Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Tears (for Parents)

What Is the Anterior Cruciate Ligament?

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the ligaments in the knee joint. A ligament is a tough, flexible band of tissue that holds bones and
cartilagetogether.

The ACL connects the bottom of the thighbone (femur) to the top of the shinbone (tibia). The ACL helps keep the knee stable.

What Is an ACL Tear?

The anterior cruciate (KROO-she-ate) ligament can tear if an injury stretches it too much. The tear might be partial (through a part of the ACL) or complete (all the way through the ACL).

What Are the Signs & Symptoms of an ACL Tear?

Most people who tear their ACL feel pain and a “pop” in their knee when the injury happens. Their knee usually gets swollen soon after the injury. After the swelling goes down, someone with an ACL tear usually can walk. But the knee may feel unstable and can “give way” and make the person stumble or fall.

What Causes ACL Tears?

Most ACL tears happen during athletic activity. For example when someone:

• changes direction or twists the knee while running
• jumps and lands in a way that twists the knee

The ACL also can tear if the knee is hit forcefully from the side.

Who Gets ACL Tears?

ACL tears happen most often during sports involving turning, cutting, and pivoting like skiing, soccer, football, basketball, and tennis. Women tear their ACL more often than men. This is most likely due to different anatomy.

How Is an Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tear Diagnosed?

To diagnose a torn ACL, health care providers ask about the injury and do a physical exam. During the exam, the health care provider presses on the knee and legs and moves them in certain ways. These tests can show if the ACL is torn.

Imaging tests that might be done include:

• X-rays to check for injuries to the bones
• an MRI to check the extent of an ACL tear and to see if the knee has other injuries

How Is an ACL Tear Treated?

Right after the injury, an ACL tear is treated with:

• RICE: Rest, Ice, Compression (with an elastic bandage), and Elevation (raising the knee)
• over-the-counter pain medicine such as acetaminophen (Tylenol or store brand) or ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, or store brand)

Most partial tears can be treated with bracing and physical therapy (PT). A person might need to use crutches during recovery.

Some complete ACL tears will need surgery. Whether someone has surgery depends on many things, including:

• the type of the activities (or sports) the person wants to do
• if the person is an athlete
• age
• other injuries to the knee
• if the knee “gives way” or feels unstable

What Happens During Surgery for a Torn ACL?

ACL reconstruction surgery uses a graft (piece of tissue) to reconstruct (rebuild) the ACL. The graft can be a tendon, with or without bones attaching to it, from the patient’s own body (called an autograft) or from someone else who donated the tendon (called an allograft).

ACL repair surgery is usually done arthroscopically. This type of surgery is done using a tiny camera (called an arthroscope) and small instruments that are inserted through small incisions (cuts).

Recovery from ACL surgery can take 6–12 months. A person may use crutches and a leg brace after surgery, and might need a knee brace after that.

Physical therapy is important to help the knee heal. PT helps to:

• improve range of motion and flexibility
• regain strength in the knee, thigh, and shin muscles
• reduce pain and swelling
• improve balance

How Can We Prevent Another ACL Tear?

Having an ACL tear puts someone at higher risk for another one. Training programs may help your child avoid another ACL tear. These focus on neuromuscular training (NMT). NMT teaches movement patterns that lower the risk of injury, especially while jumping, landing, and changing direction. NMT programs include stretching, plyometrics (jump training), and balance training.

Ask your care team if an NMT program is right for your child.

How Can Parents Help?

Recovering from an ACL tear takes time. It’s normal for kids with ACL tears to feel angry, frustrated, or down, especially if they can’t play a sport they love. Help your child find ways to stay involved in sports, such as keeping score or being a team manager. Or, if your child wants to do something besides sports, help him or her try a new hobby like playing the guitar, painting, or drawing.

To help your child get the best treatment possible:

• Go to all follow-up visits and physical therapy appointments as directed.
• Help your child follow the care team’s instructions for at-home exercises.

