Sports injuries are when a person gets hurt during or from an athletic activity. It is thought that as many as 25 million people per year seek medical attention for sports injuries. Sports injuries are inevitable in contact sports, and in noncontact sports the repitition of body movements can cause overuse injuries. Many injuries come from the ignorance of people who don't stretch and when they go to run or jump they tear or pull a muscle. Stretching is the greatest key to the prevention of injuies. Here are some football players who have had knee injuries.Giants punter Sean Landetta who missed the last half of 1992 when he turned to make a tackle and ruptured his ACL without even being touched by the other team. Carl Banks and Gary Reasons of the Giants who play(ed) linebacker had PCL injuries and returned in 3-4 weeks. Tight end mark Bavaro's PCL tear didn't heal and required surgery. Randall Cunningham required surgery because he tore his PCL and MCL which resulted in instability.
One of the deans of sports medicine was the long-time team physician at the University of Oklamhoma, Dr. O'Donohue. He was the first to describe the Terrible Triad of O'Dononhue injury, where the MCL gets sprained or torn , the ACL is torn, and the medial cartilage is torn. Now there are many doctors who are experts in knee injuries, but to name a few there are Alan M. Levy, Robert J. Meislin, Micheal Lastihenos, and Stephen J. Nicholas.
The knee is the point where the femur (thighbone), the tibia (shinbone), and the patella (kneecap) meet. These bones are held together by ligaments and moved by tendons and muscles. Injury to any of these parts is regarded as a knee injury. The most common injuries are sprains. They occur when ligaments are stretched or partially torn. They are a result of not properly stretching before activities.
The most commonly sprained ligament is the MCL (Medial Collateral Ligament) on the inside of the knee. The LCL (Lateral Collateral Ligament) is rarely damaged because the inside of the knee doesn't get hit much. The ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) can be injured when a person is running, and then plants their feet and turns 90 degrees to go another direction. This twisting can cause the ACL to rupture. When it ruptures there is a loud pop and an immediate swelling around the knee. PCL (Posterior Cruciate Ligament) injuries are rare and they're due to a head on blow to the knee. You won't be able to accelerate without severe pain. A cartilage tear can occur when the shinbone is pulled into the bent position too quickly and the cartilage is crushed between the thighbone and shinbone. The Terrible Triad of O'Donohue, which I mentioned earlier, is when the MCL, the ACL, and the medial cartilage are torn, all in a single blow to the knee. It's impossible to rehabilitate all of these parts and have a functioning knee without surgery.
A dislocated knee is an extremely severe traumatic injury to the knee and is one of the few true orthopedic emergencies, is total dislacation of the knee. This is caused by a blow that tears the whole knee out of the socket. The lower leg moves away from the upper bone, and the only thing really holding the lower leg together is the skin. This can cut off the blood supply to the lower leg and necessitate amputation if not rapidly releived. A dislocated kneecap occurs when the wedge-shaped kneecap is dislodged from its groove between the two condyles of the femur and the tibia. Usually the doctor can pop it back into place or it will pop in itself. Occasionally it is locked out of place and requires surgery. A broken kneecap is caused by a head-on blow. In some people their kneecap forms in two pieces and is misinterpreted as a break.
Sometimes a loose body in the knee can be detected when you feel a pain appear then disappear soon after. It is either torn cartilage of chipped off bone and can be removed by arthroscopic surgery.
Runner's Knee, or chondromalacia, is caused by misalignment of the kneecap in its groove. This causes both the cartilage on the side of the groove and the cartilage on the back of the kneecap to wear out. Sometimes fluid builds up and makes the knee swell. It is not the knee, but the foot as the problem. An inward roll of the foot and ankle causes the shinbone to rotate to the inside, which turns the knee to the inside as well. The kneecap ends up sliding at an angle instead if straight up and down.
The most effective way to prevent injuries is to sit around and do nothing, but who's going to do that. To cure and MCL sprain, just use a program with a stationary bicycle, leg extension, and curl exercises. To repair ACL ruptures you'll need to get arthroscopic surgery. In 6-7 months you'll be done with a rehab program using isotonic machines that resist more as you put out force. After that there are sophisticated braces that will allow you to return to full even if the ligament isn't fully repaired. PCL injuries usually heal themselves. Cartilage tears won't heal or grow back so you'll have to get athroscopic surgery. You'll be back in 3-4 weeks.
A broken kneecap needs to be wired together until it reunites. Runner's Knee can be cured by propping up the foot with an arch or orthotic device inside the running shoe. This prevents excessive pronation and keeps the knee in alignment. You also need to exercise the inner side or the quadriceps muscle with the 30 Degree Leg Extension. In the 30 Degree Leg Extension you sit on a table and stack books up to 8 inches under your fully extended leg and, using weights, lift your leg up without bending it then bring it down. You can rest on the books. Do this with enough weight that by the fifth set of ten reps, your legs are exhausted. Do this exercise once a day until free of pain.
I believe sports, and everyday life, are harder on the knees than any other part of the body (with the possible exception of the brain). When walking, one knee must support the entire weight of your body, save the foot and calf below the knee. In sports they must sustain more pressure from running, upper body hits, and direct hits. They are constantly twisted and mangled and they keep on working. I'd just like to say that this project helped me find out that I have Runner's Knee.
