ACL Tear Greater Ellisville, 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 Ellisville, 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 tandem with you as a team and develop customize, empirically-backed treatment plans. If you’ve sustained an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Ellisville, 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 what’s most important to you, whether that means dominating your local Ellisville, MO pickleball league, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.
What is the ACL? | Ellisville, 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 in concert to control the forward and backward motion of your knee, and the ACL shields the tibia from slipping too far forward on the femur and provides rotational stability.
ACL tears can be either partial or complete. Depending on the grade of your ACL tear, your capacity to bear weight and your movement will be affected. No Matter how severe your injury, trust in the Ellisville, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully heal.
Why an ACL Tear Happens | Ellisville, MO Physical Therapy
There are as many as 250,000 ACL injuries nationwide each year, and it is one of the most common 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 the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, 70% of ACL tears happen in non-contact injuries, such as cutting rapidly, and the rest are the result of 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 coordination is disrupted just before the injury. Some examples are:
- Landing on uneven footing or landing awkwardly
- Colliding with something or someone
- A sudden reduction in speed or switching direction
- Swiveling with a firmly planted foot
- Receiving a direct blow to the knee
Internal Factors
These are related to 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
ACL tears don’t just occur in sports, falls and work-related injuries can harm they ACL as well. 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 because of anatomical differences.
Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Ellisville, MO Physical Therapy
Following an ACL tear, you’ll likely feel pain in the middle of the knee. An ACL tear does not always cause sever pain unless other parts of the knee were also injured. Some signals that you may have sustained an ACL tear include:
- Feeling or hearing a pop in your knee
- Inability to continue activity
- Rapid swelling
- Reduction of range of motion
- Not being able to bear weight your knee
If you think you’ve sustained an ACL tear, it’s necessary to reach out to a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in Ellisville, MO to verify your injury and get you the treatment you need. We offer no-cost, no strings attached injury screenings and work with many trusted physicians in Ellisville, MO that we can connect you with. 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 | Ellisville, MO Physical Therapy
It is important to get effective and personalized treatment soon after your ACL tear. If your injury does not heal properly, it can cause health conditions such as obesity or osteoarthritis, which can significantly impact your quality of life.
Directly following your ACL tear, it’s best to use over-the-counter pain medication and the R.I.C.E. method to mitigate pain and inflammation. In an examination, a doctor will evaluate your range of motion, and likely order an MRI to confirm the ACL tear and gauge the extent of the injury.
Because ligaments do not receive blood flow, a complete ACL tear will not be able to regenerate on its own. That is why the aid of a licensed professional physical therapist is necessary to get back 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 injury to their knee, or those whose ACL tear causes their knee to buckle in basic, everyday tasks. ACL surgery is generally done by taking a graft from another tendon — either one of yours or a deceased donor’s — and then using small incisions to attach the graft to the femur and tibia.
Once the new ligament is in place, you still have a long way to go before you’ll feel fully back to normal. After surgery, you’ll likely 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 Ellisville, MO to optimize your recovery and the success of your surgery. Our ACL tear physical therapy experts will guide you through your recovery process with proven, customized physical therapy. Our treatment methods will help to:
- Mitigate 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
- Provide you with a brace and teach you how to safely use it
- Do movement exercises and balance exercises to increase mobility
- Do strength exercises to increase strength
- Possibly use electrical stimulation as a supplement to the exercises
When you work with the knowledgeable Ellisville, MO area physical therapists of Axes and take an active role in your rehabilitation, you have the best chance of a complete and timely recovery. Before you know it, we will get you back to tearing up the local softball league, or just enjoying the ability to climb stairs without feeling any instability in your knee.
How to Prevent an ACL Tear | Ellisville, MO Physical Therapy
Unfortunately, many people sustain a second ACL tear and they can have permanent consequences. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in Ellisville, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will help you understand the best practices that help to avoid another ACL tear in the future. Some of the preventive methods you can take in order to prevent further injury are:
- Having a strong core
- Having strong hip and leg muscles
- Practice correct form, for instance bending at the knees and hips when turning
- 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 certain that you can continue doing them without being interrupted by another injury.
Some of the other services we offer in Ellisville, 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 Ellisville, MO | Axes Physical Therapy
It is normal to be apprehensive 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 experienced professionals of Axes Physical Therapy to work with you to create a proven, customized rehabilitation plan to get you back to the football field, gymnasts’ mat, or just back to your normal, pain-free daily activities. Contact us online or call the location are closest to you.
