ACL Tear Greater Labadie, 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 Labadie, 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 concert with you as a team and design personalized treatments plans that have been empirically proven to be effective. If you’ve sustained an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Labadie, MO, contact us online or locate the most convenient Axes location for you. Our priority is getting every patient great results and getting you back to what’s most important to you, whether that means running the bases in your local Labadie, MO league, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament | Labadie, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of durable, flexible fibrous tissue that affix 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 together to control the forward and backward movement of your knee, and the ACL impedes the tibia from sliding too far forward on the femur and supplies rotational stability.

ACL tears can be either partial or complete. Depending on the grade of your ACL tear, your ability to put weight on your knee and your movement will be affected. However significant your injury, trust in the Labadie, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you attain a complete recovery.

Why an ACL Tear Happens | Labadie, MO Physical Therapy

There are as many as 250,000 ACL injuries nationwide each 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 at high risk for ACL tears. According to data from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, almost three-quarters of ACL tears happen in non-contact injuries, such as cutting rapidly, and the rest are due to direct blows to the knee. External and internal factors could both contribute to an ACL tear:

External Factors

These are when your coordination is obstructed immediately before the injury. Some examples are:

• Landing on uneven footing or landing with improper form
• Something or someone bumping into you
• Instantly decelerating or switching direction
• Spinning 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 anatomical differences between men and women
• How flexible the hamstring and other surrounding muscles are
• Genetic variations

ACL tears don’t just happen in sports, falls and work-related injuries can hurt they ACL as well. The elderly are also at high risk, as our bodies degenerate as we age. Women are 4-6 times more likely to suffer an ACL tear, likely as a result of anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Labadie, MO Physical Therapy

Following an ACL tear, the pain will likely be in the middle of the knee. You might not necessarily feel considerable pain after an ACL tear unless other parts of the knee were also injured. Some indicators that you might have torn your ACL are:

• Feeling or hearing a pop in your knee
• Having to stop activity
• Your knee becoming inflamed quickly
• Reduction of range of motion
• Not being able to put any weight on your knee

If you think you’ve sustained an ACL tear, it’s vital to see a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in Labadie, MO to verify your injury and come up with the treatment plan you need to recover. We offer complimentary, no-obligation injury screenings and know many excellent doctors in Labadie, 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.

How to Treat an ACL Tear | Labadie, MO Physical Therapy

It is imperative to get prompt, effective, personalized treatment for your ACL tear. If you delay, or your treatment is ineffective, it can result in complications such as obesity or osteoarthritis, which can greatly affect how you live your life.

In the minutes after your ACL tear, it’s best to use over-the-counter pain medication and the R.I.C.E. method to mitigate 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 assess the severity of the injury.

As there is no blood flow to the ligament, a complete ACL tear cannot 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 recommended 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. In an ACL surgery, a surgeon will remove the torn 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 in place, 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 have weakened. Axes Physical Therapy offers both pre- and post-surgical rehabilitation for ACL tears in Labadie, MO to optimize your recovery and the success of your operation. Our ACL tear physical therapy professionals will be by your side throughout your recovery process with proven, customized physical therapy. As part of your treatment plan, we will:

• Alleviate pain and swelling
• Educate you on your injury and the rehab process
• 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
• Do movement exercises and balance exercises to return range of motion
• Perform strength exercises to increase strength
• Potentially employ 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 professional Labadie, MO area physical therapists of Axes. Before you know it, we will get you back to tearing up the local flag football league, or just enjoying the ability to sit down and stand up without feeling any instability in your knee.

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

Unfortunately, many people sustain a second ACL tear and they can have life-long consequences. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in Labadie, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will help you understand the best practices that help 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 instance landing evenly on both feet
• Stretch consistently
• Increase your balance
• Always warm up before sports or other physical activities
• Make sure you are using appropriate footwear

Our physical therapists dedicate themselves not only to getting you back to the activities you love, but doing everything possible to ensure that you can continue doing them without being interrupted by another injury.

Some of the other services we offer in Labadie, 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 Labadie, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to be nervous about your your 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 knowledgeable professionals of Axes Physical Therapy to work with you to design a proven, customized rehabilitation plan to return you to the football field, gymnasts’ mat, or just back to your normal, pain-free life. Contact us online or call the location are closest to you.