ACL Tear Greater Wentzville, MO. ACL tears can abruptly obstruct 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 Wentzville, 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 customize treatments plans that have been empirically proven to be effective. If you’ve suffered an ACL tear, or any other injury, in Wentzville, MO, contact us online or check out the most convenient Axes location for you. Our priority is getting every patient great results and getting you back to the things that matter most to you, whether that means breaking defender’s ankles on a Wentzville, MO basketball court, or picking up your grandchildren without any pain.

What is the ACL? | Wentzville, MO Physical Therapy

Ligaments are bands found in joints made of durable, flexible fibrous tissue that attach 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, runs down the center of your knee and forms an “X” with the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL). The ACL and PCL work together 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 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 range of motion will be lowered. Regardless of how severe your injury, trust in the Wentzville, MO licensed physical therapists of Axes to help you fully recover.

Why an ACL Tear Happens | Wentzville, MO Physical Therapy

There are up to 250,000 ACL injuries in the United States each year, and it is one of the most common knee injuries and sports injuries. They are common in contact sports that call for frequent and rapid cutting and switching directions, such as football, baseball, soccer, and basketball. According to data from the National Athletic Trainers’ Association, the vast majority of ACL tears occur in non-contact injuries, such as cutting quickly, and the rest are caused by direct blows to the knee. 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 ground or landing awkwardly
• Colliding with something or someone
• Suddenly decelerating or switching direction
• Pivoting with a firmly planted foot
• Receiving a direct hit to the knee

Internal Factors

These are related to the structure and anatomy of the knee and legs. Some examples are:

• The anatomical differences 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. 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 due to anatomical differences.

Symptoms of an ACL Tear | Wentzville, 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 except if other parts of the knee were also injured. Some signals that you might have torn your ACL are:

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

If you think you’ve suffered an ACL tear, it’s important to contact a doctor or a licensed physical therapist in Wentzville, MO to verify your injury and come up with the treatment plan you need to recover. We offer free, no strings attached injury screenings and work with many excellent doctors in Wentzville, 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.

ACL Tear Treatments | Wentzville, MO Physical Therapy

It is imperative to get effective and personalized treatment soon after your ACL tear. If you don’t, it can lead to problems like obesity or osteoarthritis, which can significantly impact your quality of 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 assess your range of motion, and likely order an MRI or other tests to verify the ACL tear and assess the completeness and grade of your tear.

Because ligaments do not receive blood flow, a complete ACL tear will not be able to regenerate by itself. That is why the aid of a licensed professional physical therapist is necessary to get back 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 play, patients with other serious damage to other parts of 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, you still have a long way to go before you’ll feel fully back to normal. After surgery, you may 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 Wentzville, MO to get you the best results for both your recovery and your surgery. Our ACL tear physical therapy specialists 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 get you back to bearing weight
• Fit you for a brace and teach you how to safely use it
• Perform movement exercises and balance exercises to increase mobility
• Do strength exercises to return you to full strength
• Possibly employ electrical stimulation to return strength and flexibility

When you work with the knowledgeable Wentzville, MO area physical therapists of Axes and take an active role in your recovery, you have the best chance of a complete and quick recovery. Before you know it, we will get you back to tearing up the local softball league, or just enjoying being able to to climb stairs without your knee buckling.

How to Prevent an ACL Tear | Wentzville, MO Physical Therapy

Unfortunately, many people sustain a second ACL tear and they can lead to permanent consequences. As part of our ACL tear physical therapy services in Wentzville, MO, our Certified Athletic Trainers will educate you on how to avoid another ACL tear down the road. 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 proper 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
• 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 stay off the sidelines.

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

It is normal to experience anxieties about your what your life will look like in the future after being seriously injured. 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 with you to create a proven, personalized physical therapy plan to return you to the football field, gymnasts’ mat, or just back to your normal, pain-free life. Contact us online or call the location are closest to you.