What causes ACL injuries?
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of four ligaments that stabilize your knee. The ACL’s primary responsibilities include controlling back and forth movement and giving your knee rotational stability.
Though you can injure the ACL from a direct hit to the knee, most ACL tears happen during the following movements:
- Suddenly stopping
- Slowing down while running
- Rapidly changing direction
- Landing a jump incorrectly
- Pivoting and sidestepping
High-demand sports like soccer, football, skiing, and basketball frequently result in ACL injuries.
What symptoms develop if I have an ACL injury?
Most patients hear a popping sound when the ACL tears. You may also experience symptoms such as:
- Severe pain
- Swelling
- Knee instability
- Loss of movement
- Difficulty walking
- Tenderness along the joint
- Knee buckling or feeling like the knee is loose
- Tenderness along the joint
About half of all patients injure other structures in their knee at the same time as their ACL injury.
How is an ACL injury treated?
If you have a mild ACL injury, your therapist at Elite Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation may only need to immobilize your knee or modify your activities to give the ACL time to heal. After the swelling goes down, they start physical therapy to fully rehabilitate the knee.
However, when the ACL tears, it often requires surgery, especially if you want to return to athletics or competitive sports. If you don’t have surgery, the ligament doesn’t regain optimum strength, and it can’t support rigorous activities.
How does physical therapy rehabilitate an ACL injury?
After ACL surgery, your physical therapist designs a program that gradually allows you to bear weight on the knee so you can stop using crutches.
Your post-operative physical therapy treatment also includes:
- Icing
- Compression
- Movement exercises
- Electrical stimulation
- Strengthening exercises
- Balance exercises
During your first post-op week, the team at Elite Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation implements gentle exercises that help you regain motion. They slowly increase your regimen until the full range of motion returns.
As you heal and regain movement, your treatment intensifies to include exercises that strengthen the muscles supporting your knee. Finally, you start a physical therapy regimen to restore balance. Your physical therapist also implements a return-to-sport program with exercises geared toward your individual sport.
If you need to rehabilitate from an ACL injury, call Elite Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation, or schedule an appointment online today.
