Question : Have you completely torn your ACL (anterior cruciate ligament)?

Maybe you have really hurt it, but you have not completely ruptured the ligament...

1.) How Someone Tears Their ACL

Contact Injury : Many times people think that it will take a traumatic incident to rupture their ACL. You can envision a scenario at a sporting event, or some physical activity where your knee takes a serious hit and as a result you may hear a popping noise! You can guess what that popping noise is, right? - Your ligament.

Non-Contact Injury : While it is entirely possible that a person can tear their ACL due to an impact injury, you may be surprised to learn that an ACL tear can often happen as a result of a sudden twist of your leg, while your foot is firmly planted on the ground. - A person who is moving at fast speeds, that tries to make a sudden stop or change of direction may find themselves in this situation.

2.) How To Help Protect Your ACL

Whether you have hurt your ACL or not, you should consider protecting it. It is unfortunate that many people do not protect their knees prior to injury.

One of the very best ways to help support and protect the structural integrity of your knee is with the use of a well designed knee brace. With the current improvements in knee brace design, you can actually find a great low profile support that is both strong and lightweight. - These kinds of supports can help protect a current knee injury from getting worse, or help protect a knee injury from ever happening in the first place.

3.) Controlling Painful and Unstable Movements

A well designed knee support will help you to avoid certain side to side movements, or front to back movements that have gotten you in trouble in the first place. - Usually, these supports have a hinge on each side of the knee that is connected to medial and lateral uprights. These components will help to eliminate excessive and dangerous movements.

4.) Pain Control

Many times due to the support that they can provide, a person will indicate that their knee pain has reduced! People will say that it is like getting a pain killer, but it is in the form of a knee support. The great thing about these braces is that you can get them very quickly and they can provide years of support.