Imagine watching someone playing the most important basketball game of the year. She goes up for the jump and comes down to plant her foot and POP. The knee gives out and the player is walked off the court. The trainer does some quick tests and he decides that her ACL is more than likely torn. The Anterior Cruciate Ligament, or commonly known as the ACL, is one of four ligaments that serve as main stabilizers of the knee. It is located between the bottom of the femur, or thigh bone, and attaches to the top of the tibia, or shin (Ireland). While the ACL is used for any activity involving the lower body, it is most essential for starting, turning and stopping, and pivoting quickly. These ACL tears are becoming more and more of an epidemic in athletes and prevention has become seemingly impossible.
The ACL is a very essential part of the knee and an important part of wanting to be an athlete. It provides about 90% of the stability in the knee while also being the main restraint of forward motion to the knee joint (Ireland). It also acts as a stabilizer meaning it does not allow the knee to go too much forward or turn side to side an excessive amount or beyond its normal range of motion. The thing about ACLs is that they are not as necessary to those who do not want to continue with sports that require contact or pivoting. Tears in the ACL have become more of an issue in the past ten years simply because sports are becoming more and more competitive meaning that the athlete has been putting a great amount of strain on their body. So even though this injury can be brought on by the athlete themselves, this injury can be just as bad as when it is caused by another person by contact.
Small tears in the ACL may only require a recovery t...
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Injuries to the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) are one of the most frequent and devastating knee injuries that occur during sporting activities, accounting for one fifth of all sport related knee injuries ¹ ². Injury estimates have been reported in current literature to be between 1.5% - 1.7% per year within a healthy athletic population ³ ⁴. However, incidence rates for ACL injury prove difficult to access as not all individuals with ACL injuries seek medical attention ⁵. Current trends show a direct correlation between the rising incidence of ACL injury and increased sporting participation ⁶. In spite of increasing incidence rates, ACL injuries remain fairly uncommonly in relation to the amount of individuals participating in sporting activities ⁷ ⁸. Nevertheless, they still prove to be a frequent source of disability for those individuals affected ⁷ ⁸. Individuals affected with ACL injury may suffer from a number of adverse effects including dynamic knee instability, altered movement patterns, reduced functional performance and debilitating pain ⁷⁻¹⁰.
Ankle sprains have three degrees of injury ranging from 1-3. The level of the ankle sprain is determined by the amount that the ligament is torn or stretched. A grade one sprain is categorized as a slight stretching and damage to the fibers of the ligament. A grade 2 sprain is characterized as partial tearing of the ligament and abnormal laxity of the ankle. A grade 3 sprain is characterized by complete tear of the ligament if it can be pushed or pulled in certain movements there is gross instability. The movements of the ankle are abduction, adduction, plantar flexion, dorsiflexion, and inversion, eversion. The ligaments of the ankle hold the ankle bones and joint into position. These ligaments protect the ankle joint from abnormal movements such as twisting, turning, and rolling of the foot.
The incidence and prevalence rate of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries in female athletes continues to increase over time (Prodromos, Han, Rogowski, Joyce, & Shi, 2007). With the growing rate in the amount of young women participating in sports, data has shown that the rate of ACL injury increases linearly with this participation ("The Relationship Between Static Posture and ACL Injury in Female Athletes," 1996). This epidemic of ACL injuries in female athletes, young or old, continues to be problematic in the athletic world. This problem not only affects the athlete themselves, but also the coaches and the sports medicine community.
In order for athletes to save their active lifestyles they need understand the ACL. The ACL is the most important ligament in the knee because it provides stability to the knee. Athletes have to be aware of the importance of the ACL and know its functions in order to preserve the ligament. The ACL otherwise know as the anterior cruciate ligament is the ligament in the knee that connects the upper leg bone which is the femur to the lower leg bone which is the tibia. The anterior cruciate ligament crosses with the posterior cruciate ligament inside the center of the knee joint to stabilize to the knee in movement.
The most common knee injury in sports is damage to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) through tears or sprains. “They occur in high demand sports that involve planting and cutting, jumping with a poor landing, and stopping immediately or changing directions” (University of Colorado Hospital). The ACL is a ligament that runs diagonally in the middle of the knee and found at the front of the patellar bone. Its function involves controlling the back and forth motion of the knee, preventing the tibia from sliding out in front of the femur, and providing rational stability to the knee. Interestingly, women are more prone to ACL injuries than men. The occurrence is four to six times greater in female athletes.
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To understand the importance of the ACL, the knee as a whole must be examined. The knee is formed by the femur, the tibia, and the patella. Several muscles and ligaments control the motion of the knee and protect it from damage at the same time. Ligaments are dense structures of connective tissue that fasten bone to bone and stabilize the knee. Two ligaments on either side of the knee, called the medial and lateral collateral ligaments, stabilize the knee from side-to-side. The ACL along with the posterior cruciate ligament are of a pair of ligaments in the center of the knee joint that form a cross. T...
