ACL Tear Greater Lake St. Louis, MO. ACL tears have an enormous effect on your active and daily routine. One moment you’re sprinting down the field, playing your favorite sport or having fun with your kids, and the next instant you’re thinking about whether you’ll get to play or even go back to your job again. At Axes Physical Therapy in Lake St. Louis, 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 create customize treatments plans that have been empirically proven to be effective. If you’ve sustained an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Lake St. Louis, MO, contact us online or check out the most convenient Axes location for you. We focus on getting every patient great results and getting you back to what’s most important to you, whether that means breaking defender’s ankles on a Lake St. Louis, MO basketball court, or picking up your grandchildren without any pain.

What is the ACL? | Lake St. Louis, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of tough, flexible connective tissue that connect two bones. The ligaments in the knee help keep your knee stable by attaching 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 together to stabilize the forward and backward motion of your knee, and the ACL safeguards the tibia from slipping 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 your movement will be affected. Regardless of how severe your injury, trust in the Lake St. Louis, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you attain a complete recovery.

Causes of an ACL Tear | Lake St. Louis, 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 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 the result of direct blunt force trauma. External and internal factors could both contribute to an ACL tear:

External Factors

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

• Landing on uneven footing or landing awkwardly
• Something or someone bumping into you
• A sudden reduction in speed or switching direction
• Swiveling with a firmly planted foot
• Sustaining a direct hit to the knee

Internal Factors

These are related to the structure and anatomy of the body. Some examples are:

• 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 damage 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 because of anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Lake St. Louis, MO Physical Therapy

When you suffer an ACL tear, the pain will likely be 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 indicators that you may have suffered an ACL tear are:

• A “popping” sensation in your knee
• Having to cease activity
• Rapid swelling
• Reduction of range of motion
• Not being able to put any weight on your knee

If you suspect you’ve suffered an ACL tear, it’s important to reach out to a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in Lake St. Louis, MO to verify your injury and get you the treatment you need. We offer complimentary, no-obligation injury screenings and work with many trusted physicians in Lake St. Louis, MO that we can refer you to. Your Axes physical or occupational therapist is a fundamental 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 | Lake St. Louis, MO Physical Therapy

It is imperative to get prompt, effective, personalized treatment for your ACL tear. If you don’t, it can cause problems like 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 reduce pain and inflammation. 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.

As there is no blood flow to the ligament, 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 get back to the activities you love. Surgery is the only means available to completely heal an ACL tear. So, surgery is often necessary for younger people, athletes who need a fully functioning ACL 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 activities. ACL surgery is typically 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, 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 weaken from disuse. Axes Physical Therapy offers both pre- and post-surgical rehabilitation for ACL tears in Lake St. Louis, MO to optimize your recovery and the success of your operation. Our ACL tear physical therapy professionals will guide you through your recovery process with a personalized treatment plan that has been demonstrated to work. Our treatment methods will help to:

• Alleviate pain and swelling
• Provide patient education so you understand your injury and why our methods work
• Gradually and effectively get you back to bearing weight
• Provide you with a brace and teach you how to safely use it
• Perform movement exercises and balance exercises to increase range of motion
• Perform strength exercises to increase strength
• Potentially use electrical stimulation to return strength and flexibility

When you work with the experienced Lake St. Louis, MO area physical therapists of Axes and take an active role in your recovery, you have the best chance of a complete and timely recovery. Before you know it, we will return you to dominating the local pickleball league, or just enjoying being able to to climb stairs without any pain.

How to Prevent an ACL Tear | Lake St. Louis, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, second ACL tears are common and they can have permanent repercussions. Included in your treatment program in Lake St. Louis, 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:

• Having a strong core
• Strengthen your hip and leg muscles
• Practice proper form, for example landing evenly on both feet
• Stretch consistently
• Perform balance exercises
• 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 everything possible to make sure that you stay off the sidelines.

Some of the other services we offer in Lake St. Louis, 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 Lake St. Louis, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to be apprehensive 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 alongside you to implement a proven, personalized physical therapy plan to get you back to the basketball court, gymnasts’ mat, or just back to your normal, pain-free life. Contact us online or call the location are closest to you.