ACL Tear Greater House Spring, MO. ACL tears can abruptly obstruct your active and daily routine. One moment you’re running down the field, engaging in your favorite sport or having fun with your children, and the next instant you’re don’t know if you’ll get to play or even go to work again. At Axes Physical Therapy in House Spring, 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 put in place personalized treatments plans that have been empirically proven to be effective. If you’ve suffered an ACL tear, or any other injury, in House Spring, MO, contact us online or find the most convenient Axes location for you. Our priority is getting every patient a positive outcome and getting you back to what’s most important to you, whether that means breaking defender’s ankles on a House Spring, MO basketball court, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament | House Spring, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of tough, flexible connective tissue that connect 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 in tandem to control the forward and backward motion of your knee, and the ACL impedes the tibia from moving 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 put weight on your knee and range of motion will be reduced. No Matter how significant your injury, trust in the House Spring, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully heal.

Causes of an ACL Tear | House Spring, MO Physical Therapy

There are as many as 250,000 ACL injuries nationwide every year, and it is one of the most frequent knee injuries and sports injuries. They are common in contact sports that require frequent and fast cutting and switching directions, such as football, baseball, soccer, and basketball. According to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, the vast majority of ACL tears occur in non-contact injuries, such as changing direction quickly, and the rest are caused by direct blows to the knee. External and internal factors could both be at play when you sustain an ACL tear:

External Factors

These are when your coordination is obstructed 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
• Pivoting with a firmly planted foot
• Sustaining a direct hit to the knee

Internal Factors

These have to do with the structure and anatomy of the knee and legs. Examples include:

• The differences in anatomy between men and women
• Flexibility of the hamstring
• Genetic differences

While many ACL tears occur 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 due to anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | House Spring, MO Physical Therapy

Following an ACL tear, the pain will likely be at the center of the knee. An ACL tear does not always cause sever pain unless other structural damage was done to the knee. Some indicators that you might have torn your ACL are:

• Feeling or hearing a pop in your knee
• Having to stop activity
• Rapid swelling
• Loss of range of motion
• Instability when bearing weight

If you suspect you’ve sustained an ACL tear, it’s important to see a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in House Spring, MO to confirm your injury and start the treatment you need to recover. We offer no-cost, no-obligation injury screenings and have a great network of excellent doctors in House Spring, MO that we can refer you to. 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 | House Spring, MO Physical Therapy

It is vital to get prompt, effective, personalized treatment for your ACL tear. If your injury does not heal properly, it can lead to complications like obesity or osteoarthritis, which can significantly impact how you live 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 manage pain and inflammation. A doctor will then examine you, assess your range of motion, and likely order an MRI or other tests to verify the ACL tear and assess the completeness and grade of your tear.

Because ligaments do not receive blood flow, a complete ACL tear cannot regenerate by itself. This means that you will need the help of licensed professional physical therapists in order 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 functioning ACL in order to perform, patients with other significant injury to other parts of their knee, or those whose ACL tear causes their knee to buckle in basic, everyday tasks. ACL surgery is usually 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 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 House Spring, MO to optimize your recovery and the success of your surgery. Our ACL tear physical therapy specialists will work with you throughout your recovery process with proven, customized physical therapy. Our treatment methods will help to:

• Reduce pain and swelling
• Educate you on your injury and the rehab process
• 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
• Perform movement exercises and balance exercises to return range of motion
• Do strength exercises to return you to full strength
• Potentially 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 licensed House Spring, MO area physical therapists of Axes. Before you know it, we will return you to dominating the local softball league, or just enjoying being able to to climb stairs without any pain.

How to Prevent an ACL Tear | House Spring, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, second ACL tears are common and they can lead to permanent consequences. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in House Spring, 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
• Having strong hip and leg muscles
• Practice proper form, for example 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 activities you love, but doing what we can to make sure that you can continue doing them without being upended by another injury.

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

ACL Tear in House Spring, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to be nervous 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 with you to implement a proven, tailor-made physical therapy plan to return you 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.