Home > Conditions > Knee > Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury
Home > Conditions > Knee > Anterior Cruciate Ligament injury
Essentially the most common knee injuries is an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) sprain or tear. Athletes who engage in high intensity sports like soccer, football, and basketball are more inclined to injure their anterior cruciate ligaments. It is highly likely that surgery is required to regain full use of your knee for those who have injured their ACL. It all depends on several factors, including the seriousness of your injury along with your level of activity.
Cruciate ligaments are found within your knee joint. They cross one another to make an “X” – where the anterior cruciate ligament lies in front and the posterior cruciate ligament lies in the back. The cruciate ligaments control the back and forth motion of one’s knee. The anterior cruciate ligament runs diagonally in the centre of the knee. It prevents the shinbone (tibia) from sliding out in front of the thigh bone (femur). Both together provide rotational stability for the knee.
An ACL injury is the tearing of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) which is one of the major ligaments in your knee. An ACL injury or rupture is the most debilitating knee ligament injury.
About 50 % of anterior cruciate ligament injuries occur together with other structures inside the knee. These include articular cartilage, meniscus, and other ligaments. Injured ligaments are viewed as “sprains” and therefore are graded on the basis of severity.
ACL injuries commonly occur during sports that involve sudden stops, jumping or changes in direction. For instance sports such as netball, basketball, soccer, football, tennis, downhill skiing, volleyball and gymnastics. Your speed – combined with the way that you twist or turn your knee – makes it likely that you’ll stretch or tear your ACL.
Often injury can happen in the following ways:
After you injure your anterior cruciate ligament, you would possibly hear a “popping” noise and you’ll feel your knee give out from under you. Other typical symptoms include:
Treatment for an ACL tear can vary – based on a person’s individual needs. The young athlete associated with agility sports, for example, will most probably require surgery to soundly resume sports. The less active, usually older, individual might possibly get back to a quieter lifestyle without surgery.