ACL Tear Greater Osage Hills, 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 back to your job again. At Axes Physical Therapy in Osage Hills, MO, we have devoted 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 put in place customize, empirically-backed treatment plans. If you’ve sustained an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Osage Hills, MO, contact us online or find the most convenient Axes location for you. We focus on getting every patient a positive outcome and getting you back to the things that matter most to you, whether that means burning corners in your local Osage Hills, MO flag football league, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.

What is the ACL? | Osage Hills, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of durable, flexible fibrous tissue that connect two bones. The ligaments in the knee work to keep your knee stable by attaching 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 together to control the forward and backward movement of your knee, and the ACL stops the tibia from moving too far forward on the femur and provides 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 capacity to put weight on your knee and range of motion will be lowered. However serious your injury, trust in the Osage Hills, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully recover.

Causes of an ACL Tear | Osage Hills, MO Physical Therapy

There are as many as 250,000 ACL injuries in the United States annually, 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 data from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, 70% of ACL tears occur in non-contact injuries, such as changing direction rapidly, and the rest are caused by direct blunt force trauma. External and internal factors could both be at play when you suffer an ACL tear:

External Factors

These are when your motion is disrupted just before the injury. Some examples are:

• Landing on uneven footing or landing with improper form
• Something or someone knocking into you
• Instantly decelerating or switching direction
• Pivoting with a firmly planted foot
• Sustaining a direct blow to the knee

Internal Factors

These concern the structure and anatomy of the body. Examples include:

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

ACL tears don’t just transpire in sports, falls and work-related injuries can hurt they ACL as well. The elderly are also at high risk, as our bodies degenerate as we age. Women are 4-6 times more likely to sustain an ACL tear, likely owing to anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Osage Hills, MO Physical Therapy

Following an ACL tear, the pain will likely be at the center of the knee. You might not necessarily feel significant pain after an ACL tear unless other structural damage was done to the knee. Some indicators that you may have suffered an ACL tear are:

• A “popping” sensation in your knee
• Having to stop activity
• Rapid swelling
• 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 critical to reach out to a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in Osage Hills, MO to diagnose your injury and get you the treatment you need. We offer no-cost, no-obligation injury screenings and have a great network of excellent physicians in Osage Hills, MO that we can refer you to. Your Axes physical or occupational therapist, your doctor and medical providers, and you will join forces and work together to ensure your recovery is safe and efficient.

How to Treat an ACL Tear | Osage Hills, MO Physical Therapy

It is imperative to get effective and personalized treatment soon after your ACL tear. If your injury does not heal properly, it can result in complications like obesity or osteoarthritis, which can greatly affect 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 inflammation. In an examination, a doctor will evaluate your range of motion, and likely order an MRI to verify the ACL tear and evaluate the completeness and grade of your tear.

As there is no blood flow to the ligament, a complete ACL tear will not be able to regenerate on its own. That is why the aid of a licensed professional physical therapist is necessary to return to the activities you love. Surgery is the only means available to completely heal an ACL tear. So, surgery is often necessary for younger people, athletes who need their knee reconstructed in order to play, patients with other serious damage to 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 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 attached, you still have a long way to go before you’ll feel fully back to normal. After surgery, you’ll probably 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 Osage Hills, 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. As part of your treatment plan, we will:

• Reduce 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
• Provide you with 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 use electrical stimulation to return strength and flexibility

You have the best chance for a full recovery by actively participating in it and trusting the licensed Osage Hills, MO area physical therapists of Axes. Before you know it, we will return you to tearing up the local softball league, or just enjoying the ability to sit down and stand up without your knee buckling.

How to Prevent an ACL Tear | Osage Hills, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, many people sustain a second ACL tear and they can result in permanent repercussions. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in Osage Hills, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will educate you on how to avoid another ACL tear down the road. We recommend some of the following steps to prevent further injury:

• Strengthen your core
• Having strong hip and leg muscles
• Practice proper form, for example keeping knees shoulder width apart while landing
• Maintain flexibility
• Perform balance exercises
• Perform warm-up exercises before sports or other physical activities
• Always wear appropriate footwear

Our physical therapists dedicate themselves not only to getting you back to the activities you love, but doing everything possible to make certain that you stay off the sidelines.

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

• 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
• Hip Replacement Physical Therapy

ACL Tear in Osage Hills, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to be anxious about your prognosis and road to recovery 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 in concert with you to create a proven, customized 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.