ANTERIOR CRUCIATE LIGAMENT TEAR KNEE INJURY THAT IS INCREASING IN CHILDREN AND WOMEN ALSO SEEM TO GET MORE ACL KNEE INJURIES

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The knee is a complicated joint. There are knee ligaments as well as knee menisici. The ligaments are bands that help to stabilize the knee. The anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments criss cross the knee. A meniscus is a piece of cartilage in the knee. For the knee to operate properly the ligaments and the menisci need to be intact. Anterior cruciate ligament tears are a frequent knee injury especially in sports. "Orthopedists at leading medical centers estimate that several thousand children and young adolescents are getting A.C.L. tears each year, with the number being diagnosed soaring recently. Some centers that used to see only a few such cases a year are now seeing several each week".



"As many as eight times more girls than boys are suffering the acl tears, doctors report. In fact there have been reports that women who play sports are more susceptible to anterior cruciate ligament knee injuries". Twisting motions can cause a tear of the anterior cruciate ligament, scenarios such as when the foot is firmly planted in the ground and the knee is pointed in another direction.














Do a search on Google News for anterior cruciate ligament and you will be amazed at all the athletes who injure the anterior cruciate ligament. But what is the anterior cruciate ligament? Do you know? Which of the following about the anterior cruciate ligament are true?



1. The anterior cruciate ligament connects the front of the upper leg bone, the femur, to the tibia, the big bone in the lower leg.



2. The anterior cruciate ligament acts as a shock absorber between the femur and the tibia.



3. An anterior cruciate tear is often due to a twisting motion or a motion where the knee turns while the foot is firmly planted



4. The anterior cruciate helps to keep the tibia from moving too far forward.



5. An x-ray is the best test to diagnose an anterior cruciate tear.

Click here to see videos explaining the anterior cruciate ligament tear and arthroscopic knee surgery



Numbers 2 and 5 are false. The anterior cruciate and posterior cruciate ligaments crisscross (cruciate get it?) in the knee joint. They help control the amount of twisting of the knee joint, and add stability along with the ligaments on the side of the knee called the medial and collateral ligaments and the anterior cruciate helps limit forward movement by the tibia. The menisci are round pieces of cartilage between the femur and tibia which have been said to have a shock absorber function between the tibia and the femur in the knee . Twisting motions can cause a tear of the anterior cruciate, scenarios such as when the foot is firmly planted in the ground and the knee is pointed in another direction.

Big-Time Injury Strikes Little Players

Anterior cruciate injury in women link





Doctors have pondered why women seem more susceptible.Possibly anatomic differences are a contributing factor. X rays generally are not capable of discriminating a ligament tear. For that, doctors get an MRI. So numbers 2 and 5 are false.