top of page
mrashad18

ACL INJURY – Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tear

Updated: Mar 30


What is ACL tear?

An ACL tear means torn or sprained an anterior cruciate ligament, which is amongst one of the main ligaments in humans knee. Generally, an ACL tear or injury happens to sportspeople when they suddenly stop or perform changes in direction which involves jumping and landing. The injury is commonly seen in individuals practicing soccer, basketball, football and etc.

When an ACL tear occurs, a patient hears or feel a “pop” in their knee. Following the injury, the knee becomes unstable and gets very painful to bear weight.

The treatment procedure of ACL injury includes resting and rehabilitation exercises while the required amount of exercise or treatment method will also depend on the severity of your ACL injury.

Rehabilitation exercises will support patients to recover their strength and as well as stability. In some instances, patients may be required to undergo a surgical operation in order to replace the torn ligament following their rehabilitation period.

In fact, a properly designed training program will help you to reduce the risk of having an ACL injury.

What are the main symptoms of an ACL tear?

If you think that you have injured your anterior cruciate ligament, then you will feel the following mentioned symptoms:

  1. A loud “pop” sensation in your knee

  2. You can continue your activity due to intense pain

  3. Your knee has swollen rapidly

  4. You are unable to control your range of motion

Once you recognize these symptoms mentioned above, you will need to seek your doctor for immediate care.

Generally, the knee joint consists of a set of the complex structure of bones, ligaments, tendons and as well as other kinds of tissues which work jointly in order to function properly. Once injured, it requires to get a quick and clear diagnosis from an expert in order to find out the grade of the injury or tear. Following the diagnosis, the patient gets relevant treatment.

What causes ACL injury?

Ligaments in the human body consist of strong bands of tissue which joins one bone to another. The ACL is a ligament that crosses in the middle of your knee which connects the thighbone to your shinbone in order to stabilize the knee joint.

As previously mentioned, oftentimes ACL injury occurs during intense sports activities when an individual puts an overload on the knee. This includes suddenly performed movements such as slowing down and changing direction. In addition, you also may get hurt by getting a direct blow to the knee, such as a football tackle.

When you damage the ligament, the tissue generally gets a partially or completely torn while in mild injuries the ligament is left intact.

How can you prevent yourself from experiencing ACL tear?

If you wish to reduce the risk of having an ACL injury, you will need proper training and exercise program. Usually, you can get instruction and feedback from your athletic trainer or physical therapist in order to minimize the risk factors.

You can also utilize the programs, such as exercises which strengthens leg muscles, especially hamstring workouts to secure gaining general balance in leg muscle strength.

In addition, when you train or workout you need to focus on proper technique and knee position while performing jumping and landing movements.

Last, but not the least, you may also consider to workout for leg strength and as well as hips and core.

8 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page