ACL Tear Greater Sunset Hills, MO. ACL tears have an enormous effect on 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 back to your job again. At Axes Physical Therapy in Sunset Hills, 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 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 Sunset Hills, MO, contact us online or locate the most convenient Axes location for you. Our priority is getting every patient a positive outcome and getting you back to the things that matter most to you, whether that means burning corners in your local Sunset Hills, MO flag football league, or carrying your children on your shoulders without any pain.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament | Sunset Hills, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of durable, 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, 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 movement of your knee, and the ACL prevents the tibia from slipping too far forward on the femur and supplies stability when the joint rotates.

ACL tears can be either partial or complete. Depending on the grade of your ACL tear, your capacity to bear weight and range of motion will be lowered. However severe your injury, trust in the Sunset Hills, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully heal.

Causes of an ACL Tear | Sunset Hills, MO Physical Therapy

There are as many as 250,000 ACL injuries in the United States annually, 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 the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, the vast majority of ACL tears happen in non-contact injuries, such as cutting quickly, and the rest are because 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 motion is interrupted immediately before the injury. Some examples are:

• Landing on uneven ground or landing with improper form
• Being hit by something or someone
• Instantly decelerating or switching direction
• Swiveling with a firmly planted foot
• Receiving a direct hit to the knee

Internal Factors

These concern the structure and anatomy of the body. Some examples are:

• The differences in anatomy between men and women
• How flexible the hamstring and other surrounding muscles are
• 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 as a result of anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Sunset Hills, MO Physical Therapy

After an ACL tear, the pain will likely be in the middle of the knee. An ACL tear does not always cause significant pain unless other structural damage was done to the knee. Some signals that you may have torn your ACL are:

• A “popping” sensation or sound in your knee
• Not being able to continue activity
• Your knee becoming inflamed quickly
• Reduction of range of motion
• Not being able to put any weight on your knee

If you suspect you’ve sustained an ACL tear, it’s imperative to visit a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in Sunset Hills, MO to diagnose your injury and get you the treatment you need. We offer free, no strings attached injury screenings and work with many trusted doctors in Sunset Hills, MO that we can connect you with. 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.

How to Treat an ACL Tear | Sunset Hills, MO Physical Therapy

It is imperative to get effective and personalized treatment soon after your ACL tear. If your injury does not heal properly, it can result in complications such as obesity or osteoarthritis, which can greatly affect your quality of 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 swelling. A doctor will then examine you, evaluate your mobility, and likely order an MRI to confirm the ACL tear and evaluate the severity of the injury.

As there is no blood flow to the ligament, a complete ACL tear cannot heal 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 whose ACL tears were accompanied by other serious damage to other parts of 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 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, 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 have weakened. Axes Physical Therapy offers both pre- and post-surgical rehabilitation for ACL tears in Sunset Hills, MO to optimize your recovery and the success of your surgery. Our ACL tear physical therapy professionals will be by your side throughout your recovery process with proven, customized physical therapy. As part of your treatment plan, we will:

• Alleviate pain and swelling
• Provide patient education so you understand your injury and why our methods work
• Gradually and successfully get you back to bearing weight
• Fit you for a brace and teach you how to safely use it
• Do movement exercises and balance exercises to return range of motion
• Do strength exercises to return you to full strength
• Possibly 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 licensed Sunset Hills, MO area physical therapists of Axes. Before you know it, we will get you back to dominating the local pickleball league, or just enjoying the ability to sit down and stand up without feeling any instability in your knee.

How to Prevent an ACL Tear | Sunset Hills, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, second ACL tears are common and they can cause permanent consequences. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in Sunset Hills, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will help you understand the best practices that help to avoid another ACL tear down the road. We recommend some of the following steps to prevent further injury:

• Having a strong core
• Having strong hip and leg muscles
• Practice proper form, for example bending at the knees and hips when turning
• Stretch consistently
• Perform balance exercises
• Perform warm-up exercises 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 what we can to make certain that you stay off the sidelines.

Some of the other services we offer in Sunset Hills, 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 Sunset Hills, MO | Axes Physical Therapy

It is normal to be nervous about your your 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 experienced professionals of Axes Physical Therapy to work alongside you to produce a proven, tailor-made rehabilitation plan to return you 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.