Legacy

When compared with other knee injuries, ACL injuries are one of the most common knee injuries. This injury occurs due to a sudden change in movement of the knee, for example when it stops suddenly or when the knee and foot hit a hard object.

ACL injuries are one of the most common types of knee injuries and happens at least 40% of all sports-related injuries. The ACL or the anterior cruciate ligament is one of the four most important ligaments in the knee joint that has functions to maintain rotational stability of the knee.

Symptoms of Anterior Knee Ligament Injury

People who have suffered an ACL injury will generally hear a “pop” sound when the ligament is torn. In addition, there are also common symptoms that are often felt when experiencing a ligament injury, including:

severe pain in the knee
Knees are harder to move and stretch
The knee feels less stable
Having trouble walking
Knee swelling rapidly within 24 hours
The symptoms that appear will also be influenced by the severity of the injury. Following are the stages of ACL injuries:
- Stage one (mild ACL injury) will not affect the knee's ability to support weight of the objects
- Stage two, the anterior knee ligament will be partially torn and feel unstable
- Stage three (severe ACL injury) with complete tearing and the knee will feel completely unstable or the patient will not be able to stand up properly

Causes of ACL Injury

This anterior knee ligament injury often occurs when a person performs movement on sport that can put pressure on the knee. Movements that can cause ACL injury are:

Move quickly and stop suddenly
Change the legs and knees movement suddenly
Changing the original stationary position into a sudden jumps or rotate position
Overstretching the knee
Doing jumps and landing with the wrong foot position
Experiencing a collision or impact in the area around the knee, for example getting a tackle while playing soccer

How to Treat ACL Injury

Treatment for ACL injuries must be tailored to the symptoms and also the severity of the injuries, such as:

Perform first aid

If the injury is still minor, first aid can still be done which aims to reduce pain and swelling in the area that experiencing ACL, by doing:

Take a break to reduce the burden on your knees
compress using ice for about 20 minutes so that the swelling subsides
bandage the knee using an elastic bandage
Lie down and support your knees on pillows to reduce swelling

Therapy

Usually, people with ACL injuries will be given a knee brace to provide extra protection for their knee. In addition, it will also be advised to use crutches to reduce pressure on the knee.