ACL Tear

What is the condition?

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a ligament in your knee that prevents your thigh bone from sliding on your shin bone. It is a stabilising ligament for your knee. It mainly works during sudden stops, change of direction, jumping, and running. It gets torn.

How do get it?

There are many mechanisms of this injury:

  • Sudden change of direction
  • Turning on your planted foot
  • Stopping suddenly
  • Trauma

What problems does it cause?

Depending on how severe the tear is (partial or complete tear), you may have differing degrees of instability resulting from the ligament tear. The instability can cause you to not be able to perform at the highest level in your sporting activity. You will also have a higher predisposition to developing knee arthritis later in your life.

What is this treatment?

After ACL injury, regardless of whether surgery will take place or not, physiotherapy management focuses on regaining range of movement, strength, proprioception, and stability.

How does it work?

There are stages to the ACL rehabilitation. They are:

  • Swelling management
  • Muscle strengthening (close kinetic chain)
  • Dynamic stability
  • Return to sport

How Elevate Physiotherapy does this treatment ?

At Elevate Physiotherapy, we try to incorporate the most modern modality in our programs. We may use targeted radiofrequency therapy in ourtreatment to help you regain your range faster and achieve your goal faster.

What is the process of getting this treatment like? 

There are no preparations that you need to do before coming for your ACL rehabilitation. The treatment also should not be painful.

Any post-procedure pain or downtime? What is the aftercare like?

You should avoid the aggravating activities until your therapist clears you to do those activities. You will also be required to do some exercises to strengthen your muscles and correct the imbalances. Compliance to the exercises is crucial to achieve the best results.

What results to expect?

As this is a problem with muscles imbalance and it takes time to strengthen your muscles, you would need at least 4 weeks of therapy to see the results.