ACL Tear Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis
Many athletes and sports enthusiasts experience anterior cruciate ligament or ACL tear when their knee is forcefully twisted or hyperextended.
The young individuals who are active in physical spots like soccer, football, skiing, basketball and other high-demand sports that entail twisting and jumping are more likely to get their knee ligament ruptured.
Importance of ACL ACL is one of the four ligaments that hold the knee joint together, control its movements and provide stability to it.
This particular ligament connects shin bone (tibia) to the thigh bone (femur).
ACL rests on the medial side of the knee and controls the join's forward motion and prevents the leg from inwardly extending beyond its normal range of motion.
How does ACL Tear Occurs? This debilitating musculoskeletal injury normally occurs from a blunt force trauma to the outside of the knee.
The ACL may be easily ruptured during a car accident, landing from a jump or a football or rugby tackle.
In sports, this injury usually occurs when an athlete changes direction abruptly or if the knee is suddenly twisted whilst the foot is firmly planted on the ground.
Falling off a ladder and missing a step on a staircase are other likely causes of an injured ligament.
ACL injury is sometimes seen in combination with damage to other ligaments as well as articular cartilage and meniscus.
ACL tear can be partial or complete and can lead to short term or long term disability of the leg.
On a severity scale, an ACL tear can be divided into three grades: Grade I: The medial collateral ligament gets slightly stretched but the joint laxity remains normal.
Grade II: The ligament gets so stretched that it loosens the joint.
This condition results in mild to moderate joint laxity.
Grade III: The ligament gets completely torn and loses its ability to keep the knee joint stable and its movements and rotation.
The knee becomes unstable, wobbly, or the patients may feel like their knee is going to "give out" from under the body.
Who is More at Risk? Female athletes are nearly 10 times more susceptible to ACL injury or tear than their counterparts.
This particular injury actually is greatly influenced by the position of the pelvis, and because female pelvis is wider than the male pelvis women are often more at risk of an ACL strain or tear.
Torn ACL Symptoms You may hear a popping/cracking sound at the time of the impact or feel the sudden shift in the joint.
ACL tear patients experience a sharp and intense pain with extensive swelling and bruising on the area of the knee where it is injured, in particular within six hours of injury.
Full range of knee motion is often restricted with difficulty moving the leg and walking.
People who suffer an ACL tear usually experience tenderness at the medial side of their joint.
Diagnosis To determine the presence of an ACL tear your doctor with do a thorough examination of the knee and assess the ligaments.
The two common physical tests that are used to confirm the injury and its severity are- Lachman Test, to evaluate abnormal forward motion of the tibia; and Anterior Drawer Test to assess for the integrity of the ACL.
To further confirm if your ACL is torn you may need X-rays not to detect a torn ligament but to rule out a bone fracture.
Or you may need a magnetic resonance imaging or MRI to more accurately determine the extent of the ACL injury and whether the tendons, muscles, other ligaments and joint cartilage also are injured and how badly.
Ultrasounds are also used to visualize possible injuries in soft tissues such as the knee ligaments, tendons and muscles.
The young individuals who are active in physical spots like soccer, football, skiing, basketball and other high-demand sports that entail twisting and jumping are more likely to get their knee ligament ruptured.
Importance of ACL ACL is one of the four ligaments that hold the knee joint together, control its movements and provide stability to it.
This particular ligament connects shin bone (tibia) to the thigh bone (femur).
ACL rests on the medial side of the knee and controls the join's forward motion and prevents the leg from inwardly extending beyond its normal range of motion.
How does ACL Tear Occurs? This debilitating musculoskeletal injury normally occurs from a blunt force trauma to the outside of the knee.
The ACL may be easily ruptured during a car accident, landing from a jump or a football or rugby tackle.
In sports, this injury usually occurs when an athlete changes direction abruptly or if the knee is suddenly twisted whilst the foot is firmly planted on the ground.
Falling off a ladder and missing a step on a staircase are other likely causes of an injured ligament.
ACL injury is sometimes seen in combination with damage to other ligaments as well as articular cartilage and meniscus.
ACL tear can be partial or complete and can lead to short term or long term disability of the leg.
On a severity scale, an ACL tear can be divided into three grades: Grade I: The medial collateral ligament gets slightly stretched but the joint laxity remains normal.
Grade II: The ligament gets so stretched that it loosens the joint.
This condition results in mild to moderate joint laxity.
Grade III: The ligament gets completely torn and loses its ability to keep the knee joint stable and its movements and rotation.
The knee becomes unstable, wobbly, or the patients may feel like their knee is going to "give out" from under the body.
Who is More at Risk? Female athletes are nearly 10 times more susceptible to ACL injury or tear than their counterparts.
This particular injury actually is greatly influenced by the position of the pelvis, and because female pelvis is wider than the male pelvis women are often more at risk of an ACL strain or tear.
Torn ACL Symptoms You may hear a popping/cracking sound at the time of the impact or feel the sudden shift in the joint.
ACL tear patients experience a sharp and intense pain with extensive swelling and bruising on the area of the knee where it is injured, in particular within six hours of injury.
Full range of knee motion is often restricted with difficulty moving the leg and walking.
People who suffer an ACL tear usually experience tenderness at the medial side of their joint.
Diagnosis To determine the presence of an ACL tear your doctor with do a thorough examination of the knee and assess the ligaments.
The two common physical tests that are used to confirm the injury and its severity are- Lachman Test, to evaluate abnormal forward motion of the tibia; and Anterior Drawer Test to assess for the integrity of the ACL.
To further confirm if your ACL is torn you may need X-rays not to detect a torn ligament but to rule out a bone fracture.
Or you may need a magnetic resonance imaging or MRI to more accurately determine the extent of the ACL injury and whether the tendons, muscles, other ligaments and joint cartilage also are injured and how badly.
Ultrasounds are also used to visualize possible injuries in soft tissues such as the knee ligaments, tendons and muscles.
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