An ACL injury is a tear or sprain of the anterior cruciate ligament. ACL is one of the strong bands of tissue that help connect your thigh bone (femur) to your leg bone (tibia). ACL is like a connecting strap that prevents your knee from bending or rotating too much. Anything that puts enough force on your knee to bend or twist it farther than its natural limit can injure or tear your ACL.
ACL injuries most commonly occur during sports that requires sudden stops or changes in direction, jumping and landing — such as cricket, football, basketball, badminton, treadmill running, wrestling, kabaddi, kho -kho and skiing.
The injury stretched your ACL enough to damage it, but it’s still intact and holding your knee bones together.
The injury stretched your ACL so much that it was partially torn and loosened.
A complete tear.
Seek immediate care if any injury to your knee causes signs or symptoms of an ACL injury. It is wise to get a prompt and accurate diagnosis to determine the severity of the injury and get proper treatment.
Ligaments are strong bands of tissue that connect one bone to another. The ACL is a ligament that connects your thighbone to your shinbone and helps stabilize your knee joint.
ACL injuries often happen during sports and fitness activities that can put stress on the knee especially during:
People who experience an ACL injury have a higher risk of developing osteoarthritis in the knee. Arthritis may occur even if you have surgery to reconstruct the ligament.
Proper training and exercise can help reduce the risk of ACL injury. A sports medicine physician, physical therapist or an athletic trainer can provide assessment, instruction and feedback that can help you reduce risks.
Programs to reduce ACL injury include:
Training to strengthen muscles of the legs, hips and core — as well as training to improve jumping and landing techniques and to prevent inward movement of the knee — may help to reduce the higher ACL injury risk in female athletes.
Wear footwear and padding that is appropriate for your sport to help prevent injury. If you downhill ski, make sure your ski bindings are adjusted correctly by a trained professional so that your skis will release appropriately if you fall.
Wearing a knee brace doesn't appear to prevent ACL injury or reduce the risk of recurring injury after surgery.
During the physical exam, your doctor will check your knee for swelling and tenderness — comparing your injured knee to your uninjured knee. He or she may also move your knee into a variety of positions to assess range of motion and overall function of the joint.
Often the diagnosis can be made on the basis of the physical exam alone, but you may need tests to rule out other causes and to determine the severity of the injury.
The immediate first-aid care aims at alleviating pain and swelling. It comprises of the R.I.C.E. model of self-care at home:
The Doctor will suggest treatments to manage your pain and other symptoms.
Medical treatment for an ACL injury begins with several weeks of rehabilitative therapy. A physical therapist will teach you exercises that you will perform under continued supervision. You may need to wear a brace to stabilize your knee and use crutches for a while to avoid putting weight on your knee.
The goal of rehabilitation is to reduce pain and swelling, restore your knee's full range of motion, and strengthen muscles. This course of physical therapy may successfully treat an ACL injury for individuals who are relatively inactive, engage in moderate exercise and recreational activities, or play sports that put less stress on the knees.
During ACL reconstruction, the surgeon removes the damaged ligament and replaces it with a segment of tendon — tissue similar to a ligament that connects muscle to bone. This replacement tissue is called a graft. The graft is fixed on femur and tibia.
The surgeon will use a piece of tendon from another part of your knee. The graft options includes:
After surgery a course of rehabilitative therapy is needed in most of the cases. Successful ACL reconstruction along with rigorous rehabilitation can usually restore stability and function to your knee to pre injury level.
There’s no set time frame for athletes to return to play.
In general, it takes as long as 9 months to an year before athletes can safely return to high level sports. Doctors and physical therapists will perform tests to gauge your knee’s stability, strength, function and readiness to return to sports activities at various intervals during your rehabilitation. It’s important to ensure that strength, stability and movement patterns are optimized before you return to an activity with a risk of ACL injury.
In general, it takes as long as 9 months to an year before athletes can safely return to high level sports. Doctors and physical therapists will perform tests to gauge your knee’s stability, strength, function and readiness to return to sports activities at various intervals during your rehabilitation. It’s important to ensure that strength, stability and movement patterns are optimized before you return to an activity with a risk of ACL injury.
Proper training and exercise can help reduce the risk of ACL injury. Programs include core strengthening to avoid moving the knee inward during a squat, hamstring strengthening for muscle balance, jump mechanics training, and pivoting/cutting technique improvements.
Immediately when it occurs, the knee becomes too painful to bear weight and gets swollen. While you might be able to walk later, it will feel unstable as if you are about to fall especially while running fast or during frequent changes in direction.
It can happen again if strength, stability, and movement patterns are not optimized before returning to an activity with a risk of ACL injury.
No. Successful ACL reconstruction along with rigorous rehabilitation can usually restore stability and function to your knee to pre injury level, allowing athletes to return to play.