As fall sports kick into play this week we will discuss the knee and knee injuries. The knee happens to be one of the one of the most injured joints in all of sports. In fact, I’m sure most of you have sustained a knee injury or have had some kind of knee pain in your life. For ease sake I am going to break down the types of injuries that can be sustained at this joint into two main categories: traumatic and non-traumatic.
Traumatic knee injuries happen as you probably imagine, in one violent incident. For example, let’s say your knee collapses inward as you land from a jump, tearing a ligament. Often, we see that the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) can be injured with impact on fall sports. These types of injuries are extremely serious and season ending. Here’s a few numbers to show just how prevalent these types of injures are today.
• An estimated 100,000 ACL tears will happen in the United States alone.
• ACL injuries are more common in female athletes compared to male
A non-traumatic injury is something that typically seen with overuse and a gradual build up. From experience we see non-traumatic knee pain with elders and healthy individuals that neglect proper training (ex: patellar tedonitis and IT Band syndrome).
When it comes to weight training however, it is rare for someone to sustain a traumatic injury to the knee like a torn ACL. Horrible injuries don’t happen often, but they can happen so being mindful of all exercise is very important.
Research shows us that knee pain associated with barbell training is often due to overuse injuries, such as patellar tendinopathy. While these types of injuries are not traumatic enough to limit training, they can become very nagging and often lead to more long-lasting issues down the road.
So what do you do?
If you experienced a traumatic knee injury it is typically recommended that you see an orthopedic specialist to see if you need images etc. You can also visit your local physical therapy office at Swift to allow our specialist to test your ligaments to make sure there is no tear. If we suspect a tear we can refer you out to a physician we trust to take great care of you.
If you experienced a non-traumatic injury you should visit Swift to allow us to diagnose your issue and help establish a plan for you. Regardless of your issue choose PT and let us help you live pain free.
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