It is important to stay active throughout your life but not everything may go as planned. Sports may bring risks of injuries, and one of the most common injuries you may experience is a ligament injury. Ligament injuries normally happen in high-intensity sports that involve running or pivoting. These injuries mostly happen in ankles and knees but are also possible in other joints of the body like neck, back, shoulder, wrist etc.
Anyone can get knee ligament injuries and muscle sprains irrespective of your fitness. Understanding some of these ligament injuries can help you avoid them and also find the right treatment options. Remember, these injuries happen during workouts, so staying vigilant during exercise can be a great idea.
What is a Ligament Injury?
Ligaments are tough and flexible fibrous tissues that connect the bones and offer the needed support to the joints. Even though ligaments are very strong, any little awkward twist or stretch may cause strain ligament injury. With extreme force, the ligaments can torn, leading to severe injury.
Types of Ligament Injuries
Ligaments are strong tissue bands that help connect one bone to another. They play a huge role in stabilising and supporting your joints. In case one ligament becomes torn or over-stretches, you may experience pain, bruising, or swelling. If that happens, your joint will become unstable and even make you unable to move or use the affected joint. The common types of ligament injuries include:
1. Sprained Ankle
This is one of the common sports injuries. An ankle sprain usually occurs when an ankle stretches, micro tears or completely tears to ligaments on the outer ankle.
2. Knee Ligament Injuries
There are typically four ligaments that hold the bones of a knee together. They include the anterior cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament, lateral collateral ligament, and posterior cruciate ligament that are discussed here:
- An anterior cruciate ligament (ACL): ACL is a ligament in the centre of a knee. The anterior cruciate ligament controls the rotation as well as the forward movement of the shin bone. This type of knee ligament injury is common in football, soccer, and basketball. An ACL injury happens when the ligaments available on the inside of the knee are damaged. The severity of the injury may range from mild sprains to full tearing of ligaments.
- Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL): Medial collateral ligament injury is a tear or a sprain of the outer or inner knee ligaments. This happens because of an injury when participating in a certain activity that strains the knees. One of these activities that can strain the knees is skiing. The medial collateral ligament injury may recover without the need for surgery.
- Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL): This is the least common form of knee ligament injury. The posterior cruciate ligament is found at the back of the knee. It helps control the backward movement of the shin bone. The posterior cruciate ligament injury frequently occurs from falling or direct trauma on the knee.
3. Thumb Ligament Injuries
There are also thumb injuries that may result from ligament sprains. Thumb ligament injury comes from the tear of ligaments between the base of your thumb and wrist bones. Such injuries commonly happen when you are holding something in your hand, like a ski pole or handlebars of a bike.
4. Elbow Ligament Injuries
This is a type of injury that occurs in the elbow. It mostly results from excessive pitching and may be a chronic illness. Besides, traumatic tears happen in sports or falls like wrestling. The elbow ligament injuries may be mild sprains, or partial or complete tears.
5. Shoulder Ligament Injuries
This is a type of ligament injury that most commonly occurs in dislocations of ball and socket joints. In general, the shoulder ligament injury is a forceful injury, and most of the time needs a ligament injury operation to put the joint back into place.
Common Symptoms of Ligament Injury
There are numerous symptoms of ligament injury but most of these signs may vary depending on how severe the injury is to the tendon. In general, these are some medial collateral ligament injury symptoms:
- Sudden and severe pain in the affected area
- Loose joints
- Swelling of affected area
- Difficulty moving or putting weight on the joint
- Spasms in the knee.
The medial collateral ligament injury symptoms are just like other health conditions. You must seek help from a professional healthcare provider for the diagnosis. Ligament injuries may be painful, just like fractures, so immediate evaluation is highly advised.
To Sum Up
Workouts help us stay fit and healthy, and it’s one of the best tips you may do for yourself, including bones, heart, and mood. However, there is a risk of getting ligament injuries which shouldn’t be overlooked.
The posterior cruciate ligament injury may occur due to various factors but what matters is to know the symptoms and seek proper medical help in case of a severe injury. In some cases, you may require a ligament injury operation if there is a tear in the anterior cruciate ligament of your knee.
