Anterior Cruciate Ligament
Anterior cruciate ligament injuries affect athletes worldwide for various reasons. Sometimes it has to do with a lack of strength in the knee, whereas other times this injury is due to contact. Though regardless of gender, the way it happens or what sport that athlete may play, the injury itself and the process to repair is the same. Following this injury, three things will take place. The athlete will go to an orthopedic surgeon, an MRI will be ordered, and surgery will be scheduled. As previously stated, athletes tear their anterior cruciate ligaments, better known as an ACL is various ways, in various sports. Though the important thing is what happens next. The first thing that will take place is a visit to an orthopedic surgeon. Orthopedic surgeons deal with the correction of injuries dealing with muscles, joints and ligaments. Since the ACL is a ligament this is the correct doctor to see. The ACL is located in the knee between the femur and the tibia. The ACL is also one of the strongest of the four ligaments connecting the bones of the knee joint. With this the ACL is also the most commonly injured of the four. It can either be completely torn, or partially. Though regardless an ACL is not capable of repairing itself, once torn it must be replaced. When the athlete goes to see the orthopedic surgeon he will be asked several questions before even being examined. Like other injuries, ACL injuries have certain signs that indicate the injury has taken place. Though a doctor can do a test to examine the shifting in one’s knee, he cannot accurately tell whether the ACL is torn or not without an MRI. This makes the questions he asks very important. The doctor will ask the athlete to explain how the injury itself happened, what he felt, whether he could walk or not, and how he is currently feeling. Sometimes the injury will be on contact like in men’s football. In this situation, most of the time a player’s knee is taken out when being tackled, or hit by an opponent. The same thing can happen in soccer or basketball. Though in basketball, most of the time the injury is due to knee weakness and will happen when the athlete turns the wrong way and his knee gives out. Examples would be stopping too quickly, shooting, or going up for a layup and coming down wrong. However, noncontact ACL injuries described above are most common in women. Signs the doctor will look for when the injury is described will be if he heard a popping sound. Most athletes describe a popping or shredding sound, though this does not happen in all situations. When tearing an ACL, one does not always tear it completely. Sometimes it is just partially torn, which would mean there was no pop or shredding sound. The next sign the doctor would look for is swelling. Some people are not big swellers, but with an ACL injury there will always be some swelling around the knee. One will also be asked to walk, describe their pain level, and attempt to bend their knee. Unless the ACL is partially torn, walking will be impaired, pain levels will be above normal, and bending the knee will be difficult. The final thing a doctor will do is a test he does himself in the office. He will check the stability of the knees. If the knee one injured is not as stable as the one that is not injured, the doctor will issue an MRI. An MRI is Magnetic resonance imaging which is used to see inside the knee. Sometimes with ACL tears, damage is done to more than just the ACL itself. In other situations, the
