Signs And Treatment Of An ACL Tear That Teens Should Know About

Most active teenagers, specially those who are into sports, usually experience knee injuries. The most prevalent knee injury is the ACL tear. ACL means anterior cruciate ligament which attaches the femur or thigh bone to the tibia or shin bone. This ligament takes on a crucial role in the stability and movement of the knee. If this is damaged, the knee can't function properly. This could have a tremendous effect on your day to day activity because your movement is going to be limited.

For teens who like to play contact sports including basketball and football as well as other physical sports which involve fast and abrupt movement tend to be more prone to an ACL injury. Moreover, jumping and landing with the knees straight rather than flexed may also result in such an injury. This means that anybody, not only athletes or sportsmen, can have this kind of injury. So it is important that you are aware of the signs and the treatment needed to recover from this distressing knee injury.

Amongst the signs and symptoms of an ACL tear occurs when there is a sudden popping sound on the knee right after landing, pivoting or jumping. You may even experience a feeling of instability in a sense that you feel like your knee is about to give out. Extreme pain, swelling and weakening of the knee may also be felt shortly after the injury. When you experience any of these symptoms, you must instantly stop playing or doing any kind of motion.

The first thing that you need to do is apply cold compress to the injured area and seek medical help as fast as possible. Your physician will then check your injury to evaluate if you have to undergo surgery. There are numerous factors which may affect your doctor’s decision, including how old you are, the sports that you are involved in, your lifestyle, the seriousness of the tear or damage and so forth.

Those who are young and active might not require surgery but will be asked to undergo an intense rehabilitation program to fully recover from the injury. The recovery process may take longer and it takes a lot of patience and effort from the patient to do the exercises needed during the rehabilitation. Your progress will determine the intensity of the exercises that will be provided by your therapist. So, you need to do your part in order to go back to playing or doing your daily routine.

An ACL tear is a serious matter. Thus, active teenagers who have this kind of injury must not take their therapy for granted because this can certainly help them a lot not only in their healing but also in avoiding potential injuries to happen.