Your ACL is important to put it lightly. It’s one of the major ligaments in the knee, a ligament that works with another to connect your thighbone (your femur) to your shinbone (your tibia) and plays a major role in stabilizing your knee joint.
This is why tearing your ACL is one of the harsher injuries one can experience in the knee. It can be extremely painful and interrupt one’s daily life from the simple act of squatting down to pick something up to playing one’s favorite sport.
Signs You’ve Injured Your ACL
Due to your ACL helping stabilize the knee, you should be able to tell quickly if you’ve injured it. The most common symptom of an ACL injury is a popping sound, either heard or felt, and intense pain. This will be due to the ligament tearing or ripping completely in half.
Other symptoms of an injury include but are not limited to:
- Severe swelling.
- Inability to bend the knee.
- Inability to walk correctly.
- Feeling of the leg or knee being weak.
- The kneecap seeming out of place.
If you ever feel like you’ve injured your ACL, you should make an appointment with your physician right away.
Next Steps
The next steps you take after injuring your ACL depend on the severity in which you’ve injured it. You either will need physical therapy to help it heal or a combination of surgery and physical therapy. No matter what, physical therapy will be involved.
The point of any physical therapy is to strengthen muscles and get them back to where they should be. In the case of a torn ACL, rehab will allow for the muscles in and around the knee to strengthen back up and help the body get used to the new setup of a torn ligament if one doesn’t choose to get surgery.
People who choose not to get surgery most likely will have to wear a knee brace to go back to activities such as exercise. Not getting surgery, however, can increase one’s chances of a relapse injury.
Surgery allows for the ligament to be repaired in the best way possible, reducing the chance of reinjury and allowing for a higher chance of getting back to activities that were done before. A brace often still is recommended, but the instability of the knee should be gone after surgery.
If surgery is chosen, one most likely will have to do physical therapy both before and after surgery. This is so your muscles can be as strong as possible before surgery because surgery causes a large loss of muscle that will need to be built back up.
Getting Back on Your Feet
Unfortunately, getting back on your feet or back on the court or field is not going to be a fast process. Almost all professionals agree a minimum of six months of rehabilitation is needed before a light entrance into activities.
The most basic parts of the activity are recommended to get your knee used to being that active again. It’s very common for your leg to feel weak or tired after little activity.
You just had your muscle reconstructed or rebuilt, so don’t push your body beyond its limits. This only will worsen your chances of recovery and set you back.
Reach Out Today
Tearing one’s ACL can be catastrophic in a variety of ways, especially for those who are athletes or lead a very active lifestyle.
At South Orange Rehabilitation and Wellness, we focus on physical therapy that aims to increase strength, mobility and flexibility. We create personalized plans as no one is alike and make sure we are helping treat your injury.
If you or a loved one is in need of an experienced physical therapist, reach out to us on our website today. Our experienced professionals are excited to meet you and help you get back on your feet.