What Happens When You Tear Your ACL: Crescent City Orthopedics: Orthopedic Surgeons

When you tear your ACL, you typically experience a popping sound or sensation in your knee when you have the injury. It begins to swell and causes pain when putting weight on it. This common injury happens to 100,000-200,000 Americans every year.

At Crescent City Orthopedics, we’re ACL specialists with the expertise to treat ACL tears. To help you understand more about this injury, let’s look at an overview of the function of your knee.  

Understanding the makeup of your knee

Your knee has four ligaments that help it operate with fluid movement, which include the following:

• Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)
• Medial collateral ligament (MCL)
• Lateral collateral ligament (LCL)
• Posterior cruciate ligament (PCL)

Your ACL sits at the front of your knee and connects your thigh to your shin bone. It’s responsible for stopping you when moving forward and helping your thigh bone and shin bone with rotation.

Why ACL tears aren’t all the same

When we evaluate the severity of your ACL tear, we classify its injury into one of three categories:

Grade one

This classification means that you have stretched your ligament, but it’s still strong enough to stabilize your knee.

Grade two

A grade two category indicates that your ligament has not only been stretched, but it’s been loosened, causing a partial tear.

Grade three

If you have a grade three injury, your ligament has been torn into two pieces, which is very severe.

An ACL tear can also accompany other injuries to your knee.

Signs of a torn ACL

ACL injuries usually occur during a noncontact moment. ACL tears usually occur when you stop running too quickly, land awkwardly, or change direction too quickly.

As soon as the injury occurs, you might feel:

• A “giving out” sensation when trying to walk
• Pain
• Swelling
• Tenderness
• Lack of range of motion in your knee
• Discomfort when putting pressure on your knee

If you think you’ve torn your ACL, you should book an appointment with our team as soon as possible. We can evaluate your knee and advise proper treatment immediately.

Treating your ACL injury

Treatments vary depending on the severity of your injury. No matter how intense your injury is, you should immediately apply the RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevate) method.

After a medical evaluation, we will talk with you about your options. Unfortunately, an ACL tear won’t heal on its own. However, you can strengthen the surrounding muscles with physical therapy to give your knee the support it needs.

You may want to consider surgery to return to your sport and participate at 100%. During your consultation, we discuss the projected outcomes of your various options to help you make the best decision.

To learn more about an ACL tear, call us at our office in Metairie, Louisiana. You can also click here to use our online scheduler.

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How to Avoid Re-Tearing Your Cruciate Ligament: 14 Steps (with Pictures) Fitness

The ACL is the ligament in the knee joint that connects the femur (femur) to the tibia (tibia). This helps stabilize the knee, preventing it from moving in or out. Unfortunately, if you break an ACL once, you are much more likely to break it again. However, you can take steps to prevent this from happening by doing exercises to strengthen the knee and surrounding muscles, as well as by taking certain preventive measures.

Steps

Part One of 3: ACL Strengthening Exercises

1. one Do squats to strengthen your knees and hips. Squats are a very effective exercise for avoiding re-injury to the ACL as they strengthen the gluteal and lean muscles that help support the hip and knee joints. To squat:

   • Stand about 30 cm from a wall, then lean back until your back touches it.
   • Slide down the wall, bending your knees until your thighs are parallel to the floor. Don’t let your knees go past your toes.
   • Hold this position for 10 to 15 seconds, then return to the starting position and repeat 5 to 10 times.

2. 2 Try single leg bridges to strengthen the muscles that support the knee joint. This exercise helps strengthen the tibialis anterior, gastrocnemius, and rectus femoris muscles, the group of muscles that support the knee joint. To make bridges on one leg:

   • Lie on your back on the ground facing a wall. Bend one knee and extend the other leg so that the foot rests against the wall.
   • Use your bent leg for support as you lift your hips and straight leg off the floor so that your body forms a diagonal line from your feet to your shoulders.
   • Hold this position for 10 to 30 seconds, then relax. Repeat the exercise 10 to 12 times.

