ACL Tear Greater South County, MO. ACL tears have a tremendous effect on your active and daily routine. 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 South County, MO, we have committed 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 create personalized treatments plans that have been empirically proven to be effective. If you’ve suffered an ACL tear, or any other injury, in South County, 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 the things that matter most to you, whether that means running the bases in your local South County, MO league, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.

What is the ACL? | South County, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of tough, flexible fibrous tissue that attach 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, runs down the center of your knee and forms an “X” with the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). The ACL and PCL work in tandem to stabilize the forward and backward movement of your knee, and the ACL stops the tibia from slipping 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 bear weight and your movement will be affected. No Matter how severe your injury, trust in the South County, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you accomplish a complete recovery.

Why an ACL Tear Happens | South County, 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 frequent 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 occur in non-contact injuries, such as changing direction rapidly, and the rest are the result of direct blows to the knee. External and internal factors could both be at play when you sustain an ACL tear:

External Factors

These are when your movement is obstructed immediately before the injury. Some examples are:

• Landing on uneven ground or landing with improper form
• Something or someone bumping into you
• Instantly decelerating or changing direction
• Spinning with a firmly planted foot
• Receiving a direct blow to the knee

Internal Factors

These are related to 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

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 sustain an ACL tear, likely due to anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | South County, MO Physical Therapy

After an ACL tear, you’ll likely feel pain at the center of the knee. You might not necessarily feel significant pain after an ACL tear except if other structural damage was done to the knee. Some signs that you might have suffered an ACL tear are:

• A “popping” sensation in your knee
• Having to stop activity
• Rapid swelling
• Reduction of range of motion
• Instability when bearing weight

If you think you’ve suffered an ACL tear, it’s critical to contact a physician or a licensed physical therapist in South County, MO to diagnose your injury and get you the treatment you need. We offer free, no strings attached injury screenings and have a great network of trusted physicians in South County, MO that we can connect you with. 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 | South County, MO Physical Therapy

It is important to get effective and personalized treatment soon after your ACL tear. If you don’t, it can result in problems such as 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 mitigate pain and inflammation. In an examination, a doctor will assess your range of motion, and likely order an MRI or other tests to confirm the ACL tear and evaluate the extent of the injury.

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 a fully healthy ACL in order to play, patients whose ACL tears were accompanied by other significant injury to their knee, or those whose ACL tear causes their knee to buckle in basic, everyday activities. ACL surgery is usually 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 likely be given crutches so you can get around for the next few weeks, as your quadriceps muscles will have weakened. Axes Physical Therapy offers both pre- and post-surgical rehabilitation for ACL tears in South County, MO to optimize your recovery and the success of your surgery. Our ACL tear physical therapy specialists will guide you through your recovery process with proven, customized physical therapy. As part of your treatment plan, we will:

• Reduce pain and swelling
• Educate you on your injury and the rehab process
• 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
• Perform movement exercises and balance exercises to return mobility
• Perform strength exercises to return you to full strength
• Possibly implement 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 licensed South County, MO area physical therapists of Axes. Before you know it, we will return you to dominating the local flag football league, or just enjoying the ability to climb stairs without your knee buckling.

How to Prevent an ACL Tear | South County, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, second ACL tears are common and they can result in permanent repercussions. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in South County, 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:

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

Our physical therapists committed themselves not only to getting you back to the things you love to do, but doing everything possible to make sure that you can carry on doing them without being interrupted by another injury.

Some of the other services we offer in South County, 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 South County, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to experience anxieties about your what your life will look like in the future 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 in concert with you to produce a proven, personalized rehabilitation plan to return you to the football field, bowling alley, or just back to your normal, pain-free life. Contact us online or call the location are closest to you.