The Student News Site of Malvern Preparatory School

Friar's Lantern

The Student News Site of Malvern Preparatory School

Friar's Lantern

The Student News Site of Malvern Preparatory School

Friar's Lantern

ACL tears playing time at all levels

Tearing your ACL is hard and painful for anybody. The months of recovery that follow are no easier.

“If I could describe it, it felt like a car hit my knee,” junior Connor Cary said.

A torn Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) has become a somewhat common injury in the sports world today. It plagues the professional ranks; athletes such as Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, Eagles running back Darren Sproles, and New York Knicks star forward Kristaps Porzingis have suffered the injury this year.  

Malvern athletes are subject to the same thing. For example, Cary and sophomore Rowan Cabahug-Almonte, among others, have been sidelined by an ACL tear.

Head Athletic Trainer Mr. William Mills attributes the injury to multiple factors.

“[It happens] when somebody’s running, and they’re usually decelerating; they plant, and then there’s some kind of turning,” Mills said. “There are other theories out there, and research is showing some things that may contribute to that like an imbalance in muscle.” Mills said.

Like Cary, Cabahug-Almonte experienced severe pain when the injury first happened.

“I took a wrong step and got pushed in the back.  Both of those things caused my leg to hyperextend backwards,” Cabahug-Almonte said. “I heard a pop. I was down on the ground, and I just couldn’t move it. It was one of the worst things I’ve ever felt.”

Cary, a football player and varsity swimmer, and Cabahug-Almonte, a starter for Malvern’s varsity lacrosse team, both sensed something was wrong, but on much different scales.

“It wasn’t anything like I’ve felt before. Something was either really wrong, or I was overreacting, but I knew I wasn’t overreacting,” Cary said.

“I had no idea what happened. I thought it was just a sprain or something,” Cabahug-Almonte said. “I hoped it wasn’t [my] ACL.”

When something like this happens on campus, Mills and his team are right on top of it.  They perform different tests on the athlete’s knee to determine the magnitude of the injury and to know whether it’s torn or not.

“First we take a history. Then we test it functionally; we can stress the ACL and compare it to the other knee,” Mills said. “Depending on how much pain he’s in, we can put a knee mobilizer on, put him on crutches, and send him to our doctor to get an MRI and confirm it.”

If there is a torn ACL, chances are that there is collateral damage in other parts of the knee, according to Mills.

“It’s not common to tear just the ACL.  Not that you can’t, but it’s just not common,” Mills said.  One of the menisci (medial and lateral) are torn also.”

This happened to Cary; he partially tore his lateral meniscus as well.

In both cases, a lot went through both Cary and Cabahug-Almonte’s mind as they sustained their injuries.

“From an athletic standpoint, I wanted to get back to swimming as soon as possible. As soon as my surgery was done, I was looking to do everything I could in rehab,” Cary said. “If I do everything right there, it will make everything after easier.”

“I was thinking about recruiting. That was probably my first thought,” Cabahug-Almonte said. “My second thought was ‘Oh crap, I’m not going to be able to play lacrosse this season.’ My third thought was ‘Oh crap, this is going to cost my family a lot of money.’”

After the initial shock and pain of the injury subsides, rehabilitation has to start. A typical timeframe for a torn ACL is six to seven months, with some cases needing around a year of recovery.  The athletic trainers make sure each patient is in a good spot right off the bat.

“A lot of times we go into surgery with our athletes, so we’re actually in with the surgeon. The doctor and I, a lot of times, talk and see if there’s anything peculiar about the knee that we have to worry about for rehab,” Mills said. “Within 24 hours, we visit our athletes for the second and third day at least to see if they have any questions and make sure they’re OK.”

To minimize this timeframe, Mills likes to start rehabbing ACL tearers as soon as possible.  After much experience, Mills has figured out and followed a series of exercises that build up the leg.  The first step is to build up strength in the quadricep of the leg that has the torn ACL.

“Once they have control of their quadricep, then we can take the crutches away with the knee mobilizer,” Mills said.

The big milestone in an ACL recovery is at the three month mark. This is when the athlete can begin to extend their knee, opening the door to more exercises.

“Once we get there, we can do some running at four months, and at five months we’re doing more sports-related stuff,” Mills said.

Recovery doesn’t come without its setbacks, just like with other injuries.

“If the athlete or athlete trainer pushes too hard, they could get some tendonitis on that knee, and that could slow you down if you’re not communicating,” Mills said. “We do always have to look out for infection because you do have an incision in the front of your knee.”

Cabahug-Almonte is in the beginning stages of rehab since he tore it this spring, in the first game he started for Malvern lacrosse. After doing some “pre-hab” and getting surgery a few weeks after the injury date, he is now fully immersed in the rehab program.

“I need to get the strength back in [my quadricep], since there’s really no muscle there,” Cabahug-Almonte said.

Cary is nearing the six to seven month mark in his rehab, since his ACL tear occurred in a football game this past fall. He has progressed from simple leg lifts to squats and aquatic therapy. His knee is becoming more functional and healthy as the days go by.

“At this point, I’m using this calibration chair which determines how much weight I can lift and how much my leg can [handle],” Cary said.

Physical rehab is super important in order to recover as quickly and efficiently as possible. In addition, Malvern’s training staff puts a huge emphasis on the athlete’s participation with their team. Mills thinks it’s the most important part of rehabbing.

“The idea is to come in after school, work on your rehab, and then you go out to practice and your still part of the team so you don’t drift away,” Mills said. “We don’t want guys to drift away.  We want them to keep that social end as well. By doing the rehab here, you’re keeping that.”

Malvern does an impeccable job with getting their athletes back into action after a devastating injury like this. However, there is always the possibility of retearing your knee. For example, according to a 2015 article in Philly Magazine, NFL players are at a 5-6% chance of retearing the ACL that has been surgically repaired. Surprisingly enough, the chances of tearing the ACL in your other knee are even higher, at 9-12%.

Still, Malvern athletes are in good hands with Mills and his training staff. Though the road to recovery is excruciatingly long and difficult, some of the highest end care is available right here on campus.

 

 

Leave a Comment
More to Discover

Comments (0)

All Friar's Lantern Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *