Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury
Hopefully you are not seeing this blog because you think you injured your ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament). If you are, don’t worry we can fill you in and help you understand all things ACL and guide you each step of the way. You may also be at this page to learn more about the ACL, and how you can prevent an injury. To start, the ACL is a ligament in your knee that helps connect your thigh bone to your shin bone. It prevents the forward movement of the shin bone. This type of injury is usually caused by a sudden stop, change in direction, pivot on a planted foot, direct blow to the knee, or landing awkwardly from a jump.
When it happens, the following symptoms might be noted:
Popping sensation when it happens
Feeling the knee is unstable
Pain in the knee
Pain and difficulty bearing weight through the leg
Inability to continue the activity you were doing
If you notice these symptoms after an injury, it is a good idea to seek the help of a physiotherapist and/or your GP. An injury like this will usually require additional scans like an MRI. Sometimes there can be additional injury to other ligaments like the Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) or the meniscus. Surgery might be needed depending on the severity of the tear, damage to other ligaments/cartilage, the level of instability you have and your activity levels.
Here at Ballsbridge Physiotherapy in Dublin 4, we can help through all the different stages of an ACL injury: prevention, pre-rehabilitation, recovery post-surgery or post injury, and return to your activities.
Prevention: We can help analyse muscle strength and imbalances, and provide feedback on landing, jumping, pivoting, and cutting movements and biomechanics to try and prevent a future knee injury.
Pre-habilitation: This occurs before surgery, but after the injury and is focused on exercises that help strengthen the knee and surrounding muscles and maintain your range of motion. The stronger you go into surgery, the better the outcome.
Post-Surgery/Injury: We can help in the early stages post-surgery or injury to reduce pain and swelling, improve movement of your knee, start to build strength, and help you walk normally again.
Return to Activities: After the initial injury we can provide a step-by-step individualised plan to build strength, correct muscle imbalances, and movement problems to help you return to the activities and sports that matter most.
If you are interested in any of the services above, do not hesitate to reach out to us via email, phone or book online. We would be more than happy to help.
Resources and References
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery: ACL Injuries
Mayo Clinic: ACL Injuries
Sports Clinic
Our sports clinic is lead by Elizabeth Bovich and David Richards. Together they have an extensive sports background with high level athletes in Ireland and the USA.