ACL Tear
Nathan Ballard
What Is An ACL Tear?
An ACL Tear is a tear in the anterior cruciate ligament, that is caused by the tibia sliding foward causing tension in the ACl, eventually leading to a tear. It can be very painful and cause you not to walk and most of the time require surgery.
How it happens
Let's think about a soccer player: he is going into to take a shot and plants with his left foot, suddenly he hears a pop and his legs buckle. He feels a lot of pain and is unable to stand up, what has happened?
He has torn his acl, how did this happen : while planting his left foot his tibia slid foward causing stress on the ACL and causing it to tear
Symptoms:
Pain located right below the knee
Can not apply large amounts of weight in leg
Instant swelling
Redness and irritation to the touch
Can do drawer test by setting knee at 45° and pulling tibia foward- this heLPS you examine if the ACl is still intact or not . If the knee moves a lot most likely the ACl IS torn
How to prevent it
The first thing you can do is strengthen your hamstring and quads that way you do not have imbalance. imbalance can cause a tear so try and keep everything in balance . Next you should always stretch before strenuous activity. doing this you can help prevent the possibilities of tearing your acl.