Meniscal Tear

Tendonitis, concussions, shin splints, torn ACL’s, pulled groin muscles, sprained ankles, dislocations, and torn rotator cuffs are just a some of the many injuries you can receive while participating in any type of sport. Many athletes’ injuries start small, and escalate depending on how hard and how often the person works. This leaves two of the biggest decisions for injured athletes. One, knowing when to stop before they hurt themselves more. Two, deciding when to get come back. Even after surgeries, physical therapy, and time off, these can be two of the hardest decisions an athlete can make after being injured.

There's fifteen seconds left in the game, and we're down one. It’s summer league game, but there is a large crowd of red and black screaming their support. The crowd is nervously sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting to

On a warm August day in 2009, I began a new I was excited for a new beginning in my career, maybe to prepare me for high school in the upcoming years. The idea of beating boys in soccer got me excited, my blood pumping harder through my veins and put an extra spring in my step. It was the first practice of our middle school season, where my life would be turned upside down. I ran down the field as normal, going for another shot on goal, but out of nowhere one of boys came from behind and completely took out my knee, causing me to collapse in pain. Lying down on the field, my sanctuary, the place I saw as home was probably the most grueling time of my life. Injuries were common in my life, but this injury was unlike any other. I could not get up off the field and felt as if there was nothing left in my knee, and every time I tried to get up, I fell right back down. I never sat out a practice until that night and figured one day would be enough. One night was clearly not enough, I was never able to catch back up to my full speed, or be able to cut around the field, which resulted in moving positions from forward, to defense to cut back on the running. I thought this would a temporary position, but I played every game in

Hearing the pop of my knee was the last sound I wanted to hear while kicking a soccer ball during tryouts junior year. I fell straight to the ground, and knew instantly something was terribly wrong. To this day, I recall how heartbroken I was when I heard the news that I tore my ACL, and I never thought it could happen to me. Just the thought of not playing sports that year was emotionally difficult because sports have always been a part of my life. I could not imagine a year without participating in athletics, however at the time I did not know it could have a positive impact on me.

Prior to this injury I had sports that I enjoyed and more importantly, kept me in shape. Its really discouraging at the age of 16 to hear that there is a high possibility you may never be able to do what you love again. It has been like a big game of chutes and ladders where the chutes represent, the times of surgery and pain and having to work hard and the ladders represent me getting back on my feet and climbing all the up to reach my goal . Chutes and ladders is such a tedious game involving a lot of ups and downs which correlates highly with how knee surgery

As athletes, we always feel invincible. No matter what I had been told, I was convinced that a serious injury would never happen to me. The coaches and doctors had described the “popping” sound that accompanies an ACL injury, but for years I ignored them. One day, when I least expected it, it happened to me. I tore my right ACL in September of 2012, at the beginning of my eighth grade year. For me, it could not have happened at a more inopportune time for my future soccer career and, at the time, I thought my dreams were over. I was convinced I would never play soccer in college, let alone be able to play for my varsity high school team as a freshman.

I was practicing at my competitive cheerleading gym, when my life was unexpectedly turned upside down. While performing a back walkover back handspring, there was a loud “pop” as I hyperextended my right elbow, tearing both my muscle and my ulnar collateral ligament. I promptly sunk to my knees and began sobbing. The next thing I knew, I was laboriously working through physical therapy at NASA Bone & Joint Specialist instead of relaxing at the beach. This unexpected injury would manifest to be a significant

During my sophomore year of highschool, I was running track and I had a promising season in front of me. However, I was unable to reach my goals. I was forced to quit running for the remained of the school year due to a knee injury. The muscles holding my knee caps in place were not developed enough, and it was causing me great pain. After quitting track, I went into physical therapy. I was in physical therapy for over a month and I then had to continue to strengthen my legs. The next school year I was still facing the same problem, only smaller. Now, around two years later, I have finally overcome this problem and I am completely healthy. The injury was very frustrating, however, I put in the work and I am finally back to one hundred percent. I would not say that I’m glad the injury happened, however, I did learn the value of continuous hard work because of the

It is time to speak about my injury that happened about two years ago. A lot of people nowadays ask me almost every day “Deshaun why don’t you play football for the M state Fergus Falls Spartans? “ and I tell them I didn’t get all of my football equipment in time, so the coach didn’t let me play, but in reality, I can’t play because I have a very bad back injury. So now for the people that are curious about what happened to my back here is my story from the beginning to the end.

