ACL Tear Greater Oakland, MO. ACL tears have a tremendous effect on your active and daily routine. One moment you’re running down the field, taking part in your favorite sport or playing with your kids, and the next moment you’re thinking about whether you’ll get to play or even go to work again. At Axes Physical Therapy in Oakland, 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 with you as a team and develop customize treatments plans that have been empirically proven to be effective. If you’ve sustained an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Oakland, MO, contact us online or find the most convenient Axes location for you. We dedicate ourselves to getting every patient a positive outcome and getting you back to what’s most important to you, whether that means running the bases in your local Oakland, MO league, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament | Oakland, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of durable, flexible fibrous 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 tandem to control the front and back motion of your knee, and the ACL shields the tibia from moving 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 put weight on your knee and range of motion will be lowered. No Matter how serious your injury, trust in the Oakland, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully recover.

Causes of an ACL Tear | Oakland, MO Physical Therapy

There are as many as 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 at high risk for ACL tears. According to reporting from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, almost three-quarters of ACL tears happen in non-contact injuries, such as cutting rapidly, and the rest are caused by direct blows to the knee. 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 with improper form
• Something or someone bumping into you
• A sudden reduction in speed or switching direction
• Swiveling with a firmly planted foot
• Sustaining a direct hit to the knee

Internal Factors

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

• The anatomical differences between men and women
• Flexibility of the hamstring
• Genetic variations

While many ACL tears happen 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 sustain an ACL tear, likely as a result of anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Oakland, MO Physical Therapy

Following an ACL tear, you’ll likely feel pain at the center of the knee. An ACL tear does not always cause sever pain except if other constructive damage was done to the knee. Some signals that you may have torn your ACL are:

• A “popping” sensation in your knee
• Having to stop activity
• Your knee becoming inflamed quickly
• Reduction 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 visit a physician or a licensed physical therapist in Oakland, MO to confirm your injury and get you the treatment you need. We offer no-cost, no strings attached injury screenings and have a wide network of trusted doctors in Oakland, MO that we can refer you to. Your Axes physical or occupational therapist, your doctor and medical providers, and you will form a close team and work together to ensure your recovery is safe and efficient.

ACL Tear Treatments | Oakland, MO Physical Therapy

It is important to get prompt, effective, personalized treatment for your ACL tear. If you delay, or your treatment is ineffective, it can lead to health conditions such as obesity or osteoarthritis, which can greatly affect you for the remainder of your life.

In the minutes after your ACL tear, you should use over-the-counter pain medication and the R.I.C.E. method to alleviate pain and inflammation. A doctor will then examine you, evaluate your mobility, and likely order an MRI or other tests to verify the ACL tear and gauge the extent of the injury.

Because blood does not flow to ligaments, a complete ACL tear cannot regenerate on its own. This means that you will need the help of licensed professional physical therapists in order to return 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 a fully functioning ACL in order to play, patients whose ACL tears were accompanied by other serious damage to their knee, or those whose ACL tear causes their knee to buckle in 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 in place, you still have a long way to go before you’ll feel fully back to normal. After surgery, you may need crutches to move around, as your quadriceps muscles will have weakened. Axes Physical Therapy offers both pre- and post-surgical rehabilitation for ACL tears in Oakland, MO to get you a positive outcome for both your recovery and your operation. Our ACL tear physical therapy experts will guide you through your recovery process with a personalized treatment plan that has been demonstrated to work. 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 allow you to put weight on your knee again
• Provide you with a brace and teach you how to safely use it
• Do movement exercises and balance exercises to increase mobility
• Do strength exercises to return you to full strength
• Potentially implement electrical stimulation to return strength and flexibility

When you work with the knowledgeable Oakland, MO area physical therapists of Axes and take an active role in your rehabilitation, you have the greatest chance of a complete and efficient 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 any pain.

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

Unfortunately, second ACL tears are common and they can have life-long repercussions. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in Oakland, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will educate you on how to avoid another ACL tear down the line. We recommend some of the following steps to prevent further injury:

• Having a strong core
• Having strong hip and leg muscles
• Practice correct form, for example always landing with your feet directly over your knee
• 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 dedicate themselves not only to getting you back to the activities you love, but doing everything possible to make sure that you can continue doing them without being interrupted by another injury.

Some of the other services we offer in Oakland, 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 Oakland, 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 experienced professionals of Axes Physical Therapy to work alongside you to create a proven, personalized rehabilitation plan to return you 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.