How to Prevent ACL Tears?
ACL injuries are one of the most common injuries amongst athletes. It’s reported that there are roughly 100,000 to 200,000 reported cases of ACL tears and ruptures each year in the U.S. alone. It’s important to recognize the pain associated with an ACL injury and pause all activity that could make the injury worse.
For athletes of all sports and disciplines, it’s important to check in with your lower body muscles and knee joints.
How can you tear your ACL?
An ACL tear can happen from an impact hitting your knee from the side rather than head-on, by overextending the knee, or by a badly placed/too quick pivot that your knee joint wasn’t prepared for.
I tore my ACL playing soccer for the first time a few weeks ago, in the most cookie cutter way to tear your ACL: plant, pivot, pop.
I cannot tell you (or maybe I can if you’ve had one) how much it sucks, especially knowing that non-contact ACL tears could essentially be prevented. We all know the saying, “do as I say, not as I do.”
Well, let me tell you what you want to be doing and what I should have been doing to avoid this.
2 Easy Exercises to Prevent an ACL Tear
Your best option to prevent injury to your Anterior Cruciate Ligament, or ACL, is through lower body strengthening exercises.
Exercise #1: Nordic Hamstring Curls
Exercise #2: Glute Bridges
Your posterior musculature chain, which in this case we will use to refer to the hamstrings and glutes, are not strong enough to provide stability to your knee. Remember, the hip muscles control the way your knee moves!
Strengthen the hamstrings and glutes to avoid an ACL tear.
This is, of course, easier said than done, but it is the essentials of what you should be doing. Exercising regularly is key to keeping your muscles strong to protect your knee joint all year round. If you’re self-rehabilitating your knee injury and not recovering as quickly or as smoothly as you’d like, you might want to consider seeking out physical therapists specialized in ACL injuries.
If this scenario sounds familiar to you and you are concerned you might tear your ACL or might re-tear it, reach out to us by clicking the button below!
Our physical therapists in Gaithersburg, Frederick, and Columbia can help you rehab from an ACL tear and return the field, court, or gym.