What does a torn acl feel like
However, in older and non-active patients there is definitely a role for non-operative treatment by simply modifying their activities and avoiding all situations where they may pivot and damage their knee further. There is not good evidence that bracewear alone will decrease the rate of re-injury to the knee. All these problems mean that the knee will progress to late degenerative changes and osteoarthritis much earlier than in a normal knee. The patient will naturally and unconsciously try to prevent this. The patients will alter their gait and will develop a rather specific quadriceps avoidance gait because when they contract their quads during normal walking its slides the tibia forward which is usually stopped by the anterior crucial ligament. If left untreated, this will again progressively wear at the knee, causing an increased rate of osteoarthritis development. The smooth Teflon lining of the knee which is known as articular cartilage is often damaged at the time of the ACL tear. Up to 80% of the knees will eventually develop a cartilage tear. This progresses with time because in an untreated knee the knee is unstable and produces greater stress on the cartilage. There is an incidence of approximately 1 in 3 patients who at the time of the anterior cruciate ligament tear will tear their cartilage as well. Over time and with more usage these other structures stretch out as well, resulting in increased instability and then associated meniscal (cartilage) tears. The other structures of the knee try in vain to provide some stability to the knee. If left untreated the laxity which is immediately present only becomes worse. Natural History of the Torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament It might actually be easily missed in the initial stages. The injury is often missed because the physical examination requires some experience and training. Surprisingly, sometimes the knee will not get very swollen, although it certainly can. Usually the patient will feel a sudden pop in their knee immediately in injury to the knee.
In basketball it is usually a result of a hyperextension and internal rotation of the tibia on the femur, associated with deceleration. As the patient turns and pivots the ligament tears. Mostly it is a non-contact deceleration where the athlete suddenly turns to the opposite side of the planted and injured knee. Interestingly, most people would expect that it is due to contact, but this is not true. We’ve seen bilateral ACL tears in a weight lifter who was doing an incline bench and popped both his knees at the same time when bench-pressing 350 pounds. It is, however, possible to injure the anterior cruciate doing a variety of activities. The most common sports are football and basketball in younger patients skiing injuries predominate in older patients. There have been a variety of reasons proposed for this, such as muscle imbalance and slight variations in the anatomy of the knee joint in women compared to men. When you consider the number of sport hours played, they are more common in women. Most anterior cruciate ligament tears occur during a sporting activity and usually in younger patients. The ligament sits just in front of its counterpart, the posterior cruciate ligament, directly in the middle of the knee joint. This instability is particularly problematic when participating in pivoting sports such as soccer and football. When it is injured or torn the patient feels the instability of the knee when they turn or pivot. This ligament is very important for maintaining stability of the knee. The anterior cruciate ligament is a thick band of tissue which has two major strands that extend from the lower leg bone (tibia) to the thigh bone (femur).