ACL Tear Greater Cottleville, 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 to work again. At Axes Physical Therapy in Cottleville, MO, we have committed our practice to restoring our patients’ mobility and returning them to the activities they love. Our ACL tear rehabilitation specialists work with you as a team and create customize, evidence-based treatment plans. If you’ve sustained an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Cottleville, MO, contact us online or locate the most convenient Axes location for you. We dedicate ourselves to getting every patient a positive outcome and getting you back to the things that matter most to you, whether that means dominating your local Cottleville, MO pickleball league, or picking up your grandchildren without any pain.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament | Cottleville, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of durable, flexible fibrous tissue that affix 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 stabilize the front and back movement of your knee, and the ACL shields the tibia from sliding too far forward on the femur and supplies 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 put weight on your knee and your movement will be affected. Regardless of how significant your injury, trust in the Cottleville, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully heal.

Causes of an ACL Tear | Cottleville, MO Physical Therapy

There are up to 250,000 ACL injuries in the United States annually, 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 at high risk for 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 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 with improper form
• Something or someone knocking into you
• A sudden reduction in speed or switching direction
• Swiveling with a firmly planted foot
• Suffering a direct hit to the knee

Internal Factors

These concern the structure and anatomy of the knee and legs. Examples include:

• The anatomical differences 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. 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 as a result of anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Cottleville, MO Physical Therapy

Following an ACL tear, the pain will likely be in the middle of the knee. You might not necessarily feel sever pain after an ACL tear unless other structural damage was done to the knee. Some signs that you may have torn your ACL are:

• A “popping” sensation in your knee
• Not being able to continue activity
• Rapid swelling
• Reduction of range of motion
• Instability when putting weight on your knee

If you think you’ve suffered an ACL tear, it’s critical to reach out to a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in Cottleville, MO to confirm your injury and start the treatment you need to recover. We offer free, no strings attached injury screenings and have a great network of trusted doctors in Cottleville, MO that we can refer you to. Your Axes physical or occupational therapist, your doctor and medical providers, and you will join forces and work together to ensure your recovery is safe and efficient.

ACL Tear Treatments | Cottleville, MO Physical Therapy

It is essential to get effective and personalized treatment soon after your ACL tear. If your injury does not heal don’t, it can lead to complications like obesity or osteoarthritis, which can greatly affect how you live your life.

Directly following your ACL tear, you should use over-the-counter pain medication and the R.I.C.E. method to alleviate pain and swelling. In an examination, a doctor will evaluate your mobility, and likely order an MRI to verify the ACL tear and judge 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 return to the activities you love. Surgery is the only means available to completely heal an ACL tear. So, surgery is often the best option for younger people, athletes who need a fully healthy ACL in order to play, patients whose ACL tears were accompanied by other significant injury to 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 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 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 Cottleville, MO to optimize your recovery and the success of your surgery. Our ACL tear physical therapy specialists will lead you through your recovery process with a personalized treatment plan that has been demonstrated to work. As part of your treatment plan, we will:

• Reduce 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
• Do movement exercises and balance exercises to increase range of motion
• Do strength exercises to increase strength
• Potentially implement electrical stimulation as a supplement to the exercises

When you work with the experienced Cottleville, MO area physical therapists of Axes and take an active role in your recovery, you have the best chance of a complete and efficient recovery. Before you know it, we will get you back to tearing up the local softball league, or just enjoying being able to to climb stairs without your knee buckling.

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

Unfortunately, second ACL tears are common and they can have permanent consequences. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in Cottleville, 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
• Strengthen your hip and leg muscles
• Practice proper form, for instance 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 devote themselves not only to retuning you 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 Cottleville, 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 Cottleville, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to be anxious about your your future after suffering a severe injury. 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 experienced professionals of Axes Physical Therapy to work alongside you to implement a proven, customized rehabilitation plan to return you 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.