How does ACL tear happen? ACL tear can happen to anyone and the reason could be anything. Silly things like while I was walking up the stairs and slipped or hurt while playing some sport. Along with ACL tear, partial or a complete tear, there can also be other injuries in the knee that can cause the additional time to locate or diagnose an ACL tear. It can be a fracture, other ligament tears.
How does an ACL tear feel like? A sharp pain can be felt just behind the knee, usually felt while bending the knee and feeling instability while walking or while trying to stop/make an immediate turn.
Different ligaments in our knee:
- Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)
- Posterior cruciate ligament (PCL)
- Medial collateral ligament (MCL)
- Lateral collateral ligament (LCL)
Based on the injury and severances the location can differ from person to person. For someone like me who tore the ACL while slipping and hitting the curb while riding a bicycle without any fracture can take some time to locate the pain as the aftershock of the injury itself takes some time to cure. In such cases, we have to rest and ice first. Making sure there is no fracture is the first thing that one should do, and that can be done by examining with a physician and upon their suggestion, an X-Ray can ensure that.
Will ACL tear shows up in X-Ray? If there is a fracture, how will someone know if there could be a ligament tear. In my experience, a partial or a complete ACL tear will not show up in an X-Ray. Well, first one should try to recollect what they experienced during that incident. This can help the doctor analyze if they only need an X-Ray or additionally an MRI scan is needed.
Well, it's not quite simple to recollect the horrible incident especially if it happened during an intense activity like while playing some sport or while running or skiing. Most of us have the habit of cracking/popping our knuckles. If we ever felt similar popping within our knee when the accident occurred then that is something that you must communicate to the doctor which can help them to broaden their analysis.