ACL Tear Greater Liguori, 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 Liguori, 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 Liguori, MO, contact us online or check out the most convenient Axes location for you. Our priority is getting every patient positive results and getting you back to the things that matter most to you, whether that means breaking defender’s ankles on a Liguori, MO basketball court, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament | Liguori, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of tough, flexible fibrous tissue that affix two bones. The ligaments in the knee work to keep your knee stable by connecting 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 in concert to control the front and back motion of your knee, and the ACL impedes the tibia from moving 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 bear weight and range of motion will be impacted. However significant your injury, trust in the Liguori, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you attain a complete recovery.

Causes of an ACL Tear | Liguori, MO Physical Therapy

There are as many as 250,000 ACL injuries in the United States every 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 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 disrupted just before the injury. Some examples are:

• Landing on uneven ground or landing with improper form
• Something or someone bumping into you
• Instantly decelerating or changing direction
• Pivoting with a firmly planted foot
• Suffering a direct hit to the knee

Internal Factors

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

• The anatomical differences between men and women
• Flexibility of the hamstring
• Differences in genetics

ACL tears don’t just occur 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 sustain an ACL tear, likely owing to anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Liguori, MO Physical Therapy

After an ACL tear, you’ll likely feel pain in the middle of the knee. An ACL tear does not always cause considerable pain except if other constructive damage was done to the knee. Some indicators that you may have suffered an ACL tear include:

• A “popping” sensation in your knee
• Inability to continue 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 necessary to see a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in Liguori, MO to verify your injury and get you the treatment you need. We offer free, no strings attached injury screenings and have a wide network of excellent physicians in Liguori, MO that we can connect you with. Your Axes physical or occupational therapist is an integral 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 | Liguori, MO Physical Therapy

It is important to get effective and personalized treatment soon after your ACL tear. If your injury does not heal properly, it can cause health conditions like obesity or osteoarthritis, which can greatly affect your quality of 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. In an examination, a doctor will evaluate your mobility, and likely order an MRI to confirm the ACL tear and gauge the severity of the injury.

Because blood does not flow to ligaments, a complete ACL tear will not be able to regenerate by itself. That is why the aid of a licensed professional physical therapist is necessary to get back to the activities you love. Surgery is the only means available to completely heal an ACL tear. So, surgery is often advisable for younger people, athletes who need their knee reconstructed in order to play, patients with other serious injury to other parts of their knee, or those whose ACL tear causes pain or weakness when performing basic, everyday tasks. In an ACL surgery, a surgeon will remove the damaged 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, you still have a long way to go before you’ll feel fully back to normal. After surgery, you’ll likely be given crutches so you can get around for the next few weeks, as your quadriceps muscles will weaken from disuse. Axes Physical Therapy offers both pre- and post-surgical rehabilitation for ACL tears in Liguori, MO to optimize your recovery and the success of your surgery. Our ACL tear physical therapy professionals will work with you throughout your recovery process with proven, customized physical therapy. As part of your treatment plan, we will:

• 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
• Fit you for a brace and teach you how to safely use it
• Do movement exercises and balance exercises to increase mobility
• Perform strength exercises to increase strength
• Possibly implement electrical stimulation to return strength and flexibility

When you work with the experienced Liguori, 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 the ability to sit down and stand up without any pain.

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

Unfortunately, second ACL tears are common and they can have permanent repercussions. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in Liguori, 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 correct form, for example keeping knees shoulder width apart while landing
• Stretch consistently
• Perform balance exercises
• Perform warm-up exercises 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 things you love to do, but doing what we can to make sure that you stay off the sidelines.

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

It is normal to experience anxieties about your prognosis and road to recovery 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 create a proven, customized rehabilitation plan to get you back to the basketball court, gymnasts’ mat, or just back to your normal, pain-free daily activities. Contact us online or call the location are closest to you.