ACL Tear Greater Moselle, MO. ACL tears have a tremendous effect on your active and daily routine. One second you’re sprinting down the field, playing your favorite sport or having fun with your children, and the next moment you’re don’t know if you’ll get to play or even go back to your job again. At Axes Physical Therapy in Moselle, 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 with you as a team and create tailored, evidence-based treatment plans. 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. We dedicate ourselves to getting every patient positive results and getting you back to what’s most important to you, whether that means running the bases in your local Moselle, MO league, or picking up your grandchildren without any pain.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament | Moselle, 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 tandem to control the front and back motion of your knee, and the ACL impedes the tibia from sliding too far forward on the femur and supplies stability when the joint rotates.

ACL tears can be either partial or complete. Depending on the grade of your ACL tear, your capacity to bear weight and your motion will be affected. Regardless of how severe your injury, trust in the Moselle, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you achieve a complete recovery.

Why an ACL Tear Happens | Moselle, MO Physical Therapy

There are up to 250,000 ACL injuries nationwide 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 the most likely to get ACL tears. According to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, almost three-quarters of ACL tears happen in non-contact injuries, such as changing direction quickly, 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 disrupted immediately 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 changing direction
• Pivoting with a firmly planted foot
• Receiving a direct blow to the knee

Internal Factors

These have to do with the structure and anatomy of the knee and legs. Some examples are:

• The anatomical differences between men and women
• How flexible the hamstring and other surrounding muscles are
• Genetic variations

While many ACL tears transpire in sports, they are also common in falls and work-related injuries. 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 because of anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Moselle, MO Physical Therapy

Following an ACL tear, you’ll likely feel pain at the center 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 include:

• Feeling or hearing a pop in your knee
• Having to cease activity
• Rapid swelling
• Loss of range of motion
• Not being able to bear weight your knee

If you suspect you’ve sustained an ACL tear, it’s vital to visit a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in Moselle, MO to verify your injury and start the treatment you need to recover. We offer no-cost, no strings attached injury screenings and work with many excellent doctors 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 vital to get prompt, effective, personalized treatment for your ACL tear. If you wait, or your treatment is ineffective, it can cause health conditions such as obesity or osteoarthritis, which can greatly affect your quality of 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 mitigate pain and inflammation. In an examination, a doctor will evaluate your mobility, and likely order an MRI or other tests to confirm the ACL tear and assess the completeness and grade of your tear.

As there is no blood flow to the ligament, a complete ACL tear cannot heal 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 the best option for younger people, athletes who need their knee reconstructed in order to perform, patients whose ACL tears were accompanied by other significant injury to other parts of their knee, or those whose ACL tear causes pain or weakness when performing 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 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 Moselle, MO to get you the best results for both your physical rehabilitation and your surgery. Our ACL tear physical therapy experts will work with you throughout your recovery process with proven, customized physical therapy. As part of your treatment plan, we will:

• Mitigate 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 increase range of motion
• Do strength exercises to return you to full strength
• Potentially use 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 expert Moselle, MO area physical therapists of Axes. Before you know it, we will return you to dominating the local softball league, or just enjoying being able to to sit down and stand up without any pain.

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

Unfortunately, second ACL tears are common and they can have permanent consequences. Included in your treatment program in Moselle, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will help you understand the best practices that help to avoid another ACL tear down the line. We recommend some of the following steps to prevent further injury:

• Strengthen your core
• Strengthen your hip and leg muscles
• Practice correct technique, for instance bending at the knees and hips when turning
• Stretch consistently
• Increase your balance
• Always warm up 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 what we can to ensure that you can carry on doing them without being disrupted by another injury.

Some of the other services we offer in Moselle, 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 Moselle, 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 might be impatient to return to your active lifestyle and physical activities you value. Trust in the knowledgeable professionals of Axes Physical Therapy to work in concert with you to design a proven, personalized rehabilitation plan to return you 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.