Greetings!
 Major League Soccer kicked off its 2013 season on March 2. While soccer is an exciting, fast-paced sport offering a great cardio workout, players are susceptible to ligament tears, most commonly the anterior cruciate ligament or ACL. Perhaps your children or grandchildren play on a school or community soccer team? If so, you may find the information below to be helpful.
Best wishes for a safe and successful soccer season!
Sincerely,
Robert J. Zehr, M.D. |
Did Your Knee "Pop"?
It May Be an ACL Tear
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One of the most common knee injuries is an anterior cruciate ligament sprain or tear.
A sprained or torn ACL is one of the more common injuries in athletes whose high demand sport requires them to change direction rapidly, stop running suddenly or encounter direct contact or collision. Sports like soccer, football and basketball.
About half of all injuries to the ACL occur along with damage to other parts of the knee, such as articular cartilage, meniscus, or other ligaments.
When you injure your anterior cruciate ligament, you might hear a "popping" noise and you may feel your knee give out from under you. Other typical symptoms include:
- Pain with swelling
- Loss of full range of motion
- Tenderness along the joint line
- Discomfort while walking
If you have injured your anterior cruciate ligament, you may require surgery to regain full function of your knee. This will depend on several factors, such as the severity of your injury and your activity level.
Image and content via saveyourknees.org
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The "Inside" Story on Knee Replacement
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 When only the inner (medial) side of the knee has worn down with advanced arthritis, and the remainder of the knee has little wear with intact structural ligaments, this may be an opportunity to replace only this damaged medial compartment of the knee. This procedure is called partial or unicompartmental knee replacement and is now a popular and scientifically supported method of resolving the arthritic pain of only the inner aspect of the knee. About 10% of patients seen are typically candidates for this procedure.
Learn more about Dr. Zehr's method for unicompartmental knee replacement using the Oxford Knee on our website.
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