Meniscal Tear

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

The news actually came as a little bit of a relief because a meniscus tear was the quickest recovery time. Then the doctor started talking about what he could do to fix it. There were two options, trim the torn part out or repair it. He said based on the MRI, it looked repairable but would not know for sure until I was in surgery.

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.

In November of 2010, I was playing basketball in the fifth game of my senior season. It was just like any other game. However, I would soon find out otherwise. It was late in the game; I drove into the lane and got fouled hard. I was knocked so off-balance that I speared the floor with my knee. As soon as my knee hit the floor I heard a “snap” that I will never forget for the rest of my life. Little did I know at the time, that would be the last shot of my high school basketball career. Not long after my injury, I consulted a doctor. After getting an x-ray and an MRI, the doctor informed me that I had completely torn my ACL and would need to have surgery. An ACL tear can be a very devastating injury. The anterior cruciate

Believing that my knee was strong and that it had a great deal of muscle control, I did not think to continuously strengthen it. I relied on the strength my knee had, which inevitably, turned out to be a massive mistake. By tearing the ligament that held my knee together, I was not able to walk on my own for at least two months, I missed out on many events my junior year that kept me busy and made me happy. Some of the events I missed out on were playing in basketball games, doing color guard at football games, competing at state for marching band, and competing at show choir competitions. Tearing my ACL and Meniscus not only taught me to not rely on my morals, but it also taught me to not let this setback keep me down.

In an article online I found some interesting facts about athlete knee injuries. Most meniscal tears are cause because of twisting or force trauma to the knee. The article writes,” the downside to the excision therapy is that in most cases, arthritis develops in the knee many years after surgery”. This can cause a great deal of problems to anyone with this

I’ve have been through hardships and hard times, especially with sports. One of many injuries was when I was playing basketball during open gym. As I went up for a contested lay-up, I twisted my leg. Not knowing it was still planted, I chipped the tibia in my knee. Though it hurt, I was still was able to walk it off. My father and I went to the

For the past four years of my life I have been majorly involved with my school’s color guard. I went from learning the basics freshman year to leading a large group of girls who were mostly beginners. When senior year rolled around I felt ready to lead my team to victory. Unfortunately, things didn’t turn out the way I had hoped. While sprinting during a practice I land hard on my left side and felt my knee pop out of place. The following week was spent away from guard icing my now grapefruit sized knee. When I went to the doctor I was pretty nervous, but he assured me that it didn’t appear to be serious. When I came in for my second visit my heart sank to see what was waiting for me in his office. It was a pamphlet that said the ins and

My knee suddenly feels as if someone set it on fire, and I instantly know something terrible has happened. My body quickly goes into shock, and I succumb to a sea of blackness. Awaking I hear a loud, sobbing sound of a wounded animal, slowly realizing that sound has come from myself. I open my eyes to see my mom, Coach Pendleton, and the athletic trainer leaning over me with questioning looks, as if they can not see the pain that I am feeling. All three are shouting questions at me as the red and black crowd sits silently with horrified faces. The trainer’s mouth is moving but I have no idea what she is saying, and it is as if I have lost my hearing, because the pain is too much too bear. Finally, I start to regain my thoughts and I can hear the trainer asking, “can you locate your pain for me?” I point to my knee, which is already swollen like a balloon. My mom and Coach Pendleton slowly help me to my feet and carry me to the sidelines like a child, where my team is staring at me with tear-filled eyes. I overhear the trainer talking in hushed voice with my mom, saying, “ I am concerned with the amount of swelling in the ACL area of her knee.” My stomach drops as I consider what she's just said. I will miss many games of my senior year, in the sport I love. My heart slowly shatters as I sit

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

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

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 )

Injuries will occur, no matter the sport. The type of injury to occur depends on the gender of the player. Often, when players become injured, they are in denial about the repercussions of their injury and usually have a loss in confidence. Repercussions can tragically be career ending, long term or luckily short term. Understanding the injury and it’s impact on a player is important, however, knowing how to prevent the injury is more important.