ACL Tear Greater St. Ann, MO. ACL tears can suddenly upend your active routine and daily life. One second you’re flying down the court, engaging in your favorite sport or playing with your kids, and the next second you’re wondering if you’ll get to play or even go to work again. At Axes Physical Therapy in St. Ann, MO, we have dedicated 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 put in place personalized, empirically-backed treatment plans. If you’ve sustained an ACL tear, or any other injury, in St. Ann, MO, contact us online or find the most convenient Axes location for you. We focus on getting every patient positive results and getting you back to the things that matter most to you, whether that means running the bases in your local St. Ann, MO league, or picking up your grandchildren without any pain.

What is the ACL? | St. Ann, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of tough, pliable fibrous tissue that affix 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 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 joint rotates.

ACL tears can be either partial or complete. Depending on the grade of your ACL tear, your ability to put weight on your knee and your movement will be affected. No Matter how serious your injury, trust in the St. Ann, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you achieve a complete recovery.

Causes of an ACL Tear | St. Ann, MO Physical Therapy

There are up to 250,000 ACL injuries in the United States every year, and it is one of the most frequent knee injuries and sports injuries. They are common in contact sports that require frequent and fast cutting and changing directions, such as football, baseball, soccer, and basketball. According to the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, 70% of ACL tears happen in non-contact injuries, such as changing direction quickly, and the rest are caused by 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 just before the injury. Some examples are:

• Landing on uneven footing or landing awkwardly
• Something or someone knocking into you
• A sudden reduction in speed or changing direction
• Pivoting with a firmly planted foot
• Sustaining 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 differences in anatomy between men and women
• How flexible the hamstring and other surrounding muscles are
• Genetic differences

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 | St. Ann, MO Physical Therapy

When you sustain an ACL tear, the pain will likely be in the middle of the knee. You might not necessarily feel significant pain after an ACL tear unless other parts of the knee were also injured. Some signs that you may have suffered an ACL tear are:

• Feeling or hearing a pop in your knee
• Having to cease activity
• Your knee becoming inflamed quickly
• Loss of range of motion
• Not being able to bear weight your knee

If you suspect you’ve sustained an ACL tear, it’s necessary to see a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in St. Ann, MO to confirm your injury and get you the treatment you need. We offer no-cost, no-obligation injury screenings and know many trusted doctors in St. Ann, MO that we can refer you to. Your Axes physical or occupational therapist is an essential part of your recovery team, working closely with you and your doctors and medical providers to collaborate on your safe and efficient recovery.

How to Treat an ACL Tear | St. Ann, MO Physical Therapy

It is vital to get effective and personalized treatment soon after your ACL tear. If your injury does not heal don’t, it can lead to complications like 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 manage pain and inflammation. 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 by itself. 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 the best option for younger people, athletes who need a fully healthy ACL in order to perform, patients with other significant injury to their knee, or those whose ACL tear causes their knee to buckle in basic, everyday activities. 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, your journey back to normalcy and the activities you love is still a long way from over. After surgery, you’ll probably 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 St. Ann, MO to get you a positive outcome for both your physical rehabilitation and your operation. Our ACL tear physical therapy experts will be by your side throughout your recovery process with a personalized treatment plan that has been demonstrated to work. Our treatment methods will help to:

• Reduce pain and swelling
• Educate you on your injury and the rehab process
• Gradually and successfully 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 range of motion
• Do strength exercises to increase strength
• Potentially utilize electrical stimulation to return strength and flexibility

When you work with the experienced St. Ann, MO area physical therapists of Axes and take an active role in your recovery, you have the greatest chance of a complete and quick recovery. Before you know it, we will get you back to dominating the local pick-up league, or just enjoying the ability to climb stairs without feeling any instability in your knee.

How to Prevent an ACL Tear | St. Ann, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, many people suffer a second ACL tear and they can cause life-long consequences. Included in your treatment program in St. Ann, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will educate you on how to avoid another ACL tear in the future. 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
• Stretch consistently
• Increase your balance
• 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 stay off the sidelines.

Some of the other services we offer in St. Ann, 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 St. Ann, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to be apprehensive about your what your life will look like in the 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 design 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.