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 …show more content…
There are also the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and the Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL). These two ligaments coexist in the center of the knee and balance out the weakness of the other; the ACL “prevents the shin bone from sliding out in front of the thigh bone” while the PCL “prevents the shin bone from sliding backwards under the femur” (Vorvick). Despite how the ACL and the PCL work together, the ACL is one of the most well-known major injuries in sports.
In her article, “High School ACL Injury Rates”, Dawn Comstock shows that in 2009, about sixty percent, of all sports surgeries involve the knee; within the sixty percent, about fifty percent of the knee surgeries are ACL reconstructions. Sports that could have a higher tendency for an athlete to tear the ACL are sports that require an athlete to decelerate quickly or need to cut and change direction instantly. For example, an article shows that a high-impact sport has a higher percentage of ACL tears when compared to a low-impact sport, such as football and women’s soccer; football has a forty-one percent ACL injury rate while women’s soccer only has nineteen percent. Not only does the level of impact effect the likelihood of ACL injury, but the gender of the athlete as well. When looking at women’s and men’s soccer, men have a merely thirteen percent ACL injury rate because their physical structure along with their techniques when doing certain exercises.
According to Comstock’s article, “girls are
College athletes have worked both on the field and in school for decades for a chance to go pro. Athletes risk their careers for an education in the long run for a hope at getting a deal in a pro league or scoring an education. Athletes know the risk of playing the sport but love the activity enough to stay throughout the years. Playing a college sport is a way for students to receive educations or to be able to go pro in the end or even do both. Over years, players have become successful but some were not so fortunate after injuries that left them unable to play. Students know risk of playing a sport from the time they first start playing the sport. From 1988 through 2004, there were 200,000 injury reports, this data includes when an athlete misses a day or more of practice or competition, which
Each year, approximately a quarter of a million physically active young people experience an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, and seventy percent of these ACL injuries will be sustained while engaging in non-contact activities such as sudden deceleration while landing (Begalle et al., 2012). This type of injury is grossly detrimental not only on the occasion in which it occurs but also for the subsequent years to come. The majority of individuals who injure their ACL also go on to either, re-injure that same ACL, or injure the opposite knee. Furthermore, our bodies are put in tremendously vulnerable planes of motion during sporting events, especially during activities such as, basketball, football, or soccer. In this day
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) has limited range of motion, which leads to it being the most frequently injured ligament singularly (Ireland, 1999). This study was conducted to present the epidemiology on ACL injuries in female athletes (Ireland, 1999). Epidemiology is the part of science that focuses on the causes, effects, and patterns of disease and health conditions that occur in specific populations. The epidemiology in this article focuses on female athletes that have had a noncontact ACL injury playing either basketball or soccer (Ireland, 1999).
The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and the Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL) are located inside the knee joint. The ACL and PCL form an ‘X’ behind the kneecap (patella), with the ACL resting in front of the PCL. Both of these ligaments are responsible for controlling the back and forth motion of the knee joint; however, the ACL is responsible for stabilizing the kneecap ). In addition, the ACL is responsible for preventing the shin bone (tibia) from sliding forward on the thigh bone (femur). The ACL provides the knee with stability while an individual pivots or twists. This ligament is critical because without it, performing any kind of rotational activity is impossible, particularly when it comes to playing sports like soccer and basketball.
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
In sport an ACL injury is the most frequently ruptured ligament of the knee (Johnson, 1983), it is described by Flynn 2005 as a serious, common and costly injury (Flynn, 2005). In many cases an ACL injury is the result of noncontact and studies done by Barrett et al 1972 and Beckett et al 1992 support this as they reported that 78% and 71% of ACL injured patients described noncontact mechanisms of injury such as landing with too much knee extension or change in direction (pivoting) (Barrett et al 1972 and Beckett et al 1992) and also can happen due to contact such dominant kicking leg, fall on the knee or even a forceful blow to the knee. Bjordal et al 1997, in their findings showed that 58% and 42% of ACL injuries were
The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is one of the most common knee injuries in female sports today. The ACL is a ligament that attaches the femur and tibia to the knee allowing the knee to bend while still being stable and supporting the whole body. Dr. Russel F. Warren, a physician for the New York Giants football team, explains, “The ACL prevents the shin bone (tibia) from moving too far forward on the thigh bone (femur) and keeps the knee from twisting inward excessively.” When athletes tear their ACL there is a greater chance that they have hurt or another ligament in their knee such as the LCL, MCL or Meniscus; which is cartilage that absorbs shock from the body’s pressure (MedlinePlus). The ACL is strong, but one wrong move could result
Female athletes can protect themselves through many stretches and prevention programs provided by their coaches, parents and Athletic Trainers. Many ACL tears can be protected by warm- up or cool-down programs or stretching (Ritter). The solution to preventing some of the ACL injuries is a strength and flexibility programs to strengthen the hamstrings, quadriceps and the core while stabilizing the knee (Busse). Working on the athlete’s techniques such as running, jumping and landing techniques can vastly improve their chances of ACL strength and would help prevent against tears (Malamut). Using an ACL prevention program teaches athletes how to align their hips for correct form and how to jump correctly without pain and without being knock-knee.
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) -injury is arguably the most common serious knee injury related to sports participation. Approximately 5000 individuals suffer an ACL injury in Sweden every year (Lohmander 2007). Individuals with a history of injury to their anterior cruciate ligament or menisci were shown to develop knee OA 10 to 20 years post injury (Lohmander, 2007).
The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) of the knee is arguably one of the most notorious parts of the body in the sporting industry. When torn and repaired with surgery, it can leave an athlete out of play for up to 12 months if therapy is consistent over that time period1. There are several different ways to repair the ligament in order to regain functionality and recover stability. In any case, physical therapy plays a vital role in regaining these abilities and returning a person’s knee back to normal.
The most common ligamentous injury to the knee is injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) (Teske 2010), and it is the second most common injury in the lower extremity. It has become so common of an injury that 1 in 3000 individuals in the United States will be affected with an ACL tear (Micheo 2010) and there are 200,000 new cases per year (Wilk 2012). It is most commonly seen in people 15-30 years of age (Teske 2010). It is also more common in females than males (Fayad 2003, Teske 2010, Bowerman 2006). This is due to increased joint laxity in post-pubescent females compared to post-pubescent males (Bowerman 2006) and differences in muscle activation. Males tend to have a more balanced quadriceps to hamstrings ratio
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 ACL is shown in the middle of the knee in front of the PCL (Cimino et al., 2010).
The Anterior Cruciate Ligament, also known as the ACL, plays an important role in the stabilization of the knee. The ACL connects the femur to the tibia. The ACL passes, in a diagonal, from the outer area of the femur to the inner area of the tibia. The main function of the ACL is to restrain forward movement and the inner rotation of the bottom half of the leg, as well as prevent hyperextension of the knee (Schwager, 2009).
The knee joint consists of four ligaments, two intra-capsular which are the ACL and the PCL and two extra-capsular ligaments including the MCL and LCL. The ACL is an extremely strong stabiliser which prevents anterior displacement of the knee. The ACL is a ligament and therefore connects one bone to another, the femur with the tibia. The ACLs origin is from the anterior intercondylar eminence of the tibia (home,2017) and the fibres pass upwards, backward and laterally inserting into the lateral condyle of the femur.