Athletico Health Resources

Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, the dreaded injury. Many people know ACL tears are a severe injury, involving a long road of recovery despite surgical or conservative intervention. The ACL is a sturdy ligament deep in the knee joint that stabilizes the knee, specifically with rotational movements. There are two ways to injure your ACL, direct contact or non-contact. A direct contact ACL injury is when the knee takes a direct blow from another person or object. A non-contact ACL injury occurs when pivoting, cutting, twisting, or landing on the knee.

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With ACL injuries on the rise in young athletes, it is as important as ever to improve the strength in the lower limbs as a means to prevent an ACL tear.¹ The average time of recovery after an ACL tear and subsequent surgery is typically six to nine months, and can set back an athlete for a much longer period of time than that.² Biomechanics and strength are just a few pieces of the puzzle that can help prevent an injury. Proper rest, recovery, sleep, and nutrition can also help minimize the risk of an ACL tear from happening. The following are a list of strengthening exercises that address important aspects of an ACL prevention program.

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For most people, physical therapy is only considered after an injury or surgical procedure. Unlike medical doctors, dentists and eye doctors, people do not consider going to a physical therapist for yearly check-ups. However, if you are training for a particular event, interested in finding out your injury risk level for specific sports, want to improve your balance or are considering seeking preventative care to decrease risk of age-related issues, physical therapy may be the best option to consider. Physical therapists are trained to be movement experts. They evaluate their patients based on functional movement screens, strength testing, range of motion measurements and special tests to determine muscular deficiencies and imbalances. Discussing goals during your first session with your therapist will allow for performance of a specific exam and creation of a unique exercise program built for you. Here are three reasons you may want to consider seeing a physical therapist even though you may not be in pain or have an injury.

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Co-author: Dylan Webster, SPT, XPS

If you have been following sports over the past few years you may have noticed there has been an increase in anterior cruciate ligament or ACL tears in both men’s and women’s sports. You may be asking yourself if there is anything they can be doing to reduce their risk of a knee injury especially if you have young athletes in your home participating in sports such as football, soccer and basketball. Is it even possible to reduce your risk of a knee injury in general? Luckily the answer is…absolutely!

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Healing time and recovery following anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction surgery may be based on multiple factors, which can encompass everything from prior fitness level to activity goals, surgical procedure, and post-operative protocol guidelines. However, there are a few general guidelines common to many patients, and the timeline below offers a reference for post-surgical expectations following an ACL injury.

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ACL injuries are one of the most recognized knee injuries that occurs in patients of all ages. Yet, there is often differences in the treatments and recovery of an ACL injury. While many factors may influence the recovery process, one significant factor is determining if the ACL is sprained or torn. So you might be wondering; what’s the difference between an ACL sprain and tear?

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Sport-specific training has become a larger component in athletics as coaches, parents and players strive to push the boundaries of athletes’ abilities for the betterment of players and teams. However the link between injury and high-level training is rarely discussed.

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One of the most feared injuries in all of sports is injury to the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL), yet this continues to be among the most common injuries in active individuals. Even as the latest evidence in injury prevention has decreased the prevalence of some other injuries, ACL tears have continued to be an issue over the years. Many of our friends, family members, and/or favorite athletes have suffered from ACL tears. Thus there have been several studies conducted to get to the core of what actually causes the ACL to tear.

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