There you are, walking along or playing your favorite sport and all of a sudden you hear a loud POP and your knee collapses. These kind of symptoms often mean you have just torn your ACL.
The ACL is your anterior cruciate ligament, one of the four major ligaments in your knee. This ligament is one of the ones responsible for holding your knee in place.
An ACL injury can occur any number of ways. Commonly, an ACL tear will occur when you have your knees slightly bent and you are moving to the side.Most frequently, an ACL is injured during a sport that has you pivoting your knee. But it can also occur when you are just walking along, or if you fall and your knee ends up in an odd position. ACL injuries also occur if you are hit very hard on the side of the knee or over extend the knee joint.
Your ACL might be torn partially or completely. Sometimes the ligament is just stretched.
The first thing to do if you believe you have an injured ACL is to rest your leg. Raise your leg up so it is over your heart, ice your knee and take an anti-inflammatory (ibuprofen) for the pain. Then get to the doctor as soon as possible.
The doctor will x-ray your knee and probably instruct you to have an MRI.
How your doctor treats your ACL will depend on the extent of the injury, as well as your own activities. Sometimes the injury can be treated with physical therapy in order to strengthen the muscle to help with the damaged stability of the knee. Alternatively, surgery may be necessary.
Most ACL injuries happen through no one’s fault. In such a case, there is no basis for a lawsuit. But, there are occasions when your ACL tear might happen at work, or be due to a slip and fall or through negligence on the part of another person or company. If this is the case for you, give our Philadelphia personal injury attorneys a call. If your ACL is torn at work or due to someone else’s negligent actions, you shouldn’t have to pay for the expensive treatments on your own.
LOWENTHAL AND ABRAMS, P.C.
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