ACL Tear Greater Kimmswick, MO. ACL tears have a tremendous effect on your active and daily routine. One moment you’re sprinting down the field, playing your favorite sport or playing with your children, and the next moment you’re thinking about whether you’ll get to play or even go back to your job again. At Axes Physical Therapy in Kimmswick, 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 tandem with you as a team and design customize treatments plans that have been empirically proven to be effective. If you’ve suffered an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Kimmswick, 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 burning corners in your local Kimmswick, MO flag football league, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament | Kimmswick, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of durable, flexible fibrous tissue that connect two bones. The ligaments in the knee help maintain stability in your knee 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 movement of your knee, and the ACL safeguards the tibia from moving too far forward on the femur and provides stability when the knee rotates.

ACL tears can be either partial or complete. Depending on the grade of your ACL tear, your capacity to bear weight and range of motion will be impacted. No Matter how severe your injury, trust in the Kimmswick, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you accomplish a complete recovery.

Causes of an ACL Tear | Kimmswick, MO Physical Therapy

There are as many as 250,000 ACL injuries in the United States each year, 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 the most likely to get ACL tears. According to reporting from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, the vast majority of ACL tears occur in non-contact injuries, such as cutting rapidly, 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 disrupted immediately before the injury. Some examples are:

• Landing on uneven ground or landing awkwardly
• Something or someone knocking into you
• A sudden reduction in speed or changing direction
• Spinning with a firmly planted foot
• Receiving a direct blow to the knee

Internal Factors

These concern the structure and anatomy of the knee and legs. Some examples are:

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

ACL tears don’t just transpire in sports, falls and work-related injuries can hurt they ACL as well. 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 as a result of anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Kimmswick, 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 signals that you may have torn your ACL are:

• Feeling or hearing a pop in your knee
• Inability to continue activity
• Your knee becoming inflamed quickly
• Reduction of range of motion
• Instability when bearing weight

If you think you’ve sustained an ACL tear, it’s crucial to see a physician or a licensed physical therapist in Kimmswick, MO to diagnose your injury and come up with the treatment plan you need to recover. We offer no-cost, no-obligation injury screenings and work with many excellent physicians in Kimmswick, 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.

ACL Tear Treatments | Kimmswick, MO Physical Therapy

It is vital to get prompt, effective, personalized treatment for your ACL tear. If you don’t, it can lead to health conditions like obesity or osteoarthritis, which can greatly affect you for the remainder of your life.

Immediately after your ACL tear, you should use over-the-counter pain medication and the R.I.C.E. method to manage pain and swelling. A doctor will then examine you, evaluate your range of motion, and likely order an MRI to confirm the ACL tear and gauge the completeness and grade of your tear.

As there is no blood flow to the ligament, a complete ACL tear will not be able to 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. 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 their knee reconstructed in order to play, patients with other significant damage to their knee, or those whose ACL tear causes pain or weakness when carrying out basic, everyday activities. 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 attached, your journey back to normalcy and the activities you love is still a long way from over. After surgery, you’ll probably need crutches to move around, as your quadriceps muscles will weaken from disuse. Axes Physical Therapy offers both pre- and post-surgical rehabilitation for ACL tears in Kimmswick, MO to get you a positive outcome for both your recovery and your surgery. Our ACL tear physical therapy specialists will work with you throughout your recovery process with proven, customized physical therapy. 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 effectively 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 range of motion
• Perform strength exercises to return you to full strength
• Potentially use electrical stimulation as a supplement to the exercises

When you work with the knowledgeable Kimmswick, MO area physical therapists of Axes and take an active role in your recovery, you have the greatest chance of a complete and quick recovery. Before you know it, we will return you to dominating the local softball league, or just enjoying the ability to climb stairs without any pain.

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

Unfortunately, many people suffer a second ACL tear and they can lead to life-long consequences. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in Kimmswick, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will help you understand the best practices that help to avoid another ACL tear down the line. We recommend some of the following steps to prevent further injury:

• Strengthen your core
• Having strong hip and leg muscles
• Practice proper form, for instance always landing with your feet directly over your knee
• Maintain flexibility
• Increase your balance
• Always warm up before sports or other physical activities
• Always wear appropriate footwear

Our physical therapists dedicate themselves not only to retuning you to the activities you love, but doing what we can to ensure that you can continue doing them without being interrupted by another injury.

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

• 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
• Hip Replacement Physical Therapy

ACL Tear in Kimmswick, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to be apprehensive about your your 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 with you to produce a proven, tailor-made physical therapy plan to get you back 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.