Among the most typical knee injuries can be an anterior cruciate ligament damage or tear. Being a leading orthopedic surgeon in Southern California, Dr. Zack performs secure, powerful, minimally invasive procedures to aid her La, CA, patients resolve symptoms and regain painfree flexibility.
How to identify a ligament injury?
Athletes who participate in sought after activities like football, baseball, and hockey are more prone to damage their anterior cruciate ligaments. You could require surgery to restore full function of your knee, for those who have injured your anterior cruciate ligament. This will depend on many elements, including the extent of your activity level and your damage.
What are some causes for a ligament injury?
The anterior cruciate ligament can be injured in several ways:
- Changing direction rapidly
- Stopping suddenly
- Slowing down while running
- Landing from a jump incorrectly
- Direct contact or collision, such as a football tackle
What are the symptoms or signs of a ligament injury?
When you injure your anterior cruciate ligament, you might hear a “popping” noise and you may feel your knee give out from under you. Other typical symptoms include:
- Pain with swelling. Within 24 hours, your knee will swell. If ignored, the swelling and pain may resolve on its own. However, if you attempt to return to sports, your knee will probably be unstable and you risk causing further damage to the cushioning cartilage (meniscus) of your knee.
- Loss of full range of motion
- Tenderness along the joint line
- Discomfort while walking
What are some treatments for a ligament injury?
Treatment for an ACL tear will be different dependant on the patient’s individual needs. For example, the young player associated with agility sports will likely require surgery to properly come back to sports. The less energetic, usually older, individual could be able to come back to some quieter lifestyle without surgery.
Surgical Treatment
Surgery to restore an anterior cruciate ligament is completed by having an arthroscope. Arthroscopic surgery is less invasive. The benefits of invasive techniques contain less discomfort from surgery, less time used within the clinic, and faster recovery times.
It’s usually not done instantly until ACL reconstruction is therapy to get a combined tendon damage. This delay gives an opportunity to resolve to the infection, and enables a return of action before surgery.
