Managing ACL Tears with Chiropractic
What you need to know
FAQ about ACL
Things to know about the ACL and How Chiropractic Can help
01
How do we assess the quality of the ACL
It is common to test :
Bilateral Squat
Right leg
Left leg squat
Right leg lunge
Left leg lunge
Right unilateral jump
Left unilateral jump
Five hops right leg
Five hops left leg
03
ACL treatment with surgery or Chiropractor ?
Athletes competing in high-level athletics or pivoting sports, such as soccer, football, and basketball, have historically been considered poor candidates for non-operative management
Rehabilitation with optional delayed ACL reconstruction can produce similar outcomes as early surgical reconstruction
02
What are the symptoms of ACL
It is usually from a
traumatic pivoting mechanism, typically without direct contact to the knee, a ‘popping’ or ‘snapping’ sensation, effusion within 2 h of injury and knee instability
Most cases of ACL tear are associated with a meniscus injury, cartilage defect, and collateral ligament tear
04
What is the ACL for ?
The ACL is involved in connecting the femur to the tibia, and plays a prime role in the kinematics and stability of the knee
Anatomically, the ACL consists of two bundles which are named according to their tibial attachment. The antero-medial (AM) bundle, taut in flexion, is primarily responsible for restraining anterior tibial translation (anterior drawer test). The postero-lateral (PL) bundle on the other-hand, is taut in extension and is primarily responsible for rotational stability (pivot shift test)
Phases of Rehabilitation
How Chiropractic helps your ACL
01
1st stage
Rehabilitation focuses on restoring muscle performance, cardiovascular endurance, agility and coordination, and sports-specific skills .
Acutely, cryotherapy and compression are used to reduce effusion, and quadriceps strengthening is initiated with limited motion between 30 and 100° of flexion
02
Neuromuscular Training
neuromuscular training focuses on increasing range of motion, strength, and dynamic weight-bearing while resolving effusion
03
Final Stage
final phase of rehabilitation is return-to-sports readiness, which re-integrates functional, sports-specific exercises to improve cardiovascular conditioning and performance until symmetry on functional testing at least 90% compared to the contralateral limb is achieved
04
What are god indicators for early return to play
Patients after surgery with better jump-landing patterns, hop performance and greater hamstring strength have a greater likelihood for return to play
What is an ACL
How does an ACL Tear
How does an ACL Tear
COST OF ACL One ACL injury currently costs $38,000, which includes long-term costs; thus, the economic burden to society is substantial Risk factors for second ACL injury are : First acl injury at a young age Return to cutting and pivoting sports Early return to sport after primary ACLR Impaired postural control Reduced hip and knee control during landing analysis
How common are ACL problems
How common is ACL problems ACL tears are 2 to 8 times more common in female athletes than in their male counterparts, why? Female athletes tend to have an increased quadriceps angle, dynamic knee valgus, quadriceps dominance, and hamstring weakness when compared with men Injuries of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) have been estimated in the general population to be 68.6 per 100,000 person-years large burden in both professional and amateur athletes, accounting for approximately 20% to 50% of all knee injuries
What are the symptoms of an ACL injury
ACL tears - how and when Most of the reported ACL injuries in this study were complete tear (80.5%) in the dominant leg (74.6%) while playing soccer (97.2%) on artificial turf (53.3%) due to non-contact mechanism (63.6%). Higher levels of fatigue before ACL injury seem to be more related to a partial tear of the ACL ACL injuries due to jumping, landing, or quick change of direction are considered noncontact injuries, whereas, contact injuries happen due to a direct hit to the knee or due to player-to-player contact A traumatic pivoting mechanism, typically without direct contact to the knee, a ‘popping’ or ‘snapping’ sensation, effusion within 2 h of injury and knee instability Most cases of ACL tear are associated with a meniscus injury, cartilage defect, and collateral ligament tear
Return To Play Advice after ACL injury
When to return to play 1. Frequency - Steps per day , Sessions per day and days per week 2. How intese the demand of activity is 3. Time- minutes per day able to perform activity 4. How able patient can participate in jogging, weight training and participation. Furthermore, the likelihood of reinjury of the ipsilateral or contralateral ACL is 19.4% if the athlete returns to their sport 9 months postsurgery and 7 times greater for those who return earlier
