Anterior Cruciate Ligament Essay

I have played soccer continuously from age 3 to 18. Four years ago, I tore my right ACL. I endured surgery and 6 months of physical therapy, then almost 2 years later to the day, I was told the same fate again. I had torn the ACL in my left knee this time. Why did this awful injury have to strike me twice? Once again, I endured the months of rehabilitation and soon returned to the field. Having to go through this twice as a teen taught me that perseverance and determination will help you achieve what you want in life. Even though I spent almost 2 years away from the field, I still made every effort to be there for my teammates. Some days I didn’t want to get out of bed because of the pain, I didn’t want to go to therapy, and I wanted to quit.

This all begun in 2014, i was recovering from my first ACL tear. I would talk to my doctor about how my recovery was going so far, and he would always reply “your coming along well” but what he never told me was he was expecting it to tere again at any moment.

Sports have been around for a very long time. The Maya used to play a game with a rubber ball similar to basketball. The nobility in the medieval era played a primitive form of tennis. Most civilizations have had a sport of some kind. Sports are a way for us to get exercise and expend energy. However, in modern society, sports have become much more competitive and more popular. There are now numerous professional sports leagues and every year, millions of people go to see professional sporting events. Nowadays in football, as a man on the defensive line, your goal is to try and smash the quarterback, whereas 30 years ago, the goal was to just to win the game. This change in mindset, to be more aggressive and

Estimations indicate that each year in the United States 200,000 ACL tears occur, with approximately 50 percent of those tears requiring reconstructive surgery: Furthermore, about half of those ACL tears are accompanied by a torn meniscus (the cartilage that acts as the shock absorber between the shin bone and the thigh bone) and/or injuries to other ligaments. Common symptoms of a torn ACL include knee instability, swelling and pain.

Whenever an athlete participates in a sport, whether it be practice or a meet/game, they run the risk of injuring themselves. When it comes to basketball, Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries are common. ACL tears are more likely to occur in female basketball players as opposed to males. In basketball, speed, strength, and power are the most important physical qualities to develop. Sometimes an athlete may be lacking in certain areas which puts them at a greater risk for tearing their ACL.

The anterior cruciate ligament, more commonly known as ACL, is the most common knee ligament injury. An ACL injury mainly affects athletes or those participating in athletic activities. Over the years, sports have become more popular which has led to an increase in ACL injuries. This increase led orthopedic surgeons to create many operations over the past fifteen years that reconstruct this ligament.

With an ever increasing number of people becoming involved with athletic activities, there is an increasing number of injuries occurring which can be devastating for the individual. Most of the injuries that affect athletes occur in one of four structures in the human body: bones, muscles, tendons, or ligaments. Because ligaments attach bone to bone and play a major part in providing stability for joints, the major stabilizing ligament in the knee, the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), assists in performing everyday actions of the human body including sitting, standing, walking, running, dancing, and participating in other sports. The injury that specifically affects this ligament is very serious and always

A torn ACL is a injury in which also is a torn anterior cruciate ligament in the knee. When someone tears their ACL they have to have a surgery to replace it. ACL injuries range from mild, such as a small tear, to severe such as when the ligament tears completely or when the ligament and part of the bone separate from the rest of the bone. A lot of the time some of the other knee ligaments or parts of the knee are also injured. This includes cartilage such as the menisci, or bones in the knee joint they also can be broken. Your ACL can be broken during sport activities. During an activity if your leg is planted firmly on the ground then hit by a heavy/large force it could tear the ACL. Some ways your ACL can be tore is by being bent backwards,

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament also known as the ACL is deemed the most commonly torn ligament in the knee and can result from both contact and noncontact injuries. Most Anterior Cruciate Ligament injuries result from an extreme force on the lateral side of the person’s knee causing a valgus force which pushes the knee inward (Kisner & Colby, 2012, pp. 802-803). This injury to the side of the knee can also cause a “Terrible Triad” injury which also injures both the medial meniscus and the medial collateral ligament (Kisner & Colby, 2012, p. 803). Our textbook further states that “the most common noncontact mechanism is a rotational mechanism in which the tibia is externally rotated on the planted foot….this mechanism can account for as many as 78% of all ACL injuries” (Kisner & Colby, 2012, p. 803). If the person does not seek medical help with this injury they are susceptible to also injuring the remaining support ligaments as well. Patients usually present with joint effusion; possibly 25 degrees of flexion, joint swelling if blood vessels are involved, limited ROM, stress pain and instability along with quads avoidance gait patterns (Kisner & Colby, 2011, p. 208)

