Tips
Football season is officially upon us, and it’s not all cheese fries and buffalo wings! While we sit around the living room with our closest friends enjoying these delicacies, our favorite players {and fantasy draft teams} are at risk for serious injuries throughout the season. One such injury and a complete game changer is an ACL injury.
The anterior cruciate ligament is one of 4 knee ligaments that connect the upper leg bone (femur) with the lower leg bone (tibia). The ACL stabilizes knee movement by:
ACL injuries are primarily non-contact and occur in sports that involve cutting, pivoting, jumping or landing. Given that football requires heavy bursts of sprinting and dodging, these athletes are especially at risk. Athletes will often feel a tear or hear a ‘pop’ when they’ve injured their ACL, accompanied by small fractures or bone bruises at the top of the tibia. Pain, swelling, and loss of normal function are typical symptoms of an ACL injury. Women are actually a greater risk for ACL tears then men for the following reasons:
Virginia Therapy and Fitness Center is the only leading physical therapy in the Virginia area that offers an ACL Injury Prevention Training program specifically proven to decrease ACL injuries in female athletes. To learn more about this and our other specialty services, contact us today!