About Your Anterior Cruciate Ligament

Among the most popular injuries that both athletes and sports lovers suffer from is the anterior cruciate ligament or ACL tear. This ligament plays an important role on the stability of the knee. Thus, when your ACL gets injured, you can picture the pain that you have to suffer. This is why when you tear your ACL, you must not ignore it. Seek medical help immediately.

Importance Of ACL

ACL is responsible for controlling the knee’s forward activity. This ligament joins your shin bone, called tibia to the thigh bone, called the femur. The ACL works with the PCL or posterior cruciate ligament to keep the knee stable and control its movement. The ACL can easily be injured should there be a sudden movement on the knee like twisting or if the knee experienced a serious blow. At this point, you'll feel your knee buckle and wobbly, making it hard and painful for you to stand or walk.

Symptoms Of An ACL Injury

The most typical symptom of an anterior cruciate ligament injury is the loud snapping or popping sound. Next the knee begins to buckle and a severe pain will likely be experienced. This can be followed by swelling and bruising on the area of the knee where it is injured. If the patient tries to walk or stand up, he or she will feel incredible amount of pain. Furthermore, the knee will be wobbly and it might be impossible for the patient to stand or walk. Thus, when you experience any of these symptoms, you need to call the doctor immediately.

Treatments For An ACL Injury

Dependant upon the degree of the injury, the individual might need a knee brace or surgery. Rarely can you find a case where the patient just must rest and wear a brace to be able to recover. Most often, an individual who has a ruptured ACL may need to undergo surgery. The surgery is done so that the ligament can be reconstructed making the knee stable and strong. There are two methods to repair the torn ligament, the first is through making incisions and placing an instrument in the knee to make it stable while the other is by taking out the ligament and replacing it with a graft. Generally, the patient is not required to stay in the hospital following the surgery. Nevertheless, he or she must undergo long and arduous rehabilitation.

Therefore, in case you are either active in sports or have a career as an athlete, you need to look after your anterior cruciate ligament. Female athletes are usually more prone to having an ACL injury than men. Training and doing knee exercises together with a nutritious diet can greatly lessen the risk of having an ACL tear.