Here is the bottom line about ACL injuries… They are a big deal!
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the major stabilizers of the knee. ACL tears are the most common ligamentous ruptures in the knee, with 70% of them occurring during a non-contact trauma. The recovery time for ACL injuries is approximately 1 year, and about 45% of athletes do not ever return to competitive sport. Women are 3 times more likely than men to injure their ACL.
If you are one of the unlucky 250,000 people a year in the US to tear an ACL, the statistics are not in your favor. Only 65% of who those who have surgery return to their preinjury level of competition. Almost 19% completely cease participating in sports altogether.
With statistics like that it becomes clear that tearing an ACL and returning to a similar level of activity can be challenging.
Why is it so challenging to recover from ACL injuries?
According to the British Journal of Sports Medicine, “Inadequate rehabilitation” may be the biggest factor that will predispose the knee to reinjury (ACL, and other injuries). In fact, 20% of athletes who return to sport experience a second ACL injury.
The key phrase here is inadequate rehabilitation! The issue is many ACL patients who come into our office after 1+ year of doing rehab at another facility still lack the appropriate strength and neuromuscular control to return to sport. Since many rehab specialists do not have the technology to adequately measure return to sport parameters the patient is cleared when they shouldn’t be. This can be very frustrating to a patient to hear that their rehab didn’t get them to where they needed to be. But considering the high risk of another ACL reinjury and possibly not returning to pre-ACL levels of activity – getting proper rehab is a must!
What’s the solution to prevention and proper rehab?
At Studholme Chiropractic we do a 3D biomechanical analysis of walking, running, jumping, and cutting to properly determine if an ACL rehab is going according to plan. This data helps us determine when it is appropriate to return to sporting activates. We also have full ACL strengthening and prevention programs to help you reduce the risk of tearing your ACL.
