ACL Tear Greater Gray Summit, 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 back to your job again. At Axes Physical Therapy in Gray Summit, MO, we have devoted 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 create personalized treatments plans that have been empirically proven to be effective. If you’ve suffered an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Gray Summit, MO, contact us online or check out the most convenient Axes location for you. Our mission is getting every patient positive results and getting you back to what’s most important to you, whether that means dominating your local Gray Summit, MO pickleball league, or picking up your grandchildren without any pain.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament | Gray Summit, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of tough, flexible connective tissue that affix two bones. The ligaments in the knee work to keep your knee stable by connecting 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 in concert to stabilize the forward and backward movement of your knee, and the ACL stops the tibia from slipping 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 ability to put weight on your knee and range of motion will be lowered. Regardless of how severe your injury, trust in the Gray Summit, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you reach a complete recovery.

Why an ACL Tear Happens | Gray Summit, MO Physical Therapy

There are up to 250,000 ACL injuries nationwide every year, and it is one of the most frequent 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, almost three-quarters 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 sustain an ACL tear:

External Factors

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

• Landing on uneven footing or landing with improper form
• Being hit by something or someone
• Instantly decelerating or changing direction
• Pivoting with a firmly planted foot
• Sustaining 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
• How flexible the hamstring and other surrounding muscles are
• Genetic differences

While many ACL tears happen 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 suffer an ACL tear, likely because of anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Gray Summit, MO Physical Therapy

Following an ACL tear, you’ll likely feel pain at the center of the knee. An ACL tear does not always cause sever pain except if other parts of the knee were also injured. Some signs that you may have sustained an ACL tear include:

• 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 suffered an ACL tear, it’s vital to visit a physician or a licensed physical therapist in Gray Summit, MO to diagnose your injury and get you the treatment you need. We offer free, no-obligation injury screenings and work with many trusted physicians in Gray Summit, 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.

ACL Tear Treatments | Gray Summit, MO Physical Therapy

It is imperative to get prompt, effective, personalized treatment for your ACL tear. If you don’t, it can cause health conditions such as obesity or osteoarthritis, which can significantly impact 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 manage pain and swelling. In an examination, a doctor will assess your mobility, and likely order an MRI or other tests to verify the ACL tear and evaluate the completeness and grade of your tear.

Because blood does not flow to ligaments, a complete ACL tear will not be able to regenerate 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 recommended for younger people, athletes who need their knee reconstructed in order to perform, patients with other significant 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, your journey back to normalcy and the activities you love is still a long way from over. After surgery, you may 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 Gray Summit, MO to optimize your recovery and the success of your operation. Our ACL tear physical therapy experts will guide you through 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 return mobility
• Do strength exercises to increase strength
• Potentially employ electrical stimulation as a supplement to the exercises

When you work with the experienced Gray Summit, MO area physical therapists of Axes and take an active role in your rehabilitation, you have the greatest chance of a complete and timely recovery. Before you know it, we will return you to dominating the local flag football league, or just enjoying the ability to sit down and stand up without any pain.

How to Prevent an ACL Tear | Gray Summit, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, many people suffer a second ACL tear and they can have life-long consequences. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in Gray Summit, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will educate you on how to avoid another ACL tear down the line. We recommend some of the following steps to prevent further injury:

• Having a strong core
• Having strong hip and leg muscles
• Practice correct technique, for example keeping knees shoulder width apart while landing
• Maintain flexibility
• Increase your balance
• Perform warm-up exercises before sports or other physical activities
• Make sure you are using appropriate footwear

Our physical therapists dedicate themselves not only to retuning you to the things you love to do, but doing everything possible to ensure that you can carry on doing them without being disrupted by another injury.

Some of the other services we offer in Gray Summit, 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 Gray Summit, 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 experienced professionals of Axes Physical Therapy to work with you to implement a proven, tailor-made 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.