ACL Tear Greater Leslie, MO. ACL tears can suddenly upset your active routine and daily life. One moment you’re running down the field, taking part in your favorite sport or having fun with your kids, and the next second you’re thinking about whether you’ll get to play or even go back to your job again. At Axes Physical Therapy in Leslie, MO, we have committed 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 create customize, empirically-backed treatment plans. If you’ve suffered an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Leslie, MO, contact us online or find the most convenient Axes location for you. We focus on getting every patient a positive outcome and getting you back to what’s most important to you, whether that means running the bases in your local Leslie, MO league, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.
The Anterior Cruciate Ligament | Leslie, MO Physical Therapy
Ligaments are bands found in joints made of tough, flexible connective tissue that attach 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, 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 stops 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 capacity to put weight on your knee and range of motion will be reduced. No Matter how significant your injury, trust in the Leslie, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully heal.
Causes of an ACL Tear | Leslie, MO Physical Therapy
There are as many as 250,000 ACL injuries nationwide annually, 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 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 due to 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 obstructed just before the injury. Some examples are:
- Landing on uneven ground or landing with improper form
- Being hit by something or someone
- A sudden reduction in speed or switching direction
- Swiveling with a firmly planted foot
- Receiving a direct blow to the knee
Internal Factors
These concern the structure and anatomy of the body. Some examples are:
- The anatomical differences between men and women
- Flexibility of the hamstring
- Differences in genetics
ACL tears don’t just transpire in sports, falls and work-related injuries can harm they ACL too. The elderly are also at high risk, as our bodies degenerate as we age. Women are 4-6 times more likely to sustain an ACL tear, likely as a result of anatomical differences.
Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Leslie, MO Physical Therapy
After an ACL tear, you’ll likely feel pain at the center of the knee. An ACL tear does not always cause significant pain unless other structural damage was done to the knee. Some signals that you may have torn your ACL include:
- A “popping” sensation in your knee
- Having to stop activity
- Rapid swelling
- Reduction of range of motion
- Instability when putting weight on your knee
If you think you’ve suffered an ACL tear, it’s critical to reach out to a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in Leslie, MO to verify your injury and come up with the treatment plan you need to recover. We offer free, no strings attached injury screenings and work with many excellent doctors in Leslie, 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.
How to Treat an ACL Tear | Leslie, MO Physical Therapy
It is vital to get effective and personalized treatment soon after your ACL tear. If your injury does not heal don’t, it can result in complications like obesity or osteoarthritis, which can greatly affect you for the remainder of 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 swelling. A doctor will then examine you, evaluate your mobility, and likely order an MRI to confirm 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 on its own. That is why the aid of a licensed professional physical therapist is necessary to return 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 their knee reconstructed in order to play, patients whose ACL tears were accompanied by other significant damage to other parts of their knee, or those whose ACL tear causes their knee to buckle in basic, everyday activities. 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 attached, your journey back to normalcy and the activities you love is still a long way from over. After surgery, you may 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 Leslie, MO to optimize your recovery and the success of your surgery. Our ACL tear physical therapy experts will lead you through your recovery process with proven, customized physical therapy. Our treatment methods will help to:
- Mitigate pain and swelling
- Provide patient education so you understand your injury and why our methods work
- Gradually and successfully get you back to bearing weight
- Fit you for a brace and teach you how to safely use it
- Perform movement exercises and balance exercises to increase mobility
- Perform strength exercises to return you to full strength
- Potentially utilize electrical stimulation to return strength and flexibility
You have the best chance for a full recovery by actively participating in it and trusting the licensed Leslie, MO area physical therapists of Axes. Before you know it, we will return you to tearing up the local flag football league, or just enjoying being able to to sit down and stand up without any pain.
How to Prevent an ACL Tear | Leslie, MO Physical Therapy
Unfortunately, many people sustain a second ACL tear and they can have permanent repercussions. Included in your treatment program in Leslie, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will educate you on how to avoid another ACL tear down the line. Some of the preventive methods you can take in order to prevent further injury are:
- Having a strong core
- Strengthen your hip and leg muscles
- Practice correct form, for example keeping knees shoulder width apart while landing
- Stretch consistently
- Increase your balance
- Always warm up before sports or other physical activities
- Always wear appropriate footwear
Our physical therapists committed themselves not only to retuning you to the things you love to do, but doing everything possible to make sure that you can carry on doing them without being interrupted by another injury.
Some of the other services we offer in Leslie, MO are:
- Pain Management
- Rotator Cuff Tear
- Arthritis Treatment
- Sports Injury
- Knee Injuries
- Work Injury Rehabilitation
- Physical Therapist Near Me
- Neck Pain
ACL Tear in Leslie, MO | Axes Physical Therapy
It is normal to be nervous about your prognosis and road to recovery after suffering a severe injury. 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 alongside you to implement a proven, customized 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.
