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ACL Injury Essay

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ACLs are one of the easiest injuries to get for athletes and average people alike, and a lot of people don't know what the ACL is or how to treat it until they tear it.
The ACL is the Anterior Cruciate Ligament is in the front of the knee and serves a few purposes such as being in control of the knee twisting and keeps the tibia from going over the femur, and keeps the knee from hyperextending. There are a few causes of tearing your ACL like overextending the knee, changing position or stopping too quickly while running, or just getting hit in the knee hard enough. Signs and symptoms of an ACL tear include; a popping noise at the time it happened, swelling, pain, weakness or instability, and limping. There are three clinical tests you can do to test if you have an ACL tear. The Lachman test, Pivot Shift test, and Anterior Drawer test. Diagnostic …show more content…

The first 10-14 days after surgery is focusing on keeping the wound dry and clean, being able to straighten the knee, and being in control of the quadriceps. The knee is also iced often to keep swelling and pain down. During physical therapy the focus is on keeping the kneecap mobile, regaining full range of motion, getting strength back to the quads and hamstrings, and regaining balance. Mobility stretching can include; knee extension and flexion which is just bending and straightening the knee, hamstring stretching, that is extending the leg and reaching for toes, and groin stretches, extend both legs as far as you can and lean forward. Strengthening exercises are lunges, squats, leg presses, step ups, calf raises which is going on your toes, hamstring curls lay on your stomach and bend the knee, hip adduction use a resistive band and pull the leg across the body, for hip abduction just pull the leg across the body again against the resistance while keeping the knee

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