Bhanu Garg in Health

Can a ACL Tear Heal on its Own 2023 Updated

The knee joint is one of the most complex joints in your body. It is a focal point where several bones, muscles, and ligaments join together, and it bears a tremendous amount of pressure. When the anterior cruciate ligament tears, you may have extreme pain, swelling, and movement difficulties.

Approximately 60% of athletes or sportsmen who return to their sport after a ruptured ACL never recover their full potential. Normal people also have difficulty returning to their preferred day-to-day activities following ACL restoration surgery. You may not require surgery if your ACL heals on its own. Healthcare experts commonly recommend surgery since it is the industry norm. Pushing the limit is an exception to the norm.

What is your ACL?

Your knee is a complicated joint that is made up of not only bones but also tendons and ligaments. The anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, is one of the primary ligaments in your knee. Your ACL is crucial because it helps to keep your femur and tibia together at the knee joint.

Because it is the major ligament in your knee, your ACL is vulnerable to damage. It is most typically damaged when participating in sports such as soccer or football. This is because it is commonly damaged when performing particular actions, such as:

Stopping suddenly
Pivoting and changing directions
Jumping
Landing incorrectly

Injuries can also occur if your knee is exposed to physical trauma, such as being tackled during a football game or falling severely. If your ACL is torn, you should be able to tell quickly away since it generally causes pain and instability in your knee.

What Causes an ACL Tear?

Most ACL injuries occur while participating in team sports or other athletic activities. When there are fast movement changes, quick direction pivots, landing a jump, or being hit directly on the knee, the ACL is torn. The vast majority of these injuries occur due to a collision with an object or another player on the field.

Here’s are possible probabilities of how most ACL tears occur:

Slowing down and reversing course (like in a football play)
Pivoting while keeping your foot firmly on the ground (like in basketball)
Landing incorrectly after a jump (like in volleyball)
Quickly halting (like in baseball)
Getting a direct hit to the knee or hitting with anything (like in hockey)

What are the symptoms of ACL Tear?

If you have an ACL injury, you will most likely notice something is wrong right away. You’ll often hear or feel a popping noise in your knee. Other signs and symptoms you can experience include:

Knee sensation
Injury resulting quickly in swelling and inflammation
A knee popping sound or feeling
Swelling and inflammation occur due to injury
Severe pain or discomfort depending on the extent of the injury
Inability to walk or continue activities due to reduced range of motion in the knee
Instability while putting weight on the injured leg

Is it possible for your ACL injury to heal on its own?

When it comes to ACL injuries, there are several treatment options available.

The solution is rather simple. Because the ACL helps to stabilize your knee, correct treatment is critical if you want to utilize your knee later in life. There are several situations in which you can let the ACL tear heal on its own, and they are as follows:

Partially torn skin with little instability
Complete tears where high-intensity sports aren’t an option
Tear injury in someone who has a sedentary lifestyle
Kids with open growth plates

However, surgery may be an option if you are active and want to continue playing sports or doing high-intensity activities. Although full ACL tears can sometimes heal on their own, your knee will never be the same again. This is the case because of the instability induced by a damaged ACL. Physical therapy and rehabilitative exercises can assist, but surgery may be the best option if you wish to return to high-impact sports. Of course, A consultation with an orthopedic doctor can be the best option for you because there is no clear-cut answer to whether you should have surgery or not for your ruptured ACL.

What are the Nonsurgical ACL Tear Treatment Options?

The following approaches can be used to manage injuries immediately after they occur:

Rest – Activities that induce knee discomforts, such as long-distance jogging or walking, should be avoided until symptoms subside.
Ice – To relieve discomfort and swelling, a person may be recommended to apply cold packs to the affected region. Ice packs can be administered for 10 to 20 minutes multiple times throughout the day.
Compression – Wearing a tight, elastic bandage around the injured knee might help to reduce swelling.
Elevation – Swelling may be reduced by keeping the knee supported above the waist.

Individuals who are fit and healthy plan to participate in activities or sports that do not require sudden stops or turns, such as cycling and swimming. Also, those who do not have knee instability that interferes with their every day lives may be candidates for nonsurgical treatment. It is possible that a person will be instructed to:

Wear a knee brace to promote stability and limit side-to-side knee mobility. A functional sports knee brace that allows for more movement may be advised when a person returns to activities.
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicines (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen or naproxen should be used.

Consult a sports doctor to help you recover knee strength and flexibility, and strength.

What factors necessitate ACL surgery?

The choice to have knee surgery will be based on the severity of ACL injury, if there is additional knee damage, and whether your quality of life is affected.
If your knee is stable and you do not lead an active lifestyle, you may opt against having ACL surgery.
On the other hand, delaying surgery may cause more harm to your knee if it gives way or becomes unstable.
Once the swelling has subsided and rest and physiotherapy have helped to relieve your discomfort, your doctor will discuss your choices with you and determine if you require surgery.
Before undergoing ACL surgery, you may need to wait for any swelling to go down and for your knee to recover complete strength and flexibility.

How is ACL repair surgery performed?

ACL reconstruction surgery uses a graft of a tendon (which connects muscles to bones) from your body, such as a hamstring (from the back of the thigh) or the kneecap/patellar tendon (from the front of the knee). In elderly people who are still quite active, a cadaver tendon (a tendon from someone who died and gave his or her corpse to science) can be utilized sometimes. Because of the greater risks of re-tear, cadaver tendons are normally not used in young athletes.

The procedure is minimally invasive, which means that instead of creating a huge incision with a knife, the physician uses an arthroscope, which is slender wand-like equipment. The surgeon inserts the arthroscope and operating devices through tiny incisions in your knee.

Conclusion – It may take some time to fully recover or heal, After ACL damage. Whether you choose surgery or not, physical therapy will get you back to normal and allow you to enjoy your life.

An ACL tear will only temporarily prevent you from working or participating in your favorite sports. Remember that your healing is dependent on your choices: whether or not to use crutches, whether or not to undergo surgery, whether or not to work hard at physical therapy, and so on. If you commit to physical therapy and follow the recommendations of your healthcare experts, your life will soon return to “normal.” You can consult an orthopedic surgeon at KMC Hospital Mangalore for advanced ACL surgical options.

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