Because your knees bear the brunt of the weight of your body as you move around and walk, they are one of the joints in your body that are most prone to injury. While there are multiple types of knee injuries, there are only a select few that will require physical therapy during recovery. After these injuries, physical therapy is important so full mobility and range of motion is regained in the knee and you will not be left dealing with excessive joint pain. Take a look at some of the most common knee injuries that will probably require that you have physical therapy during recovery.

Physical therapy may be required after dislocating the knee.

When you dislocate your knee, it basically means the interior connective joint and tissue move away from each other and out of the usual position. A knee dislocation can be one of the most painful types of knee injury. Orthopedic specialists will have to reset the knee, stabilize the knee with a brace temporarily, and then you will have an extensive recovery process that will most likely call for physical therapy. Even though dislocating your knee does not mean that it is technically broken, it does mean that the joints have to have time to heal and during this healing period, moving the knee to keep the ligaments flexible is important.

Physical therapy may be required for anterior cruciate ligament injuries.

Anterior cruciate ligament injuries, which are commonly referred to as ACL injuries to the knee, are what happens when the primary ligament that joins the separate parts of the joint is overextended, torn, or otherwise damaged. These injuries can be slow to heal and oftentimes require extensive physical therapy. Surgery after an ACL injury is quite common for patients who are healing slower than they should, in which case physical therapy becomes even more important.

Physical therapy may be required after microfracture surgery.

If you sustain damage to the thick cartilage of the knee joint, microfracture surgery may be required so the repaired cartilage will heal properly. Even though this is considered minor surgery, the recovery period and how it is handled can determine how well the cartilage heals and how much mobility you have once healed. During your recovery, your physician may require that you undergo several physical therapy sessions just to keep the knee joint moving and flexible as the cartilage heals.  

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