Personal Narrative: My Anterior Cruciate Ligament

After sustaining a knee injury that required for surgical intervention while in high school, I struggled with recurring ailments throughout my intercollegiate career. It was not until my father, who is an Osteopathic physician, was performing manipulation on me did we begin to diagnose the potential causes. The issue was muscle imbalance and limited flexibility in certain areas of my body that was shifting majority of my weight onto my knees while performing certain movements. This went unnoticed by physicians because while performing examinations the scope was concentrated on the immediate areas around my knee. With the knowledge I obtained through manipulation I have been able to treat my knee ailments by strengthening and lengthening muscles throughout my body. Having this experience helped solidify that if I am to be the physician I aspire to be, it is imperative to be trained in this form of medicine.

If I could do-over one day I would choose May 5, 2015 of my junior year of high school. On that day I tore my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and it changed my life forever. Tearing my ACL affected me academically, athletically, and mentally.

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

The ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) is one of four ligaments to connect the thigh bone to the shin bone. The ACL stabilize the knee, controls excessive movement, and limits joint mobility. The ACL is primarily for the forward motion when walking, running, and jumping. Without the ACL the thighbone would constantly dislocate from the shin bone.

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is regarded as critical to the normal functioning of the knee, its disruption causing functional impairment, meniscal lesions, and the early onset of joint degeneration (Daniel 1994). The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) of the knee originates from the anterior aspect of the tibial plateau, inserting on the lateral femoral condyle. The ligament resists anterior translation and medial rotation of the tibia to the femur (Dai, 2012).

As I sat there and let the doctor examine my knee and diagnosis me with a “left knee sprain”. I started to cry. I already knew the outcome that I had a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). I tried to continue to play on it until one time I was playing in a tournament, and I went up to block a girls shot and landed on my

When an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is torn/ruptured it can be considered one of the most agonizing experiences in an athlete’s career. It is thought to be one of the first things that pops into an athlete’s mind and for many even their greatest fear when they injure their knee on the field. A ruptured ACL can be so detrimental that it can possibly mean the end to an athlete’s career. It can signify for young athletes losing that chance of getting a scholarship as in this case and the end of their careers for those who have gone professional. A ruptured ACL can result in large amounts of pain, numerous surgeries and months of strenuous exercise and rehabilitation. It requires an athlete to be dedicated and patient as pushing too hard can result in further injury. This essay will discuss the pathology, the rehabilitation progress from six weeks to final stage including the athletes return to play after experiencing an ACL injury.

Helen Keller, who succeeded in life even with being blind, deaf and mute, once stated, “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” Maybe it is true that everyone encounters an injury of different degrees; however, how that injury affects the outcome of a person is entirely up to the individual. People can either choose to be defeated by an injury or they can choose to be one who overcomes the obstacle. One particularly difficult injury to overcome, and the most common in female athletes, is known as an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. An ACL injury is serious but very much treatable. Current research reveals there are many different techniques to repair and prevent this particular ligament so that athletes can get back to playing the sport they love as soon as possible.

As new medical findings become disseminated present-day practices are subject to amendment, exposing the inherent nature and complexity of the human body. This is particularly true in a health care setting where a top-down processing approach is adopted to study and treat complex comorbidities. The problem is that, while health care professionals acknowledge the limitations of the traditional top-down approach, they rarely appropriate the necessary time needed to respond to such constraints. This study intended to identify alternative methods of responding to disparities seen amongst athletes recovering from anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR) by embracing the inherent nature and complexity of the human body.

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a strong rope-like structure that runs through the center of the knee connecting the femur to the tibia. An ACL prevents the femur from moving anteriorly while weight bearing, helps prevent rotation of the joint and is the primary stabilizing structure of the knee and its integrity is essential for walking and any physical activities (Sports Medicine Australia, 2015). An ACL sprain or tear is one of the most common knee injuries, especially among athletes who engage in high demanding sports including football, soccer and basketball. This is the case as this type of injury is likely to occur when; turning/twisting rapidly, stopping suddenly, landing awkwardly when jumping, slowing down

Now the emergency room tells you nothing is broken and the orthopaedic specialist tells you that the MRI he ordered comes back inconclusive but yet, you still cant run or kneel or cross your legs. Now, at 18, you still can’t do those things and you are still in excruciating pain, so what do you do when every other doctor tells you nothing is wrong? I sought out the help of Dr. Galea, and was I ever glad that I did. After spending 15 minutes with him in his office I knew that I had made the right decision. Dr. Galea promised me that he would find out what was wrong and that he would fix it. Through his determination 3 months later I was able to run, kneel and cross my legs. He found that I had several micro-tears in several different tendons in my knee, if it were not for his constant drive to help me become healthy again I would not have reached the level of sport that I am currently competing at. However, I am not the only athlete he has devoted his time and attention

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is located inferior (underneath) to the Femur and superior (above) to the Tibia. The ACL allows range of motion the Tibia.

I am currently recovering from an operation on my knee that occurred right before school started. It was specifically a knee arthroscopy and loose body removal. It started 2 years ago when I was playing soccer. It was the second day of tryouts and I was doing well. At one point our goalie had the ball and was looking at me. I back pedaled then quickly tried to turn my body left and run forward while my momentum was bringing me back. This was not a good combination of motions as I twisted and fell. I ended up dislocating my left knee cap and tearing my medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) which holds your knee cap from moving outwards. It was not only the twisting motion that caused this, I also have a shallow groove where the small bone rests. This causes it to move side to side more rather than staying in the straight path so a part of it was genetic (Minimally). I got an MRI of my knee to confirm the doctor's thoughts and to make sure nothing else was damaged. A very tiny piece of cartilage broke off and was floating Luckily there was no other

Health History: A 25-year-old male injured his left knee in a recent skiing accident. The patient stated that he lost his balance because the inner edge of his right ski got caught while skiing. This resulted in the right leg being externally rotated followed by and audible “pop” as he lost footing. By evening, the right knee joint had become swollen, causing intense pain. The primary care physician referred the case to an orthopedist.