ACL Tear Greater Ozark View, MO. ACL tears can unexpectedly disrupt your active routine and daily life. One moment you’re running down the field, taking part in your favorite sport or playing with your children, and the next moment you’re wondering if you’ll get to play or even go to work again. At Axes Physical Therapy in Ozark View, 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 in tandem with you as a team and design tailored treatments plans that have been empirically proven to be effective. If you’ve sustained an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Ozark View, MO, contact us online or find the most convenient Axes location for you. We dedicate ourselves to getting every patient great results and getting you back to the things that matter most to you, whether that means burning corners in your local Ozark View, MO flag football league, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.

What is the ACL? | Ozark View, 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 maintain stability in your knee 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 movement of your knee, and the ACL shields the tibia from sliding too far forward on the femur and supplies stability when the joint 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 put weight on your knee and range of motion will be impacted. No Matter how serious your injury, trust in the Ozark View, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you accomplish a complete recovery.

Why an ACL Tear Happens | Ozark View, MO Physical Therapy

There are as many as 250,000 ACL injuries in the United States every 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 reporting from 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 motion is disrupted just before the injury. Some examples are:

• Landing on uneven footing or landing awkwardly
• Something or someone bumping into you
• Suddenly decelerating or switching direction
• Swiveling with a firmly planted foot
• Sustaining a direct hit to the knee

Internal Factors

These are related to 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 occur in sports, they are also common in falls and work-related injuries. 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 | Ozark View, MO Physical Therapy

When you sustain 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 parts of the knee were also injured. Some indicators that you might have suffered an ACL tear include:

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

If you think you’ve sustained an ACL tear, it’s necessary to visit a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in Ozark View, MO to diagnose your injury and start the treatment you need to recover. We offer complimentary, no-obligation injury screenings and know many excellent physicians in Ozark View, 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 | Ozark View, MO Physical Therapy

It is essential to get effective and personalized treatment soon after your ACL tear. If you wait, or your treatment is ineffective, it can lead to complications like obesity or osteoarthritis, which can greatly affect how you live your life.

Directly following your ACL tear, you should use over-the-counter pain medication and the R.I.C.E. method to manage pain and swelling. In an examination, a doctor will assess your mobility, and likely order an MRI to confirm the ACL tear and assess the completeness and grade of your tear.

Because blood does not flow to ligaments, a complete ACL tear cannot heal by itself. That is why the aid of a licensed professional physical therapist is necessary to return to the activities you love. The only way to fully repair an ACL tear is through surgery. So, surgery is often the best option for younger people, athletes who need their knee reconstructed in order to perform, patients with other serious damage to other parts of their knee, or those whose ACL tear causes their knee to buckle in basic, everyday tasks. ACL surgery is typically done by taking a graft from another tendon — either one of yours or a deceased donor’s — and then using small incisions to attach the graft to the femur and tibia.

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 probably 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 Ozark View, MO to get you a positive outcome for both your physical rehabilitation and your surgery. Our ACL tear physical therapy specialists will work with you throughout your recovery process with proven, customized physical therapy. Our treatment methods will help to:

• Mitigate 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
• Fit you for a brace and teach you how to safely use it
• Do movement exercises and balance exercises to increase mobility
• Perform strength exercises to return you to full strength
• Potentially implement electrical stimulation as a supplement to the exercises

When you work with the knowledgeable Ozark View, MO area physical therapists of Axes and take an active role in your recovery, you have the best chance of a complete and timely recovery. Before you know it, we will return you to dominating the local pickleball league, or just enjoying being able to to climb stairs without feeling any instability in your knee.

How to Prevent an ACL Tear | Ozark View, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, many people sustain a second ACL tear and they can cause permanent consequences. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in Ozark View, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will help you understand the best practices that help to avoid another ACL tear down the line. Some of the preventive methods you can take in order to prevent further injury are:

• Having a strong core
• Strengthen your hip and leg muscles
• Practice correct technique, 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
• Always wear appropriate footwear

Our physical therapists committed themselves not only to retuning you to the activities you love, but doing what we can to make certain that you can carry on doing them without being disrupted by another injury.

Some of the other services we offer in Ozark View, 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 Ozark View, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to be apprehensive about your prognosis and road to recovery 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 with you to create a proven, customized physical therapy plan to get you back 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.