3. 3 Perform forward lunges to strengthen your hip and support your knee. This forward lunge exercise helps support the rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, gastrocnemius, and gracilis muscles—muscles that support the hips and knees. Performing a forward lunge:

   • Stand straight with your feet shoulder-width apart. Take a big step forward with one foot and bend your knees until your front knee forms a 90-degree angle and your back knee almost touches the floor. Make sure that the knee of the front foot does not extend beyond the ends of the toes.
   • Then take a big step forward with your back foot and repeat the exercise, this time with the opposite foot in front. Perform walking lunges until you have taken 10-15 steps. This counts as 1 set. Repeat 2-3 sets.

4. 4 Jump to practice control. Performing small controlled jumps allows you to properly practice landing with minimal stress on your knees. This landing technique can then be applied when you return to sports. To jump:

   • Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and take a small jump forward. Try to land on both feet at the same time, as this helps distribute the weight and avoid putting more stress on one knee than the other.
   • It is very important to bend your knees when landing as this absorbs the impact of the jump and avoids stress on the knee joints and the ACL. Try to maintain the correct body position by placing your hips on your knees and your knees on your ankles.
   • Repeat this exercise 10-15 times for 2-3 sets. As your knees get stronger, you can increase the intensity of this exercise by jumping off a low box (up to 12 inches high) instead.

5. 5 Do balance exercises to restore stability in your knees. Performing balance exercises helps the injured knee regain stability and also strengthens the gluteal and gluteal muscles that support the hip and knees.

   • Stand on the injured leg on a stable surface with a slight bend and proper body position (knee over ankle, hip over knee). Try to hold a one-legged handstand for 10 to 30 seconds before relaxing. Repeat 8 to 12 times on each leg.
   • As your balance improves, you can make the exercise more difficult by closing your eyes while doing it, raising and lowering your opposite knee, standing on an unstable surface, or throwing the ball back and forth with a partner.

6. 6 Use a resistance band. Bands help strengthen the knee joint and surrounding muscles, making them work harder for a simple action. Expanders can be used in a variety of exercises to increase their level of difficulty. Here are some simple exercises you can do:

   • Sit in a chair with a straight back and wrap an elastic band around your ankles. Raise your injured leg until the band stretches and you feel resistance in your quadriceps. Repeat 10 times.
   • Lie on the floor on your stomach and wrap one end of the elastic band around the ankle of the injured leg and the other end around a strong object (such as a table leg). Bend your knee, bringing your heel closer to your buttocks, until the band stretches and you feel resistance in your hamstrings. Repeat 10 times.

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Part 2 of 3: ACL Protection

1. one Wear a knee brace to support and protect your knee. Wearing a knee brace after an ACL tear can help you avoid re-injury. The orthosis is made of lightweight materials that support the knee and protect the ligaments inside the joint.

   • Depending on the type of activity you’re going to be doing, there are different types of knee brace – light for people who just want to take a daily walk, or heavier for athletes returning to sports.

2. 2 Always warm up properly before training. Before doing any exercise, it is important to warm up properly, as this warms up the muscles, joints and ligaments and prepares them for physical activity. This greatly reduces the chance of injury.

   • You can warm up by doing 5 to 10 minutes of dynamic stretching such as ski jumping, straight leg kicking, or running in place.

3. 3 Don’t push yourself too hard. Pushing yourself too soon is a sure way to re-break the ACL. It is very important to go through the entire rehabilitation process after an injury in order to fully restore the strength and mobility of the knee joint, and to postpone returning to your usual exercises or sports until you have been given permission by a physical therapist.

   • When doing rehabilitation exercises, it is important that you stop or reduce the intensity of the exercise as soon as you start to feel pain. These exercises should work the muscles, ligaments, and joints, but should not be painful.

