ACL Tear Greater Champ, MO. ACL tears have an enormous effect on your active routine and daily life. 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 Champ, MO, we have committed 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 suffered an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Champ, MO, contact us online or find the most convenient Axes location for you. We focus on getting every patient positive results and getting you back to what’s most important to you, whether that means dominating your local Champ, MO pickleball league, or picking up your grandchildren without any pain.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament | Champ, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of durable, pliable fibrous tissue that connect two bones. The ligaments in the knee help 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 movement of your knee, and the ACL impedes the tibia from gliding too far forward on the femur and provides stability when the knee rotates.

Most ACL tears are partial, but they can be completely torn as well. Depending on the grade of your ACL tear, your ability to put weight on your knee and range of motion will be reduced. However significant your injury, trust in the Champ, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully recover.

Why an ACL Tear Happens | Champ, MO Physical Therapy

There are as many as 250,000 ACL injuries in the United States each 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 changing directions, such as football, baseball, soccer, and basketball. According to data from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, the vast majority of ACL tears happen 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 obstructed 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 switching direction
• Pivoting 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 body. Examples include:

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

ACL tears don’t just happen in sports, falls and work-related injuries can hurt they ACL too. 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 due to anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Champ, MO Physical Therapy

When you suffer an ACL tear, the pain will likely be in the middle of the knee. An ACL tear does not always cause sever pain except if other parts of the knee were also injured. Some indicators that you might have torn your ACL are:

• Feeling or hearing a pop in your knee
• Having to cease activity
• Your knee becoming inflamed quickly
• Reduction of range of motion
• Not being able to bear weight your knee

If you suspect you’ve suffered an ACL tear, it’s vital to reach out to a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in Champ, MO to diagnose 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 Champ, MO that we can connect you with. 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 Treatments | Champ, MO Physical Therapy

It is important to get prompt, effective, personalized treatment for your ACL tear. If you delay, or your treatment is ineffective, it can lead to health conditions like obesity or osteoarthritis, which can greatly affect how you live your life.

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

As there is no blood flow to the ligament, a complete ACL tear cannot regenerate on its own. This means that you will need the help of licensed professional physical therapists in order to return to the activities you love. The only way to fully repair an ACL tear is through surgery. So, surgery is often necessary for younger people, athletes who need a fully functioning ACL in order to play, patients with other serious injury to other parts of their knee, or those whose ACL tear causes pain or weakness when performing basic, everyday activities. In an ACL surgery, a surgeon will remove the injured 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, your journey back to normalcy and the activities you love is still a long way from over. After surgery, you’ll probably be given crutches so you can get around for the next few weeks, as your quadriceps muscles will have weakened. Axes Physical Therapy offers both pre- and post-surgical rehabilitation for ACL tears in Champ, MO to optimize your recovery and the success of your surgery. Our ACL tear physical therapy experts will lead you through your recovery process with proven, customized physical therapy. As part of your treatment plan, we will:

• Mitigate 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
• Perform movement exercises and balance exercises to return mobility
• Do strength exercises to increase strength
• Potentially utilize electrical stimulation as a supplement to the exercises

When you work with the experienced Champ, MO area physical therapists of Axes and take an active role in your rehabilitation, you have the greatest chance of a complete and quick recovery. Before you know it, we will get you back to dominating the local softball league, or just enjoying being able to to sit down and stand up without feeling any instability in your knee.

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

Unfortunately, many people suffer a second ACL tear and they can cause life-long repercussions. Included in your treatment program in Champ, 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
• 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
• 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 getting you back to the things you love to do, but doing everything possible to make sure that you can carry on doing them without being upended by another injury.

Some of the other services we offer in Champ, 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 Champ, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to be nervous about your what your life will look like in the 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 alongside you to produce a proven, tailor-made physical therapy plan to return you to the football field, bowling alley, or just back to your normal, pain-free daily activities. Contact us online or call the location are closest to you.