Returning to sport after an ACL injury is a long and demanding road. The common time frame following surgery is 9-12 months before a person can make a safe return to sport. The main reason for this is the time it takes the anterior cruciate ligament to vascularize (more on this later). However there is several problems within providing a recommendation based solely on a time frame, or even just evaluating the knee itself to see if it is intact. What I am going to show you in this article is that the evaluation criteria for returning to sport which uses a blanket template can be majorly flawed, for it often ignores that each person is different, and their weaknesses or reasons for sustaining the injury in the first place is what must be identified and corrected before returning to sport. Neglecting to address faulty movement patterns or restrictions at other joints is why so many athletes, both professional and amateur will suffer repeated injury and can derail even the best of athletes. If you are an amateur or professional athlete and looking to return to sport after ACL surgery this article is a must read as I show you 5 critical factors you must achieve if you want a safe return to sport and minimize your risk of another rupture.
Stop Treating Symptoms Of Knee Pain & Address These Four Factors
When the body is challenged with a movement it will do anything it can to find the path of least resistance and most importantly avoid pain. The site of pain is very rarely the cause of the pain, it is merely the effect of a problem created somewhere else in the body. Vladimir Janda a pioneer in the development of postural correction and movement assessment states, that “these two anatomical systems cannot be separated functionally”. Therefore, the term “sensorimotor system” is used to define the functional system of human movement. In addition, changes within one part of the system will be reflected by compensations or adaptations elsewhere within the system because of the body’s attempt at trying to maintain optimal homeostasis. Nowhere in the body is this more accurately seen than with the knee. In this article, I will explain what the most common culprits of knee pain are so you can either prevent future injury or be able to address the source of the problem if you already have a knee problem.