ACL Tear Greater Clover Bottom, MO. ACL tears have a tremendous 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 Clover Bottom, MO, we have dedicated 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 concert 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 Clover Bottom, 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 what’s most important to you, whether that means breaking defender’s ankles on a Clover Bottom, MO basketball court, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.

What is the ACL? | Clover Bottom, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of tough, pliable fibrous tissue that affix two bones. The ligaments in the knee help 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 motion of your knee, and the ACL impedes 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 range of motion will be reduced. However serious your injury, trust in the Clover Bottom, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully recover.

Causes of an ACL Tear | Clover Bottom, MO Physical Therapy

There are as many as 250,000 ACL injuries in the United States 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 the most likely to get ACL tears. According to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, 70% of ACL tears happen 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 be at play when you suffer an ACL tear:

External Factors

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

• Landing on uneven ground or landing awkwardly
• Something or someone bumping into you
• Suddenly decelerating or switching direction
• Spinning with a firmly planted foot
• Sustaining a direct blow to the knee

Internal Factors

These concern 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

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 sustain an ACL tear, likely due to anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Clover Bottom, MO Physical Therapy

When you sustain an ACL tear, you’ll likely feel pain at the center of the knee. An ACL tear does not always cause considerable pain unless other constructive damage was done to the knee. Some indicators that you may have torn your ACL are:

• Feeling or hearing a pop in your knee
• Inability to continue 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 critical to see a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in Clover Bottom, 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 work with many excellent doctors in Clover Bottom, 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 Treatments | Clover Bottom, MO Physical Therapy

It is important to get effective and personalized treatment soon after your ACL tear. If you wait, or your treatment is ineffective, it can result in health conditions such as obesity or osteoarthritis, which can greatly affect you for the remainder of your life.

Immediately 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.

Because ligaments do not receive blood flow, a complete ACL tear cannot regenerate by itself. That is why the aid of a licensed professional physical therapist is necessary to return 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 perform, patients with other significant injury to other parts of 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 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, 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 weaken from disuse. Axes Physical Therapy offers both pre- and post-surgical rehabilitation for ACL tears in Clover Bottom, MO to optimize your recovery and the success of your surgery. Our ACL tear physical therapy specialists will be by your side throughout your recovery process with a personalized treatment plan that has been demonstrated to work. Our treatment methods will help to:

• Reduce pain and swelling
• Educate you on your injury and the rehab process
• Gradually and successfully get you back to bearing weight
• Provide you with a brace and teach you how to safely use it
• Do movement exercises and balance exercises to increase mobility
• Perform strength exercises to increase strength
• Potentially implement electrical stimulation as a supplement to the exercises

When you work with the experienced Clover Bottom, MO area physical therapists of Axes and take an active role in your rehabilitation, you have the best chance of a complete and efficient recovery. Before you know it, we will return you to dominating the local flag football league, or just enjoying being able to to climb stairs without feeling any instability in your knee.

How to Prevent an ACL Tear | Clover Bottom, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, many people sustain a second ACL tear and they can have permanent consequences. Included in your treatment program in Clover Bottom, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will educate you on how to avoid another ACL tear down the road. We recommend some of the following steps to prevent further injury:

• Strengthen your core
• Having strong hip and leg muscles
• Practice proper technique, for example bending at the knees and hips when turning
• Maintain flexibility
• Increase your balance
• Always warm up before sports or other physical activities
• Make sure you are using appropriate footwear

Our physical therapists committed themselves not only to getting you back to the things you love to do, 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 Clover Bottom, 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 Clover Bottom, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to be apprehensive about your your 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 experienced professionals of Axes Physical Therapy to work in concert with you to create a proven, customized rehabilitation plan to get you back to the basketball court, bowling alley, or just back to your normal, pain-free daily activities. Contact us online or call the location are closest to you.