ACL Injuries questions and answers 100% correct

ACL Injuries questions and answers 100% correct What is the ACL? The ACL is a small yet very important ligament inside the knee its what helps hold up the upper thigh bone from coming over the top of the lower bones. What causes ACL tears?: ACL tears are caused by sudden movement in the knee like twisting or even if the ankle rolls and goes one direction and the knee goes the opposite. Facts about the ACL: Female athletes are the highest percentage in tearing their ACLs from sports. Sports that cause ACL tears Sports like: Football, tennis, alpine skiing, cross country skiing, snow boarding, track and soccer all can cause tears in the acl. How to treat torn ACLs The only way to treat it is by surgery. Some people choose not to have the surgery. That usually means no more sports or high athletic activity. What do they do in surgery? There are several types on treatments in surgery..The most common one is when they take 8 inches of the hamstring in the leg that has the torn acl. and braid the hamstring so it can fit as a new acl for the knee. Why is the surgery so important? If not treated by surgery the possibility of the upper bone coming over the top lower bone can be very likely to happen.The acl helps foundate the two bones so other injuries won't happen. More about the surgery The surgery usually lasts about 30 minutes, they will ask you if you would like a certain shot that can numb the pain for 24 hours..this shot can be slightly dangerous because some nerve damage could be caused by this shot. After the surgery: for the first couple of weeks you would be unable to move the knee or leg and have probably about 4 stitches on different parts of the knee. The biggest one would be right below the medial ligament some numbness next to that particular one is possible. Recovering: Once the leg is able to tolerate some walking some therapy is required. Mostly therapy should be done everyday at home. Sometimes certain exercises are required help and the equipment at therapy is needed for the knee. Electric therapy: In therapy sometimes if you are experiencing pain in the knee or even the hamstring, electric therapy is required. Electric therapy stimulates and helps the new acl and the hamstring heal quicker and relieve some pain. The electric therapy is like when your arm or leg falls asleep, except without the pins and needles feeling. Most electric therapies last about 10 to 20 minutes. For the knee its about 4 patches and are all put in the spots where the surgery marks are at. Recovery time: Recovering usually times up to 6 to 10 months. It depends on the sport you play or even how bad the acl was torn. Football and skiing sports that require lots of leg work usually takes up to a year of recovering. Other sports like tennis etc. while they do require footwork. The recovery time isn't as long, it varies up to about 6 to 8 months. Returning to sports Once returning to sports an ACL brace should still be used even once returning to sports..For some sports wearing it about 3 months or even the rest of the season. How to prevent ACL injuries in the future: Doing many acl prevention exercises can be very good for the legs and for the sports you compete in. One exercise requires a yoga ball. Place both feet on top of the ball while lying down and keep both feet together. Make sure your legs are bent. Slightly lift up yourself and take your feet and move forward and backwards , you should feel a slight stretch or tug in the knee. That can help strengthen the knee. That way you can enjoy your sports with stronger core strength and healthier legs!:)