ACL Tear Greater Clearwater, MO. ACL tears can abruptly disrupt 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 Clearwater, 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 design tailored treatments plans that have been empirically proven to be effective. If you’ve suffered an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Clearwater, MO, contact us online or find the most convenient Axes location for you. We dedicate ourselves to getting every patient great results and getting you back to the things that matter most to you, whether that means dominating your local Clearwater, MO pickleball league, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.

What is the ACL? | Clearwater, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of durable, flexible connective tissue that attach 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 in concert to control the front and back motion of your knee, and the ACL stops the tibia from gliding too far forward on the femur and provides stability when the joint 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 bear weight and range of motion will be impacted. No Matter how serious your injury, trust in the Clearwater, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully recover.

Causes of an ACL Tear | Clearwater, 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 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 data from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, 70% of ACL tears occur in non-contact injuries, such as cutting quickly, and the rest are caused by direct blunt force trauma. External and internal factors could both contribute to an ACL tear:

External Factors

These are when your coordination is obstructed just before the injury. Some examples are:

• Landing on uneven ground or landing with improper form
• Something or someone bumping into you
• Instantly decelerating or switching direction
• Pivoting with a firmly planted foot
• Suffering a direct hit to the knee

Internal Factors

These concern the structure and anatomy of the body. 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 sustain an ACL tear, likely owing to anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Clearwater, MO Physical Therapy

Following 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 signs that you may have suffered an ACL tear are:

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

If you think you’ve sustained an ACL tear, it’s imperative to reach out to a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in Clearwater, MO to confirm your injury and come up with the treatment plan you need to recover. We offer no-cost, no strings attached injury screenings and know many excellent doctors in Clearwater, MO that we can refer you to. Your Axes physical or occupational therapist is an indispensable 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 | Clearwater, MO Physical Therapy

It is essential to get effective and personalized treatment soon after your ACL tear. If you don’t, it can result in problems such as obesity or osteoarthritis, which can greatly affect you for the remainder of your life.

Immediately after your ACL tear, you should use over-the-counter pain medication and the R.I.C.E. method to reduce pain and inflammation. A doctor will then examine you, evaluate your range of motion, and likely order an MRI to verify the ACL tear and evaluate the severity of the injury.

Because ligaments do not receive blood flow, a complete ACL tear will not be able to heal by itself. 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 their knee reconstructed in order to perform, patients whose ACL tears were accompanied by other serious damage to their knee, or those whose ACL tear causes pain or weakness when performing basic, everyday tasks. 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 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 Clearwater, MO to get you the best results for both your recovery and your operation. Our ACL tear physical therapy professionals will work with you throughout your recovery process with proven, customized physical therapy. Our treatment methods will help to:

• Alleviate pain and swelling
• Provide patient education so you understand your injury and why our methods work
• 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 range of motion
• Perform strength exercises to increase strength
• Potentially utilize electrical stimulation to return strength and flexibility

When you work with the knowledgeable Clearwater, MO area physical therapists of Axes and take an active role in your rehabilitation, you have the greatest chance of a complete and efficient recovery. 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 | Clearwater, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, second ACL tears are common and they can cause life-long repercussions. Included in your treatment program in Clearwater, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will help you understand the best practices that help to avoid another ACL tear down the road. We recommend some of the following steps to prevent further injury:

• Having a strong core
• Strengthen your hip and leg muscles
• Practice proper form, for instance keeping knees shoulder width apart while landing
• Stretch consistently
• Increase your balance
• Always warm up before sports or other physical activities
• Always wear appropriate footwear

Our physical therapists dedicate themselves not only to retuning you to the things you love to do, but doing what we can to make certain that you can carry on doing them without being interrupted by another injury.

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

• 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

ACL Tear in Clearwater, 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 might be impatient to return to your active lifestyle and physical activities you value. Trust in the knowledgeable professionals of Axes Physical Therapy to work with you to produce a proven, tailor-made rehabilitation 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.