ACL Tear Greater Meacham Park, MO. ACL tears have an enormous 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 to work again. At Axes Physical Therapy in Meacham Park, 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 create tailored, evidence-based treatment plans. If you’ve sustained an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Meacham Park, MO, contact us online or find the most convenient Axes location for you. Our mission is getting every patient great results and getting you back to what’s most important to you, whether that means dominating your local Meacham Park, MO pickleball league, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament | Meacham Park, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of tough, flexible fibrous tissue that connect two bones. The ligaments in the knee work to maintain stability in your knee 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 together to control the front and back movement of your knee, and the ACL safeguards the tibia from sliding too far forward on the femur and supplies rotational stability.

Most ACL tears are partial, but they can be completely torn as well. 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 Meacham Park, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully heal.

Causes of an ACL Tear | Meacham Park, MO Physical Therapy

There are up to 250,000 ACL injuries nationwide 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 the most likely to get ACL tears. According to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, the vast majority of ACL tears happen in non-contact injuries, such as changing direction rapidly, and the rest are because of 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 interrupted immediately before the injury. Some examples are:

• Landing on uneven footing or landing with improper form
• Colliding with something or someone
• A sudden reduction in speed or switching direction
• Swiveling with a firmly planted foot
• Suffering a direct hit to the knee

Internal Factors

These concern 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 differences

ACL tears don’t just happen 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 owing to anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Meacham Park, MO Physical Therapy

Following an ACL tear, you’ll likely feel pain in the middle of the knee. You might not necessarily feel significant pain after an ACL tear unless other structural damage was done to the knee. Some signals that you might have torn your ACL are:

• Feeling or hearing a pop in your knee
• Having to stop activity
• Rapid swelling
• Loss of range of motion
• Instability when putting weight on your knee

If you suspect you’ve suffered an ACL tear, it’s crucial to contact a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in Meacham Park, MO to verify your injury and start the treatment you need to recover. We offer complimentary, no-obligation injury screenings and know many excellent physicians in Meacham Park, 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 | Meacham Park, MO Physical Therapy

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

Immediately after your ACL tear, it’s best to use over-the-counter pain medication and the R.I.C.E. method to alleviate pain and inflammation. In an examination, a doctor will evaluate your range of motion, and likely order an MRI to confirm the ACL tear and judge the extent of the injury.

As there is no blood flow to the ligament, a complete ACL tear will not be able to heal by itself. That is why the aid of a licensed professional physical therapist is necessary to return 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 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. 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 in place, your journey back to normalcy and the activities you love is still a long way from over. After surgery, you may be given crutches so you can get around for the next few weeks, as your quadriceps muscles will have weakened. Axes Physical Therapy offers both pre- and post-surgical rehabilitation for ACL tears in Meacham Park, 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:

• 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
• Perform movement exercises and balance exercises to return mobility
• Do strength exercises to increase strength
• Possibly 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 licensed Meacham Park, MO area physical therapists of Axes. Before you know it, we will get you back to dominating the local pick-up league, or just enjoying the ability to sit down and stand up without your knee buckling.

How to Prevent an ACL Tear | Meacham Park, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, many people sustain a second ACL tear and they can have permanent consequences. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in Meacham Park, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will educate you on how to avoid another ACL tear later on. 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
• Perform balance exercises
• Perform warm-up exercises before sports or other physical activities
• Make sure you are using appropriate footwear

Our physical therapists committed themselves not only to retuning you to the activities you love, but doing everything possible to ensure that you can carry on doing them without being disrupted by another injury.

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

It is normal to be anxious 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 alongside you to create a proven, tailor-made physical therapy plan to return you to the football field, bowling alley, or just back to your normal, pain-free life. Contact us online or call the location are closest to you.