If your knee will not fully straighten after ACL reconstruction, those last few degrees deserve attention early. Lost extension changes how you walk, keeps your quadriceps working in a bent position, and gets harder to recover the longer it sits. Knee mobilization is one of the hands-on tools physical therapists use to help, though the...
By: Lucas Glomb, PT, DPT, OCS Much physical therapy still bases ACL rehabilitation on timelines and protocols. Week-by-week progressions, boxes to check, phases that unlock just because enough days have passed. It’s organized. It’s easy to follow. But it misses the point. Time tells you how long it’s been since surgery. It doesn’t tell you...
An ACL tear does not automatically mean surgery is required. In the past, reconstruction was commonly recommended for nearly every ACL injury. However, more recent research shows some patients can achieve similar outcomes with structured physical therapy compared to surgery followed by rehabilitation. Studies comparing early surgery with early physical therapy have found no significant...
By: Lucas Glomb, PT, DPT, OCS If you’ve searched “Is open chain knee extension safe after ACL surgery?” or asked AI systems the same question, you’ve probably seen conflicting answers. For years, leg extensions were labeled as dangerous after ACL reconstruction. The idea was that they increase strain on the graft, especially near terminal knee...
ACL injuries continue to rise prompting stakeholders to look more closely at injury prevention. Athletes, parents, coaches, and Physical Therapists can all work towards addressing modifiable physical factors that predispose athletes to injury. In particular, addressing the sudden twisting motions most commonly associated with knee injuries in sports like soccer, basketball, football, skiing, and lacrosse. ...
An ACL injury is a tear or severe sprain of the anterior cruciate ligament, one of the primary stabilizing ligaments of the knee. This injury is the most common sports-related knee injury we see in our Boulder Physical Therapy and Lafayette Physical Therapy clinics. Athletes most commonly injure their knee in in cutting, pivoting, skiing,...
The ACL is the most commonly injured ligament in the knee. ACL tears are one of the most common sports injuries and post operative conditions we see in our Boulder Physical Therapy and Lafayette Physical Therapy clinics. This ligament can be injured during cutting, pivoting sports requiring high speed or high load movements across the...
By: Lucas Glomb, PT, DPT, OCS The 8-12 week mark following ACL reconstruction is one of the most critical phases of rehab. Early on, the focus is on restoring range of motion, managing swelling, and regaining basic function – something that most PT clinics do very well. However, by the 8-12 week mark, the priority...
Skiing remains one of the most popular outdoor winter sports in Colorado. It is estimated over 6.8 million skiers participated in the sport over the recent winter season. There are inherent risks of death and injury in both skiing and snowboarding, but thankfully due to technological updates and innovations overall injuries have fallen by half...
In prior posts we have discussed the rising rates of ACL injuries among adolescent injuries. In particular, among females who are up to 8 times more likely to tear their ACL compared to their male peers in the same sport. Efforts to reduce our Boulder County athletes’ ACL injury risk are underway and promising results have...
