The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the most important stabilizing structures in your knee. Located in the center of your knee joint, the ACL helps control forward movement of the shin bone while providing support for the joint and your entire leg during walking, running, jumping, and other activities.
ACL injuries are extremely common, affecting hundreds of thousands of Americans each year. While they’re often associated with athletes in sports like football and basketball, ACL tears can happen to anyone, including non-athletes.
If you’ve injured your ACL, you’re probably wondering if you’ll need surgery to restore your mobility or if the ligament will heal on its own. Whether or not you’ll need surgery depends on several factors, but one thing is certain: Torn ligaments — including the ACL — won’t heal or “knit together” without medical intervention.
As a leading orthopaedics practice with extensive experience treating all types of knee injuries, Mid-Jersey Orthopaedics specializes in personalized ACL treatment plans. In this post, our team explains how these common injuries happen and how to sort through your treatment options afterward.
Ligaments join two or more bones, helping normalize and stabilize joint movement. Ligament injuries typically happen when the ligament is pushed beyond its normal range, causing the tough band of tissue to stretch or tear, partially or fully.
Most ACL injuries happen as a result of rapid changes in direction or pivoting movements, when landing awkwardly after a jump, or from a direct blow to the knee caused by a fall or other impact.
When you injure your ACL, the severity of your symptoms depends directly on the extent and severity of the injury itself. For less severe injuries, you might notice some swelling and mild discomfort, particularly when placing weight on your knee. But for more serious injuries, you may have significant pain, inability to bear weight, and the sensation that your knee will “give way” at any moment.
Ligament injuries are typically classified by grade:
Many ACL injuries involve other parts of the knee anatomy, like the protective layer of cartilage or even other ligaments.
Even though the ACL won’t heal on its own, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll need to have surgery. In some cases, a conservative treatment plan offers very good results, especially for more minor partial tears.
Initially, your treatment will focus on reducing swelling, pain, and mobility issues using rest, ice, compression, and elevation (sometimes called RICE therapy). Bracing or crutches (or both) are frequently recommended to reduce strain on the joint while the area recovers.
Once healing is underway, you’ll begin a physical therapy program focused on strengthening the muscles around the knee to improve natural joint support, as well. This nonsurgical approach works best for people with minimal knee instability who place less physical demand on their knees and are willing to avoid activities that could reinjure the joint.
Surgical ACL treatment is typically the better choice for complete ACL tears, partial tears with significant instability, discomfort, and reduced daily activities, and for people who engage in activities that put a lot of strain on their knees (athletes, for instance).
We may also recommend surgery if your knee injury involves damage to other parts of your knee anatomy. During your procedure, we can repair those structures in addition to addressing the damage to the ACL itself.
Today, many ACL surgeries use a minimally invasive approach called arthroscopy. This type of surgery involves tiny incisions and far less tissue damage, leading to faster recovery and other benefits. The type of surgery we recommend is based on each patient’s unique needs, injury severity, lifestyle, and other personal factors and goals.
ACL tears won’t heal on their own, but whether or not you’ll need surgery depends on lots of factors. The best way to protect your knee and get back to your routine is to have it evaluated immediately after an injury and whenever you notice painful or unusual symptoms.
If you’ve injured your knee or are experiencing pain, swelling, or instability, request an appointment online or over the phone with the team at Mid-Jersey Orthopaedics in Flemington, Bridgewater, and Washington, New Jersey, today.