Every Tuesday and Thursday, Dr. Alpert wakes up at 6:30 AM, which allows him enough time to brew his morning coffee and prepare for the day all before making his first cut in the operating room at 8:00 AM. He performs his surgeries at either Ashton Surgical Center in Hoffman Estates, IL on Tuesday, or at Algonquin Road Surgical Center in Lake In the Hills, IL on Thursday. “I typically have surgeries from eight in the morning to about two in the afternoon, which allows three to five patients per day depending on the procedure. Every time I have an ACL reconstruction, I turn on my some of my favorite oldies music to get me in the groove.” During a typical ACL reconstruction, Dr. Alpert scrapes out the old, ruptured ACL and swaps it with a graft that is most commonly obtained from the hamstring or the patellar tendon. “I prefer to use the hamstring, especially with women. The procedure classically takes about an hour and a half to complete, and the patient is able to start rehab the next day. With ACL tears being such a frequent injury among female athletes, particularly in non-contact sports, it is currently being researched just why that is.”

Imagine an athlete at the top of their game coming to a sudden halt because of a life-altering injury, tearing their Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL). This happens to athletes everywhere because of lack of awareness and lack of prevention. To a non-athlete, this injury might not sound life-altering, but when an athlete hears that they have torn their ACL, they know that there will be a hard journey in front of them. Until an athlete endures the hardships of recovering from this injury, they do not understand the intricacies and the pains that an athlete endures when facing this game-changing injury. Not all athletes can avoid an ACL injury by preventative strengthening exercises, so they must endure a long process of recovery in order

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a ligament that can be found in the knee. The ACL attaches two of three bones that link to form the knee joint. These bones are the tibia, which is the larger bone in the calf area, and the femur, which is the bone found in the thigh. The third, non-connected bone is the patella, which is the kneecap that offers protection to the overall area. The knee joint houses four primary ligaments, which are separated into the following two groups. The collateral ligaments, which consist of the lateral collateral ligament (LCL) and the medial collateral ligament (MCL), can be found toward the left and right of the patella. Collateral ligaments regulate sideways movements along with bracing for atypical

There are many important parts in your body, and the anterior cruciate ligament(ACL) is one of the most important part to your leg and fitness. The ACL gives the knee its stability and many injuries can happen to this part of the body, so people with these injuries often visit rehabilitation(rehab) therapy for faster recovery. This is one of the most common athletic injuries. Mostly teens, who play sports, get these injuries. A pop usually indicates that the ACL is torn. Many people come to rehab therapy, and even with this special treatment, it takes a very long time for full restoration. The torn ACL not only affects certain parts of your body, but also affects several parts that can cause more severe injuries.

Before I knew it, I was starting my junior year of high school. That is when I realized the surgery was negatively impacting my studies. I was now getting homework and my grades were slipping due to the fact that all my attention was going to my surgery and not my school work. With the help of my parents and friends, I was able to make a complete turnaround and build my grades up to the point where I was able to make the honor roll.

All high school I have seen this injury happen to several athletes affecting their performance. Usually from what I have noticed this disability, although temporary, can ruin an athlete’s opportunity to continue in the sport thus making them lose several opportunities. The disability I am speaking of is an ACL tear. “A torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a common knee injury, especially for athletes. Ligaments are long, rope-like bands that fasten bones together. The ACL’s role is that it helps give the knee its stability. This injury usually occurs through movements such as pivoting, stopping, or turning on a dime. People also can also receive this injury if they jump up and when they are on their way down their knee is locked instead of flexed. This puts pressure on the knee joint and causes the ACL to tear or break apart”(Jr. A.). ACL injuries are quite often in sports I was privileged to interview someone who has experienced it on a