Research Assessment #5

Physical Therapy Guide to Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Tear

      What initially got me interested in physical therapy was tearing my acl and having to be a patient in the field, as I have mentioned many times previously. I considered myself to be relatively knowledgeable in regards to my own personal recovery program, but the more I learn, the more I realize how much further I have to delve into my research in order to truly understand the concept. This week, I decided to take a small step in that direction by exploring how a specific injury is initially diagnosed and treated. And there is no better specific injury to start with than the one I know best - an ACL tear.
      This information in this article remained true to its description of itself in the title. It is truly a guide to recovering from tearing your ACL, and I found it genuinely helpful and it would be something that I would have been grateful to have had at the beginning of my own recovery journey. The article begins with walking the reader through exactly what an ACL tear is. The ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) is one of the major bands of tissue (ligaments) that connects the thigh bone (femur) to the shin bone (tibia) at the knee joint (ATPA 1). It is an injury that commonly affects athletes, especially soccer players, basketball players, skiers, and gymnasts (ATPA 1). Women are at a higher risk than men of suffering an ACL tear, and female soccer players such as myself are the group that are the most susceptible to it. Most injuries to the ACL are non contact, much as my own, where I simply twisted my knee too far while my foot remained planted on the ground. An ACL tear can also happen by stopping suddenly while running or stretching the knee further than it can go, and in rare cases it tears after experiencing a direct hit to the knee. The article then goes on to describe exactly what tearing your ACL feels like, and their explanation paralleled with my experience almost perfectly. There is an immediate sharp and intense pain accompanied by a loud ‘pop’ and being unable to walk on the injured leg, a sound and feeling which I remember vividly. The article also mentioned swelling after the injury, which is something I didn’t experience and was my only personal difference from the article. Following the initial injury is an examination by a physical therapist or an orthopedic surgeon, where they will confirm the ACL tear as well as look for other damage in the knee (ATPA 2). After this comes the difficult decision of surgery - because it is not completely necessary to get ACL reconstruction surgery if the patient is okay with limiting their physical activities. But for competitive athletes such as myself and Anita, whose story was told in the article, surgery is not a choice but rather the first step in a very long journey.
      Another thing the article discussed that I particularly like was ACL prevention. This is something that I was unfortunately completely unaware of until it was too late, but they are preventative physical therapy programs that are centered around improving balance and strength in athletes, as well as their sports performance (ATPA 3). They focus heavily on strengthening the core muscles, the thigh muscles (hamstrings and quadriceps), and the other leg muscles. These programs last no fewer than six weeks and include sports-specific exercises in order to strengthen the muscles around the knee and assist in preventing damage. By doing these programs, athletes can dramatically decrease their chances of suffering an ACL tear. These programs greatly benefit female athletes, especially female soccer players, and they may benefit male athletes as well.
      An ACL tear is a devastating thing for an athlete to suffer, which is no secret. I am glad to have come across this article and read it in depth, because it was a great source of information for someone who has just torn their ACL and needs to educate themselves on what exactly they’re getting themselves into. Guides like these are going to provide a lot of injured athletes with the information and confidence that they need to recover fully, which is an incredible thing.