Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
A torn ACL will not heal without surgery
Nonsurgical treatment
• May be effective for patients who are elderly or have a very low activity level
• Bracing. Your doctor may recommend a brace to protect your knee from instability.
• May be given crutches to keep you from putting weight on your leg.
• Physical therapy. As the swelling goes down, a careful rehabilitation program is started.
• Exercises will help you gain function in your knee and toughen your leg muscles that support it.
Surgical Treatment
• most ACL tears cannot be sutured (stitched) back together
• Surgically repair the ACL and restore knee stability, the ligament must be reconstructed
• The doctor will replace your torn ligament with a tissue graft
• The graft acts as a scaffolding for a new ligament to grow on
Unfortunately, there isn’t an exercise that can prevent injury to the ACL.
and endurance in your lower body
Recovery from ACL surgery can take from 6 months to a year restore range of motion
Therapy:
• regain strength in the knee, thigh, and shin muscles
• prevent atrophy, the breakdown of muscle tissue
• reduce pain and swelling
• improve balance
In the early stages of recovery:
• Wear a leg brace
• followed by a knee brace
• to reduce the risk of reinjuring the knee
• Keeping the knee iced and elevated can help to reduce swelling
• painkillers and anti-inflammatory medicine
• patients will need to use crutches
• limit physical activity
What an ACL Does
• The ACL works with the PCL (posterior cruciate ligament), which crosses over it to form an "X."
• The ACL and the PCL both help keep the knee stable when rotating.
• The ACL keeps the shinbone in place and stops it from moving too far forward and away from the thighbone and knee.
• The Injury is higher in people who take part in high-risk sports, ex. basketball, football, skiing, hockey, and soccer.
The meniscus is a rubbery, C-shaped disc in your knee.
Each knee has two menisci, one is at the outer edge of the knee and one at the inner edge.
A torn meniscus is usually caused when the foot in planted while the knee is bent and your twisting or turning quickly.
• Hear a "popping" noise
• May feel your knee give out from under you
• Within 24 hours, your knee will swell.
• Loss of full range of motion
• Tenderness along the joint line
• Discomfort while walking
• Sudden instability in the knee
• Pain on the outside and back of the knee
This injury occurs in:
o Basketball
o Football
o Soccer
o Gymnastics
• The ACL injuries are generally noncontact, and occur
during low speed
• ACL injuries may also occur when the tibia is
pushed forward in relation to the femur.
Rest, ice, wrapping the knee with an elastic bandage, and resting it on pillows.
Physical therapy.
Surgery to repair the meniscus.
Surgery to remove part of the meniscus
If treatment does not help then you may need surgery which will extend your recovery time (usually 6-8 weeks)
A popping sensation
Swelling or stiffness
Pain, mostly when twisting or rotating your knee
Difficulty straightening your knee fully
Warming up and stretching before participating in athletic activities
Exercising to strengthen the muscles around your knee
Avoiding sudden increases in the intensity of your training program
Wearing comfortable, supportive shoes that fit your feet and your sport
Wearing appropriate protective gear during activities, including athletic activities, in which knee injuries are common (especially if you've had knee injuries before).
• A ACL injuries is now estimated at about 200,000 yearly, with 100,000 ACL reconstructions done each year
Movements like squatting or stepping can lead to this injury.
When someone takes a blow to the outside of the knee, forcing it inward and tearing the structure, or by some combination of bending or compressing the knee joint, twisting, pivoting, changing directions, or decelerating. You are at higher risk of tearing your meniscus if you have osteoarthritis because your joints experience pain and stiffness.