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Part 3 of 3: Caring for a Re-torn ACL

1. one Recognize the symptoms of a re-torn ACL. If you have already experienced an ACL injury, you are probably familiar with the symptoms of an ACL tear. It’s important to recognize the signs and symptoms early so you can seek treatment and start on the road to recovery. Symptoms of an anterior cruciate ligament tear include:

   • Click or pop at the time of injury.
   • Pain varies from moderate to severe, depending on the extent of the injury.
   • Swelling and inflammation in the knee joint, accompanied by soreness, redness and a feeling of warmth.
   • Inability to move or extend the knee or instability of the knee.

2. 2 Use the RICE method to heal an ACL tear. Immediately after injury or rupture of the ACL, the RICE method should be used to prevent worsening of the injury and begin the healing process. The RICE method works like this:

   • Rest: The knee must be at rest for at least the first 72 hours after injury. Avoid any form of physical activity.
   • Ice: Apply an ice pack or cold compress to the injured knee for 10-20 minutes at intervals. This reduces swelling and inflammation.
   • Compression: Wear an elastic knee brace around your injured knee to support the joint, prevent unnecessary movement, and prevent swelling.
   • Elevation: The knee should be elevated above heart level with pillows and cushions to prevent and reduce swelling.

3. 3 Take medicine to relieve pain. After an ACL rupture, your doctor may prescribe non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to relieve pain and reduce swelling. The most commonly prescribed NSAIDs include ibuprofen and voltaren.

   • If you have a history of gastrointestinal disorders, stomach or peptic ulcers, kidney or liver disease, or are currently taking any anticoagulants such as warfarin, you need to be very careful when taking NSAIDs, so talk first with your doctor.

4. 4 Reschedule surgery after major tears. For most people, following the RICE protocol and undergoing a thorough rehabilitation program is sufficient to fully restore knee mobility and strength. However, in severe injuries, surgery may be required to repair a torn ACL. This operation is especially common among athletes.

   • Surgery is usually performed a few weeks after the injury to allow time for the swelling and inflammation to subside.

5. 5 Follow a rehabilitation program to regain mobility and strength in your knees. Whether you have had surgery or not, a thorough rehabilitation program (usually up to 6 months) will be required to bring your knee back to full strength and mobility. For more information on how to repair your knee after an ACL injury, see this article. Advertisement

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Does ACL leave a scar after surgery? – Celebrity.

fm

Postoperative scarring is a known complication after arthroscopic anterior knee ligament reconstruction. . The incidence of symptomatic scarring requiring surgical lysis of adhesions after isolated anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction is approximately 0.34%.

Second, how painful is ACL surgery? Most people experience some pain and discomfort associated with surgery during the first week or so. Not surprisingly, over time, the pain decreases. By the end of a week or two at the most, you should have very little discomfort. Swelling and bruising are also relatively common and, like discomfort, are temporary.

however Can you continue to grow after anterior cruciate ligament surgery?

This is because the procedure can disrupt growth plates – areas of developing cartilage near the ends of long bones – and potentially affect growth. For example, it can slightly shorten the injured limb.

Is the operation worth the ACL?

ACL reconstruction is usually recommended if: You are an athlete and want to continue playing sports, especially if the sport involves jumping, cutting or turning. More than one ligament damaged. You have a torn meniscus that needs repair.

Still, is the ACL operation good for life?

Patients can expect to stay active, enjoy high athletic performance and quality of life. A new study shows that quality of life and sports-related function were maintained in many patients for up to 10 years after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) repair.

Contents

Will my knee ever be the same after ACL surgery?

Long-term results after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery are not always ideal. But in most patients, the outcome is favorable and patients are satisfied with the results.

How long can I walk after ACL surgery?

Unassisted walking and recovery time

Patients walk unaided for 2-4 weeks, but not for long. After 10-12 weeks, expect brisk walking, light jogging, and even plyometric exercises. Full recovery after ACL reconstruction is 6-12 months or more with physical therapy.

Is there a way to prevent breaking the ACL?

