ACL Tear Greater New Melle, MO. ACL tears can abruptly upend 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 New Melle, 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 in concert with you as a team and develop tailored, empirically-backed treatment plans. If you’ve suffered an ACL tear, or any other injury, in New Melle, MO, contact us online or locate the most convenient Axes location for you. We dedicate ourselves to getting every patient positive results and getting you back to the things that matter most to you, whether that means burning corners in your local New Melle, MO flag football league, or picking up your grandchildren without any pain.

What is the ACL? | New Melle, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of durable, pliable connective tissue that attach two bones. The ligaments in the knee help keep your knee stable 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 in concert to stabilize the forward and backward motion of your knee, and the ACL shields the tibia from sliding too far forward on the femur and provides rotational stability.

Most ACL tears are partial, but they can be completely torn as well. Depending on the grade of your ACL tear, your capacity to put weight on your knee and your motion will be affected. Regardless of how serious your injury, trust in the New Melle, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully recover.

Why an ACL Tear Happens | New Melle, 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. They are common in contact sports that demand frequent and fast cutting and switching directions, such as football, baseball, soccer, and basketball. According to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, the vast majority of ACL tears happen in non-contact injuries, such as cutting rapidly, and the rest are caused by direct blunt force trauma. External and internal factors could both contribute to an ACL tear:

External Factors

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

• Landing on uneven ground or landing with improper form
• Something or someone knocking into you
• A sudden reduction in speed or changing direction
• Swiveling with a firmly planted foot
• Receiving a direct blow to the knee

Internal Factors

These concern the structure and anatomy of the knee and legs. Examples include:

• The anatomical differences between men and women
• How flexible the hamstring and other surrounding muscles are
• Differences in genetics

ACL tears don’t just occur in sports, falls and work-related injuries can hurt they ACL too. 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 as a result of anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | New Melle, MO Physical Therapy

After an ACL tear, you’ll likely feel pain at the center of the knee. You might not necessarily feel considerable pain after an ACL tear unless other parts of the knee were also injured. Some indicators that you might have sustained an ACL tear include:

• Feeling or hearing a pop in your knee
• Having to stop activity
• Your knee becoming inflamed quickly
• Loss of range of motion
• Not being able to put any weight on your knee

If you think you’ve suffered an ACL tear, it’s crucial to contact a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in New Melle, MO to diagnose your injury and get you the treatment you need. We offer free, no-obligation injury screenings and have a wide network of excellent physicians in New Melle, MO that we can refer you to. 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 | New Melle, MO Physical Therapy

It is vital to get effective and personalized treatment soon after your ACL tear. If you delay, or your treatment is ineffective, it can cause complications like obesity or osteoarthritis, which can significantly impact how you live 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 mitigate pain and inflammation. In an examination, a doctor will assess your mobility, and likely order an MRI or other tests to confirm the ACL tear and evaluate the completeness and grade of your tear.

Because blood does not flow to ligaments, a complete ACL tear will not be able to regenerate by itself. This means that you will need the help of licensed professional physical therapists in order to return to the activities you love. The only way to fully repair an ACL tear is through surgery. So, surgery is often necessary for younger people, athletes who need a fully functioning ACL in order to perform, patients whose ACL tears were accompanied by other significant damage 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 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, you still have a long way to go before you’ll feel fully back to normal. After surgery, you’ll probably 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 New Melle, MO to optimize your recovery and the success of 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
• Educate you on your injury and the rehab process
• Gradually and successfully get you back to bearing weight
• Provide you with a brace and teach you how to safely use it
• Perform movement exercises and balance exercises to return range of motion
• Do strength exercises to increase strength
• Possibly employ electrical stimulation to return strength and flexibility

When you work with the experienced New Melle, MO area physical therapists of Axes and take an active role in your rehabilitation, you have the greatest chance of a complete and timely recovery. 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 | New Melle, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, second ACL tears are common and they can cause permanent consequences. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in New Melle, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will educate you on how to avoid another ACL tear in the future. We recommend some of the following steps to prevent further injury:

• Having a strong core
• Having strong hip and leg muscles
• Practice proper form, for instance landing evenly on both feet
• Stretch consistently
• Increase your balance
• Always warm up 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 everything possible to make sure that you stay off the sidelines.

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

• 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
• Stroke Rehabilitation

ACL Tear in New Melle, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to be apprehensive about your your future after being seriously injured. 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 in concert with you to design a proven, tailor-made rehabilitation plan to return you to the basketball court, bowling alley, or just back to your normal, pain-free life. Contact us online or call the location are closest to you.