ACL Tear Greater Moselle, MO. ACL tears can abruptly upend your active routine and daily life. One second you’re flying down the field, engaging in your favorite sport or playing with your children, and the next instant you’re don’t know if you’ll get to play or even go to work again. At Axes Physical Therapy in Moselle, MO, we have dedicated our practice to helping our patients regain their strength and mobility, and getting them back to the activities they love. Our ACL tear rehabilitation specialists work with you as a team and put in place tailored treatments plans that have been empirically proven to be effective. If you’ve sustained an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Moselle, 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 breaking defender’s ankles on a Moselle, MO basketball court, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament | Moselle, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of tough, pliable fibrous tissue that affix two bones. The ligaments in the knee work to keep your knee stable by affixing 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 tandem to control the forward and backward movement of your knee, and the ACL safeguards the tibia from moving too far forward on the femur and supplies stability when the knee rotates.

Most ACL tears are partial, but they can be completely torn as well. Depending on the grade of your ACL tear, your ability to bear weight and your motion will be affected. No Matter how significant your injury, trust in the Moselle, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully recover.

Why an ACL Tear Happens | Moselle, MO Physical Therapy

There are up to 250,000 ACL injuries in the United States each year, and it is one of the most common 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, 70% of ACL tears happen in non-contact injuries, such as cutting quickly, and the rest are the result of direct blows to the knee. External and internal factors could both be at play when you suffer an ACL tear:

External Factors

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

• Landing on uneven ground or landing awkwardly
• Colliding with something or someone
• Instantly decelerating or changing direction
• Swiveling with a firmly planted foot
• Sustaining a direct hit to the knee

Internal Factors

These have to do with 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 occur in sports, falls and work-related injuries can hurt 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 suffer an ACL tear, likely due to anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Moselle, MO Physical Therapy

After an ACL tear, the pain will likely be in the middle of the knee. You might not necessarily feel significant pain after an ACL tear except if other parts of the knee were also injured. Some signals that you may have torn your ACL are:

• A “popping” sensation or sound in your knee
• Not being able to continue activity
• Your knee becoming inflamed quickly
• 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 critical to reach out to a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in Moselle, MO to verify your injury and come up with the treatment plan you need to recover. We offer no-cost, no strings attached injury screenings and know many trusted physicians in Moselle, MO that we can refer you to. 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.

ACL Tear Treatments | Moselle, MO Physical Therapy

It is essential to get effective and personalized treatment soon after your ACL tear. If you don’t, it can lead to health conditions like obesity or osteoarthritis, which can significantly impact your quality of life.

Directly following 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, assess your mobility, and likely order an MRI or other tests to verify the ACL tear and gauge the extent of the injury.

Because ligaments do not receive blood flow, a complete ACL tear cannot regenerate 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 a fully healthy ACL in order to play, patients whose ACL tears were accompanied by other significant damage to 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 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, your journey back to normalcy and the activities you love is still a long way from over. 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 Moselle, MO to get you a positive outcome for both your recovery and your surgery. Our ACL tear physical therapy experts will be by your side throughout your recovery process with a personalized treatment plan that has been demonstrated to work. Our treatment methods will help to:

• Reduce 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
• Do strength exercises to return you to full strength
• Possibly 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 expert Moselle, MO area physical therapists of Axes. Before you know it, we will get you back to dominating the local flag football league, or just enjoying being able to to sit down and stand up without feeling any instability in your knee.

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

Unfortunately, second ACL tears are common and they can result in life-long repercussions. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in Moselle, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will educate you on how to avoid another ACL tear down the road. Some of the preventive methods you can take in order to prevent further injury are:

• Strengthen your core
• Having strong hip and leg muscles
• Practice correct form, for instance bending at the knees and hips when turning
• Maintain flexibility
• Perform balance exercises
• Perform warm-up exercises 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 things you love to do, but doing what we can to make sure that you can carry on doing them without being interrupted by another injury.

Some of the other services we offer in Moselle, MO are:

• Stroke Rehabilitation
• Hip Replacement Physical Therapy
• Workers Comp' Physical Therapy
• Migraine Relief
• Sprain and Strain Treatment
• Geriatric Physical Therapy
• Injury Rehabilitation
• Pain Management Services
• TMJ Treatment
• Herniated Disc Treatment

ACL Tear in Moselle, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to be nervous about your what your life will look like in the 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 experienced professionals of Axes Physical Therapy to work in concert with you to produce a proven, personalized rehabilitation plan to return you to the basketball court, bowling alley, or just back to your normal, pain-free daily activities. Contact us online or call the location are closest to you.