ACL Recovery Stories Provide Hope to Athletes

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a non-elastic fibrous band located within a person’s knee that connects the thighbone to the leg bone. The ligament provides stability to the entire knee and restricts the knee joint from bending backwards.

Due to the ACL’s non-elastic nature, it is susceptible to tearing. A torn ACL is actually a common injury. According to surveys, 250,000 Americans suffer from torn ACLs every year, while according to medical experts, most of these torn ACL cases were sustained through sports or sports-related activities.

It was not too long ago that ACL tears were considered the ultimate career-killing injury in sports. Today, however, ACL tears are no longer considered the career-killing injury they used to be thanks to advances in sports medicine. In fact, athletes who have torn their ACL like Adrian Peterson and Jamaal Charles have been able to return to the field and continue playing at a high level.

Although professional athletes have proven that ACL injuries can be overcome, younger athletes should realize that ACL injury recovery is not easy. Different people recover at different speeds, as evidenced by Rajon Rondo and Danilo Gallinari’s recovery. With dedication to physical therapy and the help of an experienced orthopedic surgeon, young athletes can now recover from ACL tears and continue to chase their dreams of one day becoming professional athletes.

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Fast Facts about Sports Injury and Medicine

Sports injury refers to a rather broad scope of conditions, with the common denominator that they are often sustained by people who were engaging in sporting activities. While many are caused by accidents, some are quite predictable, such as the dangers of sustaining muscle cramps on the field because you didn’t warm up before playing.

These common sporting injuries are the focus of many medical professionals in the relatively new branch of medicine called sports medicine. Medical practitioners like orthopedic doctors, therapists, and even dentists in this field work to ensure that athletes like you know exactly how to avoid injuries, as well as help you get better when you do get one.

Common sports injuries range from relatively minor conditions like sprains, muscle spasms, and joint pains, to more severe cases like torn ligaments, broken knees, and dislocations. There are also two classes of these injuries: acute, or those occurring suddenly in the middle of a game, and chronic, which happens over time, when you play constantly.

When the injury you're suffering goes to the point of severe swelling or extreme pain, or if you notice that something feels unstable (possibly a dislocated bone), get medical help immediately. However, anything much less than this could probably be cured by resting at home, nevertheless it's always a good idea to at least inform your doctor about it.

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