AHHHH here we go!
It's time to talk to talk about the worst injury in my opinion ever!
The injury that I fear to get the most and pray will never happen to
anyone! It's an ACL tear. ACL is a short abbreviation for
Anterior Cruciate Ligaments. An ACL tear can only happen painfully to
your knee. No words can even describe the feeling that this injury
provides. There is so much to know about this injury, I don't even
know where to begin. I guess I'll start with my personal story.
Alright,
so thankfully this injury has never happen to me but it has effected
my old favourite NBA player. I feel so bad for Derrick rose, he was
such a good basketball player. Although, now he's been sitting out
for at least a year already and not being able to play the sport he
is passionate about. He was such a young and exceptional guy in the
NBA, I cannot believe this injury has happen to him! With 1 minute
and 22 seconds left in the game, it was the most devastating thing
the crowd and I could experience. Rose went up for a layup and fell
awkwardly to the ground all most in tears and so was I. Later on he
was diagnosed with an ACL tear and now all of Chicago and Derrick
Rose fans were devastated. I believe one of the reasons he got hurt
so easily was because his body was not at the same level as his
athleticism. He was super quick, small, and very aggressive although,
he could have built him body shape to suite him. Meaning I feel he
did not have the strongest leg muscles to support the big role player
he is. That is why now he is doing a lot of physio and training and
especially weight lifting to be able to return as quickly and safely
as possible back to the NBA. Sadly not just Rose has experienced a
major injury but many in the NBA have this year. It has become very
scary to see how many athletes in the NBA have had an injury this
year.
So now let me get to how you know an ACL tear has happen. You typically will feel or hear a pop causing your knee to give out and you may fall. The swelling and pain make it too difficult to continue playing your activity. This injury can a small, medium or complete tear of the ligament. There are 4 major ligaments in your knee , you have your ACL, PCL, MCL and LCL. They are all used to connect your femur and your tibia and controls your
excessive motions. Sports that it is more common to happen in is basketball, hockey, soccer, football, etc but can appear from any activity.
The symptoms of an ACL tear are if your hear or feel a pop in the knee. If there is swelling and it is very painful that you are barely capable to walk. To diagnose this injury you may get an MRI then they will be able to tell you if you have a tear and how severe it is.
Treatment
The best way to treat an ACL tear is to have knee surgery. You and the surgeon would discus the physical activity you wish to pursue after the injury to determine if surgery is necessary. Those who do not do physical activity do not have not have surgery but it is recommended. For athletes surgery is highly recommended! According to medicinenet.com this is the level of activity you will be able to do if you choose to or not to have surgery.
Level I: jumping, pivoting, and hard cutting
Level II: heavy manual work or side-to-side sports
Level III: light manual work and non cutting sports like running and bicycling
Level IV: sedentary lifestyle without sports
After surgery you must go through rehabilitation to help
strengthen the knee and regain stabilization and excessive motion.
It will not be easy but it will take time to heal. Usually this
injury take about six to eight months
to heal! You must be careful and do exactly what your rehabilitation
doctor tell you to do, so you do not damage the surgical knee. It is
highly recommended to wear a specific knee brace to protect the knee
after.
Prevention Can an ACL tear be prevented? Sadly this injury can occur at any moment, there is not exact way to prevent it. Although you can reduce the possibilities by building good muscle strength and flexibility. A good exercise for that would be plyometrics. Also, doing a good warm up and cool down will help.
Here is a small 4 minute video concerning ACL tears! Hope you enjoy!
It is extremely unfortunate that knee injuries have plague D Rose's career. He was definitely the most visually entertaining player in the NBA and my personal favourite! Another famous athlete with knee issues is Georges St-Pierre, the UFC fighter. He was forced to have surgery on his right knee in order to repair his ACL, then later his left knee for the same reason. I find it very peculiar that this type of injury is extremely common amongst athletes. Hopefully one day we'll advance toward preventing this type of injury!
Not only does this injury happen to people, but I have seen this type of injury in many dogs that come through the vet clinic (where I work). Although the latest dog I saw had to have a cruciate repair as well as her phemural head taken off. This was due to the fact that, because her cruciate was torn, she was putting too much weight on the opposite let, causing her hip to fracture. I felt so sorry for the poor girl! It does sound extremely painful!
Once my favorite NBA player to ever play the sport basketball was diagnosed with a ACL Tear i was almost in tears! Derrick rose was one of the most athletic NBA players in the league and he already had knee problems back in high school. He also was a player that was always jumping and going for dunks so he did have a lot of stress on his knee so we all knew this day would come but not this early in his career. Anyways great blog gorgeous!
It is extremely unfortunate that knee injuries have plague D Rose's career. He was definitely the most visually entertaining player in the NBA and my personal favourite!
ReplyDeleteAnother famous athlete with knee issues is Georges St-Pierre, the UFC fighter. He was forced to have surgery on his right knee in order to repair his ACL, then later his left knee for the same reason. I find it very peculiar that this type of injury is extremely common amongst athletes. Hopefully one day we'll advance toward preventing this type of injury!
Not only does this injury happen to people, but I have seen this type of injury in many dogs that come through the vet clinic (where I work). Although the latest dog I saw had to have a cruciate repair as well as her phemural head taken off. This was due to the fact that, because her cruciate was torn, she was putting too much weight on the opposite let, causing her hip to fracture. I felt so sorry for the poor girl! It does sound extremely painful!
ReplyDeleteOnce my favorite NBA player to ever play the sport basketball was diagnosed with a ACL Tear i was almost in tears! Derrick rose was one of the most athletic NBA players in the league and he already had knee problems back in high school. He also was a player that was always jumping and going for dunks so he did have a lot of stress on his knee so we all knew this day would come but not this early in his career. Anyways great blog gorgeous!
ReplyDelete