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School Of Physical Therapy And Rehab Programs

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In the 2009 regular NFL season, New England Patriots wide receiver, Wes Walker, was having one of his finest seasons. In his last game of the regular season, Walker went down after catching a pass from Tom Brady and attempting to juke the defender in front of him. Wes planted his leg on the turf and it looked as though his foot got caught underneath him with his knee bent, nearly touching the field. Walker had torn his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) on that play. The wide receiver suffered a season ending injury while he was leading the league with 123 catches (Marx 17). Although some factors put more people at risk of tearing their ACL, this can really happen to anyone. Even though the tear can affect the person physically and mentally, …show more content…

Overall it is an important ligament in the knee and it is assisted by the muscles surrounding it which helps with stabilization during lower extremity movements. The reality is that sometimes the ACL can’t endure certain movements in the knee and the ligament can be torn (School of Physical Therapy at Texas Woman 's University). The American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine found that there are about 150,000 cases of ACL tear injuries that occur in the United States each year. These injuries can occur for many reasons, but there are some factors that can put someone more at risk of tearing their ACL. The two different types of risk factors are external and internal. An example of an external factor would be the play in which the athlete injured themselves. An internal factor would be the anatomy of the woman compared to the male (American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine). ACL tears can occur in non-contact situations. Cutting and pivoting in certain sports can increase the risk of a tear. About 70 percent of the injuries actually occur in a non-contact situation. This can happen because the athlete has put the knee in an at-risk position. Robert Marx, the author of the book “The ACL Solution: Prevention and Recovery for Sports Most Devastating Knee Injury,” explains this at-risk positon as the athlete has their leg fairly straight while the foot remains planted on the ground and the knee twisted inward. This is

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