You can prevent many anterior cruciate ligament injuries by keeping the muscles around your knees strong and flexible with consistent training. Exercise helps us stay fit, improve balance, and be aware of our body.

Is ACL operation a major operation?

ACL reconstruction surgery can help restore range of motion, function, and stability of the knee after an ACL injury. ACL reconstruction surgery is a common but serious operation with risks, like any other operation.

At what youngest age can you tear your cruciate ligament?

Approximately 25% of the patients in the ACL dataset were between 5 and 12 years of age; the youngest patient with an anterior cruciate ligament tear was 9 years old.

What is worse knee replacement or anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction?

In this study, investigators interpreted TKR as a clinically significant reflection of end-stage osteoarthritis. Therefore, people who have undergone ACL reconstruction may be more likely to experience severe chronic knee pain—and at a younger age—than the general population.

What happens if you don’t repair an ACL tear?

Untreated anterior cruciate ligament injuries accelerate the development of osteoarthritis. Without proper support from the anterior cruciate ligament, articular cartilage begins to break down faster than normal. After a knee injury, bleeding inside the joint can occur. You may or may not have signs that alert you to a problem.

Can a repaired ACL tear again?

In most cases, the operation is successful and the rehabilitation goes well. The question arises: is it possible to break the ACL again after the operation? Unfortunately, the answer is yes, because there is a possibility of complications. In fact, you can re-break a new ligament.

Why does my knee hurt 2 years after ACL surgery?

ACL surgery can damage a wide variety of parts of the knee. This damage can occur due to the removal of stem cells needed to keep the knee healthy, damage to the ligaments that hold the meniscus in place, and damage to the knee tendons. These areas of surgical injury can also cause pain after ACL surgery.

Does age affect ACL recovery?

Effect of age and surgical options on ACL

Recent studies have shown that ACL outcomes in younger, more active patients are more successful when their surgeon uses the patient’s own tissue, rather than a cadaver graft, to reconstruct the ACL. “There is always a risk that the graft will fail after reconstructive surgery,” says the doctor.

Are you slower after an ACL operation?

Typically, those who returned successfully were above-average NFL players before the injury but were relatively average after their return. In other words, after ACL surgery, a Pro Bowl-level quarterback regresses to the level of an average player, and an average player falls below the NFL standard.

Why is ACL so weak?

This vulnerability is related to the anatomy of the hips and knees and the lack of support structures for the muscles that protect the ACL from extreme stress during jumps, landings or sudden movements.

Why are ACL tears so serious?

Like all ligaments, ACL takes a very long time to heal. The reason is that the ligaments are poorly vascularized. In other words, there are not so many blood vessels that provide ligaments with nutrients, and without nutrients, tissue repair is impossible. Often a surgical graft is required to rupture the ACL.

How long do you stay in the hospital after anterior cruciate ligament surgery?

Some patients stay in the hospital for up to 24 hours after ACL reconstruction surgery. As soon as possible after the completion of the operation, you will begin to perform continuous passive movement exercises in bed.

What is the fastest ACL recovery?

All of this happened 173 days or 24½ weeks after he tore his cruciate ligament during spring football practice on March 25th. Wednesday marked the six-month anniversary of the injury. It was the earliest date the coaches had originally planned for him to return… to training.

Can I lift weights after ACL surgery?

For many athletes, this is about 6 weeks after surgery. Delaying the start of strength training will only prolong your recovery and lower your chances of ever returning to the game. It is important to follow the advice of your therapist before surgery (ACL prehab) and immediately after surgery (early ACL rehab).

How long does an ACL tear last?

Most people recover from an ACL rupture within six to nine months.

How can I strengthen my ACL without surgery?

Stretch program daily. Cardio program recommended 3-5 times a week for 20-40 minutes Perform strengthening/proprioceptive exercises 3 times a week. Do plyometric/jumping/agility exercises 2 times a week. Return to sports as directed by your doctor and physical therapist.