ACL Tear Greater St. Clair, MO. ACL tears have an enormous effect on your active routine and daily life. One second you’re sprinting down the field, taking part in your favorite sport or playing with your kids, and the next instant you’re thinking about whether you’ll get to play or even go back to your job again. At Axes Physical Therapy in St. Clair, MO, we have committed 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 create tailored, empirically-backed treatment plans. If you’ve suffered an ACL tear, or any other injury, in St. Clair, 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 breaking defender’s ankles on a St. Clair, MO basketball court, or picking up your grandchildren without any pain.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament | St. Clair, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of durable, flexible connective tissue that affix two bones. The ligaments in the knee work to maintain stability in your knee by connecting 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 stabilize the forward and backward motion of your knee, and the ACL stops 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 capacity to bear weight and your movement will be affected. No Matter how severe your injury, trust in the St. Clair, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully recover.

Why an ACL Tear Happens | St. Clair, MO Physical Therapy

There are up to 250,000 ACL injuries nationwide annually, and it is one of the most common knee injuries and sports injuries. They are common in contact sports that demand frequent and rapid cutting and changing directions, such as football, baseball, soccer, and basketball. According to reporting from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, almost three-quarters of ACL tears occur in non-contact injuries, such as cutting rapidly, and the rest are caused by direct blows to the knee. External and internal factors could both contribute to an ACL tear:

External Factors

These are when your coordination is interrupted immediately before the injury. Some examples are:

• Landing on uneven ground or landing with improper form
• Something or someone bumping into you
• Suddenly decelerating or switching direction
• Spinning 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 body. Examples include:

• The anatomical differences between men and women
• Flexibility of the hamstring
• Differences in genetics

While many ACL tears happen 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 owing to anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | St. Clair, MO Physical Therapy

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

• Feeling or hearing a pop in your knee
• Inability to continue activity
• Your knee becoming inflamed quickly
• Reduction of range of motion
• Instability when bearing weight

If you think you’ve sustained an ACL tear, it’s necessary to visit a physician or a licensed physical therapist in St. Clair, MO to diagnose your injury and come up with the treatment plan you need to recover. We offer no-cost, no strings attached injury screenings and know many excellent doctors in St. Clair, 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.

ACL Tear Treatments | St. Clair, MO Physical Therapy

It is imperative to get effective and personalized treatment soon after your ACL tear. If you don’t, it can cause health conditions like obesity or osteoarthritis, which can greatly affect how you live 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 swelling. In an examination, a doctor will evaluate your mobility, and likely order an MRI to confirm the ACL tear and assess the severity of the injury.

As there is no blood flow to the ligament, 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 necessary for younger people, athletes who need their knee reconstructed in order to perform, patients with other significant damage 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 in place, you still have a long way to go before you’ll feel fully back to normal. After surgery, you may 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 St. Clair, MO to optimize your recovery and the success of your surgery. Our ACL tear physical therapy professionals will work with you throughout your recovery process with a personalized treatment plan that has been proven to work. 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
• Provide you with 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
• Potentially implement electrical stimulation to return strength and flexibility

You have the best chance for a full recovery by actively participating in it and trusting the professional St. Clair, MO area physical therapists of Axes. Before you know it, we will return you to dominating the local pickleball league, or just enjoying being able to to climb stairs without your knee buckling.

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

Unfortunately, many people sustain a second ACL tear and they can cause life-long consequences. Included in your treatment program in St. Clair, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will help you understand the best practices that help to avoid another ACL tear later on. Some of the preventive methods you can take in order to prevent further injury are:

• Strengthen your core
• Having strong hip and leg muscles
• Practice proper technique, for instance always landing with your feet directly over your knee
• Maintain flexibility
• Perform balance exercises
• Always warm up before sports or other physical activities
• Make sure you are using appropriate footwear

Our physical therapists devote themselves not only to getting you back to the things you love to do, but doing everything possible to ensure that you stay off the sidelines.

Some of the other services we offer in St. Clair, MO are:

• Back Pain Treatment
• 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

ACL Tear in St. Clair, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to be apprehensive about your what your life will look like in the future after suffering a severe injury. 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 in concert with you to implement a proven, tailor-made physical therapy plan to get you back to the basketball court, gymnasts’ mat, or just back to your normal, pain-free life. Contact us online or call the location are closest to you.