ACL Tear Greater Peerless Park, MO. ACL tears can abruptly obstruct 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 to work again. At Axes Physical Therapy in Peerless Park, 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 customize treatments plans that have been empirically proven to be effective. If you’ve sustained an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Peerless Park, 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 burning corners in your local Peerless Park, MO flag football league, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament | Peerless Park, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of tough, flexible fibrous tissue that affix two bones. The ligaments in the knee help maintain stability in your knee 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 stabilize the forward and backward motion of your knee, and the ACL prevents the tibia from moving too far forward on the femur and provides stability when the joint rotates.

ACL tears can be either partial or complete. Depending on the grade of your ACL tear, your ability to bear weight and range of motion will be lowered. Regardless of how significant your injury, trust in the Peerless Park, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully recover.

Why an ACL Tear Happens | Peerless Park, MO Physical Therapy

There are as many as 250,000 ACL injuries in the United States 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 data from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, 70% of ACL tears occur in non-contact injuries, such as cutting quickly, and the rest are the result of 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 coordination is interrupted immediately before the injury. Some examples are:

• Landing on uneven footing or landing awkwardly
• Something or someone knocking into you
• Suddenly decelerating or switching 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. Examples include:

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

ACL tears don’t just happen in sports, falls and work-related injuries can hurt they ACL as well. 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 owing to anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Peerless Park, MO Physical Therapy

After an ACL tear, you’ll likely feel pain at the center of the knee. An ACL tear does not always cause sever pain unless other parts of the knee were also injured. Some signals that you might have torn your ACL include:

• Feeling or hearing a pop in your knee
• Inability to continue activity
• Rapid swelling
• Reduction of range of motion
• Instability when putting 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 Peerless Park, MO to diagnose your injury and get you the treatment you need. We offer free, no-obligation injury screenings and know many excellent doctors in Peerless Park, 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.

ACL Tear Treatments | Peerless Park, MO Physical Therapy

It is vital to get prompt, effective, personalized treatment for 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.

Immediately after your ACL tear, you should use over-the-counter pain medication and the R.I.C.E. method to alleviate pain and swelling. A doctor will then examine you, assess your range of motion, and likely order an MRI or other tests to confirm the ACL tear and evaluate the completeness and grade of your tear.

Because ligaments do not receive blood flow, 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. The only way to fully repair an ACL tear is through surgery. So, surgery is often recommended for younger people, athletes who need their knee reconstructed in order to play, patients with other serious injury 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 injured 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, your journey back to normalcy and the activities you love is still a long way from over. 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 Peerless Park, MO to optimize your recovery and the success of your operation. Our ACL tear physical therapy professionals will work with you throughout your recovery process with proven, customized physical therapy. As part of your treatment plan, we will:

• Alleviate 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
• Do movement exercises and balance exercises to increase mobility
• Perform strength exercises to return you to full strength
• Possibly 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 professional Peerless Park, MO area physical therapists of Axes. Before you know it, we will get you back to dominating the local pick-up league, or just enjoying being able to to climb stairs without any pain.

How to Prevent an ACL Tear | Peerless Park, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, many people suffer a second ACL tear and they can have permanent repercussions. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in Peerless Park, 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 proper form, for instance always landing with your feet directly over your knee
• 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 retuning you to the things you love to do, but doing everything possible to make certain that you stay off the sidelines.

Some of the other services we offer in Peerless Park, 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 Peerless Park, 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 alongside you to create a proven, tailor-made rehabilitation plan to return you to the football field, bowling alley, or just back to your normal, pain-free daily activities. Contact us online or call the location are closest to you.