Strong Athletes and the risk of having Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL).

6 months ago

People involved in many sports activities have been known to get an Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) tear. This is more common in sports that require sudden stops, changes in direction, and jumping and landing, good examples include; football, basketball, and downhill skiing.
An ACL injury happens, when there is a sprain or a tear in the anterior cruciate, which happens to be one of the strong bands of the tissue that helps connect your thigh bone (the femur) to the shinbone (tibia).

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With the occurrence of ACL, many patients will feel a popping sensation happening with the knee, which may lead to a swell, an unstable feeling, or intense pain that makes it very difficult to bear any type of weight and that results in the stop of current activity, an unstable feeling, and fast swelling.

More females than males have been discovered to be victims of ACL, this is probably due to anatomy differences, muscle strength, and hormonal influences. The use of faulty movement patterns during sporting activities could also trigger ACL, playing on an artificial turf and using poorly maintained sports materials could eventually cause ACL injury.

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A lot of ACL injuries happen providing damage to other structures in the knee, like the articular cartilage, meniscus, and possibly other ligaments. When a ligament is injured, it is considered a sprain and it is graded on several scales;

Grade 1 sprains: Over here, the ligament is mildly damaged as it has been slightly stretched, but is still able to help the knee joint stay stable.
Grade 2 sprains are when the sprain has stretched the ligament to the point where it now becomes loose, usually referred to as the partial tear of the ligament.
Grade 3 sprains are most likely referred to as the total tear of the ligament, here the ligament has been torn into half or pulled off directly away from the bone, keeping the knee joint unstable.

When ACL happens in most cases, partial tears are rare, they are either complete or near complete tears. To prevent the risk of ACL from happening, certain programs should be put in place to help;

ACL should be talked about more, and exercises that will strengthen the core should be applied. The hips, pelvis, and lower abdomen should be given special attention, the goal of the training should be to avoid inwardly moving the knee during a squat.

Exercises that help to strengthen the leg muscles should also be followed, most especially the hamstring exercises, which aim to provide overall balance in leg muscle strength.

Training and exercises that emphasize appropriate technique and knee position when jumping or landing from jumps are important. Also, training should focus on improving technique while performing pivoting and cutting movements.

The injury that causes ACL tears can cause damage to other parts of the knee. When a damage of ACL is done, there are possible cases of complications like;

Lateral Collateral ligament (LCL)
Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL)
Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL)

Treatments for ACL vary depending on ACL tear grade and other damages done inside the knee. During sports activity, other symptoms like; rest to ensure there is no overuse of the knee while it tries to heal, the application of ice packs a few times a day, and the wrapping of the knee in an elastic bandage to help reduce swelling will help out a great deal.

A case of ACL shouldn't be left to heal on its own because usually it wouldn't, but there is a strong possibility of living with it especially if there is a low-grade tear. But, for an athlete, surgery will be required for repair to happen. Most people who aren't athletes too prefer to have ACL repaired surgically.

During surgery, a graft is used to reconstruct the ACL. The graft could be a tendon from the patient's body or from the body of another person who may have donated the tendon. ACL repair surgery is done arthroscopically.
It often takes about 6-12 months for an injury from a torn ACL to heal, but competitive athletes will require more time before they are cleared to return to sport.

The problem with ACL is that, once it happens there is a likelihood that it might happen again, but training programs can help you avoid another case of ACL tear.

Strong Athletes and the risk of having Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL).

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