About ACL Tear Surgery

doctors doing ACL tear surgery

If you are sportsman and into football and basketball, then you must be well aware of the ACL, i.e., anterior cruciate ligament and all injuries related to ACL. For all such sports activities, the ACL provides support to knee so individual is able to twist, jump and make cuts while performing sporty actions. In the knee joint, anterior cruciate ligament is the central point of the knee.

Anatomy of Knee

Knee is one of the complex joints within a body. It acts as a connecting medium between thigh and lower leg. It is due to the leg along with its ligament which allows for flexible and free movement in some positions along with lateral rotation and medial. It is also main area for dislocation and sprain.

How do you find out if you have ACL?

When while playing your game, you feel little pop or hear a sound, then it means it is likely an ACL tear in your knee. In the next few hours of that sound, you may feel swelling and shifting of knee to one side. In the initial phase, some people treat the issue by icing the knee or do some crutches or elevating the knee a bit. However, in Singapore, sports therapist or physiotherapist are able to come up with the probable diagnosis.

The treatment depends upon the type and kind of injury to the knee and ligament. In case of torn out of ACL, ligament reconstruction is indicated because it is not possible for ligament to heal on its own like some other muscles. The procedure involves either patellar tendon or hamstring tendons of the leg. After the ACL tear surgical procedure, the rehabilitation starts and when it ends, one is able to get back to being active. However, the entire process takes around 6 months to recover.

Athletes that had ACL Tears in their careers

There are some famous athletes who underwent ACL Tear during their careers, which are:

  • Famous Dutch football, who is also retired now- Ruud Van Nistelrooy
  • Famous English footballer, retired now- Paul Gascoigne
  • American Football (quarterback)- Tom Brady
  • American basketball player, who is pretty professional- Jamal Crawford
  • Professional Swedish Footballer- Ziatan Ibrahimovic
  • Manager and former English professional footballer- Paul Gascoigne
  • Famous English golfer- Tiger Woods
  • American basketball player- Derrick Rose

So, if you are suffering from ACL Tear, then we have a good news for you that all these sportsmen were able to get back to their sporty activities after undergoing ACL reconstruction.

Sometimes prolonged exacerbated or precipitated is owing to prolonged sitting or performing some activities continuously like squatting, climbing or kneeling. Also accidental injury is also possible like facing any traumatic situation, like falling directly on knee. Sportsman like basketball or volleyball involves jumping also adds to the injury.

Yet another important and easy therapy is undergoing medication and physiotherapy. Patients, sometimes need to change and modify their lifestyles so surgery could be avoided. However, if pain persists, surgery may be the only option for recovery.