Can you still walk with a torn ACL?
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a ligament in your knee. You may have heard of it because the number of times it can disrupt a professional sports person’s career. Often ruling them out for a year! It is frustrating as it is a small ligament that causes a lot of issues.
It doesn’t just happen in professional sports people though; it is a normal occurrence for you and me. It doesn’t always need to be as dramatic for us though.
We aren’t using our bodies for pro sports each day, which means if you do have an ACL tear it is not career ending.
The ACL links with the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) and they provide stability to the knee joint with rotation and sudden change in direction, hence sports like football and netball have a lot of ACL injuries.
You may remember the Michael Owen injury when he was playing for England in 2006, he changed direction and collapsed on the pitch. This was an ACL injury, plus a few other ligaments. He was out for 308 days.
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Can I bend my knee with a torn ACL?
Yes, you should be able too, but it won’t be pain free and will feel unstable. It depends on what grade the tear is:
Grade 1-stretched the ACL but there is no tear.
Grade 2-partial tear
Grade 3-near complete tear
You may be able to function relatively normally for a short period of time with the first 2 grades. The reason is the rest of the knee will take up some of the stress and load. This is not great long term as it will cause problems with those muscles and ligaments and can start to cause degeneration in the knee joint leading to long term arthritis.
What are 3 signs and symptoms of an ACL tear?
- Sudden onset of sever pain-at the time it happens it is painful, and you will know something has happened as there maybe a pop as well. This sudden pain will go away as the inflammation reduces in the knee, but you will be left with an ache and instability in the knee. It may give way from time to time.
- Swelling- as inflammation and fluid arrives at the knee too help it heal it will swell up, this is a protective mechanism and will subside after 48 hours.
- Instability-there will be instability in the joint after the injury and one of the tests a physio does is to pull the tibia (shin) towards them to see how much laxity is in the knee. It may give way or buckle under pressure as well.
What does a Grade 1 ACL tear feel like?
This is the least severe out of the three grades but the most common. You don’t normally need surgery and it can be resolved with rehab and physiotherapy.
You will be able to walk and weight bear without many issues, but there maybe some achiness or stiffness. There also maybe some swelling after activity, it is important to remember that just because there is not a grade 3 or full rupture it still needs care and attention from a physiotherapist, sports massage therapist or other professional.
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