Figure (14): Anteromedial view of the left knee, showing the injury grading scale established by the American Medical Association Standard Nomenclature of Athletic Injuries. Isolated grade-I injuries present with localized tenderness and no laxity. Isolated grade-II injuries present with a broader area of tenderness and partially torn medial collateral and posterior oblique fibers. Isolated grade-III injuries present with complete disruption, and there is laxity with an applied valgus stress. ( 70 )

Up until two years ago I had no idea what I was going to study in college let alone where I wanted to go. All I knew was that wherever I ended up I wanted to pursue playing the sport I love at a very competitive level. Tearing my ACL has allowed me to realise that I do not need to play soccer in college but that, I can seek a career in the sport by educating kids on how to prevent a major injury such as a ACL tear.

The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the diagnostic value of MRI in diagnosing the presence or absence of the most common injuries of the knee; the meniscus tears, the

I went down in pain and the next day I went in for an MRI and anxiously awaited the results. When the day came, I waited nervously in the doctor’s office. He walked in and said, “I’m so sorry Marissa, but your ACL is torn.” This was devastating for me, but I refused to give up. I asked him if there was anything that I could do to keep from missing the season. He paused for a long time then finally said, “You can postpone surgery and play with a brace. However, the brace is very large.” I played the entire season last year wearing a massive brace, but I did not miss a game. After every game, my coach would shake her head and tell me, “I don’t know how you do it” I would laugh and tell her, “It was my only choice.” In the back of my mind before, during, and after every game was my surgery. Every time I fell I feared making my injury worse, but I had to take this risk because I had to play. I persevered through a very serious injury because I do not know how to give up. I played my heart out every game and earned All League with that ACL tear. I handle most situations in this way, persevering through difficulties and becoming stronger because of it. I sat in tears in Whittier Hospital on March 5, 2013 awaiting my

If a knee is hit from the outside, especially while the foot is planted, it will be forced into genu valgus. This puts several structures at risk, namely the ACL, MCL and joint capsule. These structures specifically prevent valgus forces and are expected to be damaged when subjected to excessive genu valgus. The nature of the force can also damage the bones because valgus will cause the lateral condyles of the femur and tibia to be compressed while the medial condyles will be distracted. This can result in bruising of the bone or damage to articular cartilage of the compressed side. In addition, the menisci can be involved depending on the direction of the force, especially if rotation occurs. The lateral meniscus can be damaged without rotation if it is compressed between the condyles or with rotation by getting torqued between the condyles. The medial meniscus is at a lesser risk of being damaged due to compression because the medial condyles are being distracted from one another. However, because it has attachments to both the ACL and MCL, if one or both of those are damaged, the medial meniscus is at risk. Therefore, a 20 year-old male rugby player who was side tackled may very well present with a torn ACL, MCL, and medial

Since my knee had not recovered within a few days, I was referred to a sports medicine doctor by the school’s trainer. By the end of my first appointment, he concluded that my knee was not sprained, but my lateral meniscus had been torn. While this was an uncomplicated, simple repair, he stated that I would still be unable to play sports for a few weeks. Disappointed, my mother and I scheduled my next appointment; the next visit held multiple x-rays, tests, and examinations of my injury. About two weeks later, the doctor discovered that there were more issues than just a torn meniscus; in addition, my anterior cruciate ligament, the main knee tendon, had ruptured into several pieces. Fighting back tears, I thought my life and athletic career