The differences in anatomy between men and women
• Flexibility of the hamstring
• Differences in genetics

While many ACL tears occur in sports, they are also common in falls and work-related injuries. They can become more common as we age and our bodies weaken. Women are 4-6 times more likely to suffer an ACL tear, likely as a result of anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Calverton Park, MO Physical Therapy

When you sustain an ACL tear, the pain will likely be at the center of the knee. You might not necessarily feel sever pain after an ACL tear except if other constructive damage was done to the knee. Some signs that you may have sustained an ACL tear include:

• Feeling or hearing a pop in your knee
• Having to stop activity
• Rapid swelling
• Reduction 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 reach out to a physician or a licensed physical therapist in Calverton Park, MO to diagnose your injury and come up with the treatment plan you need to recover. We offer free, no-obligation injury screenings and work with many trusted doctors in Calverton Park, MO that we can connect you with. Your Axes physical or occupational therapist is an integral 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 | Calverton Park, MO Physical Therapy

It is essential to get prompt, effective, personalized treatment for your ACL tear. If your injury does not heal properly, it can cause problems such as obesity or osteoarthritis, which can greatly affect your quality of life.

Immediately after your ACL tear, it’s best to use over-the-counter pain medication and the R.I.C.E. method to reduce pain and swelling. In an examination, a doctor will evaluate your range of motion, and likely order an MRI to verify the ACL tear and assess the completeness and grade of your tear.

As there is no blood flow to the ligament, a complete ACL tear will not be able to heal on its own. That is why the aid of a licensed professional physical therapist is necessary to get back to the activities you love. Surgery is the only means available to completely heal an ACL tear. So, surgery is often necessary for younger people, athletes who need a fully functioning ACL in order to play, patients whose ACL tears were accompanied by other serious injury to other parts of their knee, or those whose ACL tear causes their knee to buckle in basic, everyday tasks. In an ACL surgery, a surgeon will remove the torn 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 attached, you still have a long way to go before you’ll feel fully back to normal. After surgery, you may 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 Calverton Park, MO to get you a positive outcome for both your recovery and your operation. Our ACL tear physical therapy specialists will lead you through your recovery process with proven, customized physical therapy. As part of your treatment plan, we will:

• Reduce pain and swelling
• Educate you on your injury and the rehab process
• Gradually and successfully get you back to bearing weight
• Fit you for a brace and teach you how to safely use it
• Perform movement exercises and balance exercises to return range of motion
• Perform strength exercises to increase strength
• Possibly use electrical stimulation as a supplement to the exercises

You have the best chance for a full recovery by actively participating in it and trusting the professional Calverton Park, MO area physical therapists of Axes. Before you know it, we will get you back to tearing up the local flag football league, or just enjoying being able to to sit down and stand up without any pain.

How to Prevent an ACL Tear | Calverton Park, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, second ACL tears are common and they can cause life-long repercussions. Included in your treatment program in Calverton Park, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will educate you on how to avoid another ACL tear down the road. Some of the preventive methods you can take in order to prevent further injury are:

• Having a strong core
• Strengthen your hip and leg muscles
• Practice correct technique, for example always landing with your feet directly over your knee
• Stretch consistently
• Perform balance exercises
• Always warm up 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 things you love to do, but doing what we can to ensure that you can carry on doing them without being disrupted by another injury.

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

• Shoulder Pain Treatment
• Back Pain Treatment
• 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

ACL Tear in Calverton Park, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to be apprehensive about your your future after being seriously injured. 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 with you to implement a proven, customized physical therapy plan to get you back to the basketball court, gymnasts’ mat, or just back to your normal, pain-free life. Contact us online or call the location are closest to you.