ACL Tear Greater Dardenne Prairie, MO. ACL tears can unexpectedly upend 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 Dardenne Prairie, 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 personalized, empirically-backed treatment plans. If you’ve suffered an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Dardenne Prairie, MO, contact us online or find the most convenient Axes location for you. We dedicate ourselves to getting every patient positive results and getting you back to the things that matter most to you, whether that means dominating your local Dardenne Prairie, MO pickleball league, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.

What is the ACL? | Dardenne Prairie, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of tough, pliable fibrous tissue that affix two bones. The ligaments in the knee work to keep your knee stable 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 motion of your knee, and the ACL safeguards the tibia from moving too far forward on the femur and provides 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 lowered. No Matter how serious your injury, trust in the Dardenne Prairie, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully heal.

Causes of an ACL Tear | Dardenne Prairie, MO Physical Therapy

There are up to 250,000 ACL injuries nationwide 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 the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, 70% of ACL tears occur in non-contact injuries, such as changing direction 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 disrupted just before the injury. Some examples are:

• Landing on uneven footing or landing with improper form
• Something or someone bumping into you
• Instantly 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 knee and legs. Some examples are:

• The differences in anatomy between men and women
• How flexible the hamstring and other surrounding muscles are
• Genetic variations

ACL tears don’t just transpire 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 sustain an ACL tear, likely as a result of anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Dardenne Prairie, MO Physical Therapy

Following an ACL tear, you’ll likely feel pain at the center of the knee. You might not necessarily feel considerable pain after an ACL tear except if other parts of the knee were also injured. Some signs that you might have torn your ACL include:

• Feeling or hearing a pop in your knee
• Inability to continue activity
• Rapid swelling
• Reduction of range of motion
• Instability when putting weight on your knee

If you suspect you’ve sustained an ACL tear, it’s critical to contact a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in Dardenne Prairie, MO to confirm your injury and get you the treatment you need. We offer free, no strings attached injury screenings and work with many excellent physicians in Dardenne Prairie, 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.

How to Treat an ACL Tear | Dardenne Prairie, MO Physical Therapy

It is vital to get effective and personalized treatment soon after your ACL tear. If your injury does not heal don’t, it can lead to problems like obesity or osteoarthritis, which can significantly impact you for the remainder of your life.

Directly following 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. A doctor will then examine you, evaluate your range of motion, and likely order an MRI to verify the ACL tear and evaluate the extent of the injury.

As there is no blood flow to the ligament, a complete ACL tear cannot heal 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 the best option for younger people, athletes who need a fully functioning ACL in order to perform, patients whose ACL tears were accompanied by other serious injury to their knee, or those whose ACL tear causes pain or weakness when carrying out basic, everyday tasks. In an ACL surgery, a surgeon will remove the damaged 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 likely 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 Dardenne Prairie, MO to get you a positive outcome for both your physical rehabilitation and your operation. Our ACL tear physical therapy professionals will lead you through your recovery process with a personalized treatment plan that has been proven 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 successfully allow you to put weight on your knee again
• 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 return you to full strength
• Possibly utilize electrical stimulation to return strength and flexibility

When you work with the knowledgeable Dardenne Prairie, MO area physical therapists of Axes and take an active role in your recovery, you have the best chance of a complete and quick recovery. Before you know it, we will get you back to dominating the local pick-up league, or just enjoying being able to to climb stairs without any pain.

How to Prevent an ACL Tear | Dardenne Prairie, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, many people suffer a second ACL tear and they can have life-long repercussions. Included in your treatment program in Dardenne Prairie, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will help you understand the best practices that help to avoid another ACL tear down the line. Some of the preventive methods you can take in order to prevent further injury are:

• Strengthen your core
• Strengthen your hip and leg muscles
• Practice proper form, for example always landing with your feet directly over your knee
• Stretch consistently
• Increase your balance
• 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 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 Dardenne Prairie, 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 Dardenne Prairie, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to be anxious about your what your life will look like in the 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 knowledgeable professionals of Axes Physical Therapy to work in concert with 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.