The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) attaches the femur, which is the thighbone, and the tibia, which is the shin, together (northstar). A torn ACL is one of the most excruciating experiences in an athlete’s life. It is the first thing that comes to mind when they hurt their knee on the field; for many it is their greatest fear. A torn ACL can sometimes mean the end of an athlete’s career. It can mean losing the chance to get that scholarship for young athletes, and it can also mean the end of those million dollar paychecks for those who have gone professional. A torn ACL can result in numerous surgeries, months of vigorous exercise and rehabilitation, and a sufficient amount of pain. It requires complete patience, for pushing too hard can result in further, more painful injury. Even after all that, an athlete is not guaranteed he or she will ever be able to play sports again.
Ligaments are tough, non-stretchable fibers that hold bones together. Damage to cruciate ligaments, which crisscross the knee to give it stability, is one of the most common sports injuries. The “tear” occurs from changing direction rapidly, slowing down from running, or landing from a jump improperly. The A.C.L tear is one injury that worries athletes in all sports at all levels because of its devastating effects. People ages 15-25 that participate in basketball and other sports that require pivoting are especially at risk.
Everyday an athlete goes to practice or game, putting on a possibility of getting injured. A common one of those injuries is the tear of the anterior cruciate ligament, better known as the ACL. When sports that require quick pivoting and harsh landings became more popular such as soccer and basketball, ACL injuries quickly multiplied. Since kids, teens, and even adults usually focus on one sport it often occurs that they can overuse and exert their body causing injury to the ACL (Young Athletes 10).
The word patella comes from the great latin language meaning shallow pan or shallow dish. The description of that word could not be more correct, it was meant in reference to balance of food but in anatomy’s case a balance of the body. The patella is a small bone located in front of the knee joint where the thigh bone (femur) and shinbone (tibia) meet. It protects the knee and connects the muscles in the front of the thigh to the tibia. The patella is one of two sesamoid bones found in the body, roughly triangular shaped in size. It’s thick consistency allows for the articulation of the femur, which in turn allows for body support and balance. The patella has multiple body functions with the primary being knee extension. The patella is essential for basic body functions including locomotion;
The majority of ACL injuries suffered during athletic participation are of the noncontact variety. Three main noncontact mechanisms have been identified planting and cutting, straight-knee landing and one-step stop landing with the knee hyperextended. Pivoting and sudden deceleration are also common mechanisms of noncontact ACL injury. Basketball, soccer, and volleyball consistently produce some of the highest ACL injury rates across various age groups. Other activities with a high rate of injury are gymnastics, martial arts, and running. In most sports, injuries occur more often in games than in practice. Many injuries have occurred during the first 30 minutes of play. One-reason physicians are seeing more ACL injuries in female patients that more women play sports, and they play more intensely. But as they continued to do more studies, they are finding that women's higher rate of ACL is probably due ...
When an athlete catches the sound of their knee crack and pop, they better prepare themselves for a long journey. The Center for Injury and Policy (CIRP), from Science Daily, reports that, “Knees are the most accident prone part of the body in high school athletes.” Knee injuries are very common; in fact, they are responsible for 45% of the injuries that occur in high school athletics across America. Knee injuries are well known to not just those in the medical field, but also to athletes. Injuries to the knee are caused by many factors, and what happens after the injury has taken place is what’s most concerning (Science Daily).
A 16-year-old, female high school soccer player, Lindsey Robinson, tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) during a soccer game. Interestingly, she was not the only one in her team who injured her ACL, but several of her teammates have torn the same ligament as well during the soccer season. Lephart (2002) found that women involved in physical activity are more susceptible to acquiring the ACL injuries than men who are involved in the same physical activity (as cited in Ogden, 2002). According to “ACL Injury Prevention” (2004), the numbers of female ACL ruptures have increased for the past ten years. Over 1.4 million women have suffered from the ACL rupture, which is twice the rate of the previous decade.
ACL injury is quite prevalent in the United States. About every 1 in 3,000 people suffer from an ACL injury in their lifetime, and approximately 95,000 new incidences of ACL injury occur each year. The largest amount of these injuries occurs during sports which involve twisting, cutting, jumping and deceleration. The mechanisms that can cause an ACL injury are excessive valgus (outside of knee) stress, forced hyperextension, or forced external rotation of the femur on the a fixed tibia (Evans, 2001). Many associate the tearing of the ACL with a large impact or collision, however 80% of all ACL injuries are non-contact injuries. This statistic shows that ACL injuries are mostly caused by the individual themselves as opposed to an opponent or other person. The exact mechanism of noncontact ACL tears consists of poor knee positioning (e.g. landing with an extended knee) and a strong, unopposed quad contraction (Murray, 2013).