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ACL Injury
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You Would Not Want to be Unstable with an ACL Injury
Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury is a common problem for the knee joint. Each year, roughly 95,000 ACL injuries occur; that is one person in every 3000. Researches also show that ACL injuries occur most often to women.
The anterior cruciate ligament is one of the ligaments responsible for the stability of the knee joint. These ligaments control the motion of the knee joint. The ACL ligament specifically controls the tibia’s (shin bone) forward movement. The ACL is attached to the femur, which is the thigh bone and on the other end is where the tibia is connected. Since ACL is connected to these bones, it plays the important role of providing stability to the joint during rotating and twisting. It prevents the dislocation of the knee joint.
So when there is ACL injury, the knee is not that stable. And because of this, turning motion becomes difficult for the knee. Arthritis or cartilage tears may also develop once you get an ACL injury. This is due to the knee location. The knee tends to slide too much because of this instability.
ACL injury may happen to anyone however, individuals who are engaged in sports that require sudden turning and running are most prone to these injuries. People who are involved in sports like soccer, hockey, football, basketball, wrestling, skiing and gymnastics have higher risk of getting ACL injury.
Common Symptoms:
1. Popping sound on the knee during the injury.
2. There is swelling on the affected knee.
3. Pain is felt when moving.
4. There is a feeling or sensation that the knee is about to give out.
Treatment:
If you think that you may have an ACL injury, you will need to go for evaluation by your physician. To prove that it’s an ACL injury that is causing the symptoms, a thorough examination will be made. To check on fractures on the knee, x-rays of the knee is needed. Your physician can also advice you to have a MRI to check for possible torn cartilage or ligament.
Usually, the worse you feel the symptoms, the more severe the injury. For minor injury, you may apply RICE: R-rest, I-ice, C-compression, and E-elevate.
Make sure to completely rest the knee. This is to prevent any further injuries. Applying ice will reduce the swelling, pain and bleeding. You can avoid heat contacts on the affected area. Do not use heat creams and avoid massage on the injured site. These will increase the pain and swelling of the injury.
An ACL surgery may also be an option if the injury affects your daily activities. ACL reconstruction will remove the damaged ligament and use other healthy tissue to replace the ACL. It is not really possible to repair the damaged ACL and that is the reason it is being replaced instead. It usually takes about three to eight months for total recovery for this rehabilitation.
And since ACL injury can be costly and certainly has a long recovery period, make sure to do appropriate preventive measures. To avoid pain, time and money in dealing with ACL injury, preventive is always the highest priority.
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