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Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
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Prevention
By Mayo Clinic staffTo reduce your chance of an ACL injury, follow these tips:
- Improve your conditioning. Training programs that have been shown to be effective in helping to prevent ACL injuries typically include stretching and strengthening exercises, aerobic conditioning, plyometric exercises, "jump training" and risk-awareness training. Exercises that improve balance also can help when done in conjunction with other training exercises.
- Strengthen your hamstrings (women). Women athletes should take care to strengthen and stretch their hamstring muscles as well as their quadriceps.
- Keep fit year-round. If you're on a seasonal sports team, stay conditioned all year. This will help with your balance, strength and coordination when the next season starts.
- Use proper techniques when playing sports or exercising. If your sport involves jumping, learn how to land safely. Learn to do cutting maneuvers in a crouched posture with a slight bend at the knee and hip.
- Check your gear. In downhill skiing, make sure your ski bindings are adjusted correctly by a trained professional so that your skis will release when you fall.
Using a knee brace during sports doesn't reduce your risk of injury - and may provide a false sense of security.
References
- Friedberg RP. Anterior cruciate ligament injury. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 25, 2008.
- ACL injury: Does it require surgery? American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00297. Accessed Dec. 18, 2008.
- Friedberg RP. Patient information: Anterior cruciate ligament injury. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 25, 2008.
- Hergenroeder AC. Treatment of knee injuries in the young athlete. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Nov. 25, 2008.
- Spindler KP, et al. Anterior cruciate ligament tear. New England Journal of Medicine. 2008;359:2135
- Murray MM. Current status and potential of primary ACL repair. Clinics in Sports Medicine. 2009;28:51
