Weeks 1–2
Pain
Protect the knee, calm the swelling.
Gentle, guided movement manages swelling and pain while restoring full knee extension early, a key step in avoiding stiffness later.
What We Treat
ACL Tear treatment in Cherry Hill & Burlington.
The pop you felt on the field. The knee that buckles when you plant and pivot. Whether you’re headed for surgery or already past it, getting back to your sport starts with a cause-first evaluation, not a guess.
Sound Familiar?
Does this sound like you?
- Your knee buckles or gives out the moment you plant and cut
- Swelling that shows back up after any real activity, weeks after it should be gone
- Your surgical-side quad looking visibly smaller than the other leg
- Still flinching before you land from a jump, months after surgery
- Taking stairs one at a time, leading with the good leg
- Cleared by your surgeon on paper, but not sure you actually trust the knee yet
Two or more? Keep reading.
Why It Happens
Surgery repairs the ligament. Rehab is what makes the knee trustworthy again.
Your ACL’s job is to keep your knee stable when you twist, pivot, or land. It usually tears in a split second: a hard plant, a sudden change of direction, a bad landing. But the tear itself is only part of the story. The quad and hamstring around the knee shut down fast after an ACL injury, and whether or not you have surgery, your brain’s trust in that knee takes a hit too.
That’s why “cleared for activity” and “ready for your sport” aren’t the same thing. A cause-first evaluation, one-on-one with a licensed therapist every visit, maps exactly where your strength, motion, and control still fall short. That’s what closes the gap between healed and confident.
The Honest Truth
Waiting doesn’t heal an ACL. It just lets the knee around it get weaker.
If you keep waiting
- Your quad keeps shrinking, so the knee gets less stable, not more
- A limp or a lean quietly starts wearing on your hip and your other knee
- The longer you avoid trusting the knee, the harder it is to retrain your brain to trust it
If you start this week
- You know exactly where your strength and stability gaps are by visit one
- Your rehab gets built around your sport and your goals, not a generic printout
- You get a plan with an endpoint: a real return-to-sport test, not just a discharge date
Nobody regrets starting too early. Every week, someone in our clinic says they regret waiting.
How We Fix It
The same four phases. Built for your comeback.
Every plan has an endpoint. Here’s what the four phases look like for an ACL, from surgery to sport.
Weeks 3–8
Prime
Wake the quad back up.
Targeted work restores full range of motion and re-activates the quad muscle that shuts down fast after an ACL injury.
Weeks 9–20
Perform
Build strength you can trust.
Progressive strengthening and single-leg control work rebuild the stability your knee needs, then reintroduce cutting and pivoting under supervision.
Months 5–9
Prevent
Pass the test before you play.
Hop testing and strength symmetry checks confirm your knee is ready before you’re cleared: that’s the endpoint, not just a date on a calendar.
I have never been to a better physical therapy place. Everyone here is so caring and ready to make anything and everything work for you. Paul runs an amazing practice here. If you need PT, you’ve got to come here.
Shared by Eliyahu M. · ACL Tear
Week 2: could barely bend the knee past 90 degrees
Month 6: cleared to cut and pivot at full speed again
ACL Tear
6 months
Questions, Answered
What people ask before booking for an ACL tear.
Not always, it depends on your activity goals and how the knee behaves day to day. Some people manage well without surgery, especially if they’re not returning to cutting or pivoting sports. Others need reconstruction to feel stable again. Either path starts the same way: a cause-first evaluation that tests your knee’s actual stability, so you and your surgeon decide from real information, not a guess.
Most surgeons and PTs look for somewhere around six to nine months post-surgery, not a fixed date on a calendar. What actually clears you is passing real strength and hop testing that shows your surgical leg matches the other one. Rushing that timeline is the single biggest reason athletes re-tear the same knee, so we’d rather you leave ready than leave early.
ACL rehab is a longer plan than most, and that’s normal, not a red flag. You’ll move through all four phases, Pain, Prime, Perform, and Prevent, one-on-one with a licensed therapist every visit, typically over five to nine months depending on surgery and sport. You’ll always know which phase you’re in and what’s left before you’re cleared, not an open-ended string of appointments.
Book Your Visit
Ready when you are.
Request a time and a real person calls you back, usually within two business hours. No phone tree. No ‘someone will reach out.’ Just a plan.
- Hours Mon–Thu 8am–7pm, Fri 8am–2pm
- Prefer to talk now? Call either office. Cherry Hill 856-424-0993 Burlington 609-880-0880
- Same-week appointments available
5.0 · 607 Google reviews
Typical response: under 2 business hours
Step 1 of 6
Request sent.
That’s the hard part done. We’ll call during business hours to lock in your time. Most people are on the schedule same week.
Visit Us
Care this good, this close.
Specialized Physical Therapy – Cherry Hill
Specialized Physical Therapy – Burlington
- 11 Cadillac Road, Burlington, NJ 08016 (opens in a new tab)
- 609-880-0880
- Fax: 609-227-4423
- frontdesk@specializedphysicaltherapy.com
- Mon–Thu 8am–7pm, Fri 8am–2pm