ACL Tear Greater Hopewell, 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 back to your job again. At Axes Physical Therapy in Hopewell, 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 design customize, evidence-based treatment plans. If you’ve suffered an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Hopewell, MO, contact us online or check out 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 Hopewell, MO pickleball league, or picking up your grandchildren without any pain.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament | Hopewell, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of tough, flexible connective 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 tandem to stabilize the front and back movement 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 impacted. Regardless of how significant your injury, trust in the Hopewell, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully heal.

Why an ACL Tear Happens | Hopewell, MO Physical Therapy

There are up to 250,000 ACL injuries nationwide every year, and it is one of the most common knee injuries and sports injuries. They are common in contact sports that demand frequent and fast cutting and switching directions, such as football, baseball, soccer, and basketball. According to reporting from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, the vast majority of ACL tears happen in non-contact injuries, such as cutting rapidly, and the rest are due to direct blunt force trauma. External and internal factors could both contribute to an ACL tear:

External Factors

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

• Landing on uneven ground or landing with improper form
• Being hit by something or someone
• Suddenly decelerating 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 knee and legs. 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 transpire 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 owing to anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Hopewell, MO Physical Therapy

After an ACL tear, you’ll likely feel pain at the center of the knee. You might not necessarily feel significant pain after an ACL tear unless other constructive damage was done to the knee. Some signals that you might have torn your ACL include:

• Feeling or hearing a pop in your knee
• Not being able to continue activity
• Your knee becoming inflamed quickly
• Loss of range of motion
• Not being able to bear weight your knee

If you suspect you’ve suffered an ACL tear, it’s necessary to reach out to a physician or a licensed physical therapist in Hopewell, MO to verify your injury and come up with the treatment plan you need to recover. We offer complimentary, no strings attached injury screenings and work with many excellent doctors in Hopewell, MO that we can connect you with. 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 | Hopewell, MO Physical Therapy

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

Immediately after your ACL tear, you should use over-the-counter pain medication and the R.I.C.E. method to reduce pain and swelling. A doctor will then examine you, assess 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 heal by itself. 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 advisable for younger people, athletes who need their knee reconstructed in order to perform, patients whose ACL tears were accompanied by other significant injury to their knee, or those whose ACL tear causes their knee to buckle in 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 attached, you still have a long way to go before you’ll feel fully back to normal. 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 Hopewell, MO to optimize your recovery and the success of your surgery. Our ACL tear physical therapy professionals will work with you throughout your recovery process with a personalized treatment plan that has been demonstrated to work. As part of your treatment plan, we will:

• 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
• 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 increase strength
• Possibly utilize electrical stimulation as a supplement to the exercises

You have the best chance for a full recovery by actively participating in it and trusting the expert Hopewell, MO area physical therapists of Axes. Before you know it, we will get you back to dominating the local softball league, or just enjoying being able to to climb stairs without any pain.

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

Unfortunately, second ACL tears are common and they can cause life-long consequences. Included in your treatment program in Hopewell, 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:

• Strengthen your core
• Having strong hip and leg muscles
• Practice proper form, for example bending at the knees and hips when turning
• Stretch consistently
• Perform balance exercises
• Perform warm-up exercises before sports or other physical activities
• Always wear appropriate footwear

Our physical therapists committed themselves not only to getting you back to the activities you love, but doing what we can to make sure that you can carry on doing them without being disrupted by another injury.

Some of the other services we offer in Hopewell, MO are:

• Back Pain Treatment
• 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

ACL Tear in Hopewell, 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 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 in concert with you to create a proven, tailor-made rehabilitation plan to return you 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.