Return to Your Sport with A Step Ahead Physical Therapy

Don't be a part of the 40% that suffers a second ACL injury after returning to your sport!

Return To Sport

It has been 10 months since your ACL reconstruction surgery and you’ve been cleared to return to soccer! That is great news, but is your body truly ready to return? Many studies have found that athletes are cleared for full activity without objective measures to quantify asymmetries that put you at further risk of a re-injury. A recent study in 2021 found a 40% recurrence rate for a second ACL injury in athletes under 20 and that is why return to sport testing is one of the most crucial steps in your rehabilitation.

Post-Op Rehabilitation

Your post-operative rehabilitation likely began a few days after surgery and you have gone from very simple exercises to more functional movements within the past few months. Immediate concerns after surgery are obvious with an emphasis on decreasing pain and swelling while increasing range of motion and strength. Now that you have mastered the basic exercises and built a firm foundation, you are ready to progress to activities that may look like the sport you are trying to return to. The next step in your recovery is returning to your sport or activity!

You may have been medically cleared to return to your sport but certain objective measures may show that is not the case. Return to sport tests like the Functional Movement Screen (FMS) along with hop tests including the single leg hop or tuck jump tests demonstrate asymmetries or biomechanical faults that put you at higher risk of re-injury.

Full Body Approach from A Step Ahead Physical Therapy

At A Step Ahead Physical Therapy, we take a full body approach to determine whether you are ready to return to your sport. We use multiple different tests and measures to gather objective data and develop a plan to ensure you are ready to safely return to your sport while decreasing the risk of re-injury and the potential for another surgery. If your scores show that you are not quite ready to return, we will create an individualized plan to get you back to your activity safely and give you the ability to perform at your best.

Written by: Matt Jacobson PT, DPT, ATC