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“I heard it pop.” That’s

how many people tell the

tale about the day an ACL

injury took them off the

ski slope, football field,

basketball court or soccer

field.

ACL stands for

anterior cruciate ligament

.

“The ACL is one of four impor-

tant structures that stabilize the knee,” explains Michael Abdulian, MD,

orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at Glendale Adventist

Medical Center’s (GAMC) Orthopedic Institute. “It runs down the middle

of the knee from the femur to the tibia and keeps the tibia—the shin-

bone—from sliding too far forward.”

ACL injuries occur when your foot is planted on the ground but your

body continues to move or twist. They usually occur during sports, and

the majority are actually non-contact injuries.

“The ACL often makes a popping sound when it tears,” Dr. Abdulian

says. Pain, swelling, tenderness, inability to walk and loss of motion are

other symptoms. After injury, the knee usually feels unstable.

WHAT CAUSES AN ACL INJURY?

According to the American Academy

of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), you can injure your ACL in a number

of ways, such as:

● 

Changing directions rapidly.

● 

Stopping suddenly.

● 

Falling backward as the lower leg moves forward.

● 

Slowing down while running.

● 

Landing incorrectly from a jump.

● 

Colliding with another player or object.

While ACL injuries are common in athletes, they can happen to

anyone.

WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?

“How an ACL injury is treated depends

on the degree of injury and if there are other injured structures in the

knee,” explains Dr. Abdulian. Care is usually tailored to each patient’s

individual needs and injury.

According to Dr. Abdulian, for some patients, braces and physical

therapy may be all the treatment that is needed. In other cases, surgery

is the best option to get patients back to sports.

“In surgery, the ACL is usually rebuilt using another tendon taken

from elsewhere in the body—such as from a hamstring or quadriceps,”

he says. Another option is to use a donor graft to reconstruct the liga-

ment. “It’s an arthroscopic procedure that uses very small incisions.”

Whether treatment involves surgery or not, rehabilitation is crucial,

Dr. Abdulian says. A structured, progressive physical therapy pro-

gram can take several months, but it’s the best way to get you back in

motion—and doing the sports and activities that you love.

If you think you may have injured your ACL, don’t wait—call

the GAMC Orthopedic Institute at

(818) 863-4446

for an ap-

pointment with one of our orthopedic surgeons! To learn more,

visit

AdventistHealth.org/Glendale/Ortho

.

WEAK KNEES?

What happens when you hurt your ACL

and how we can heal it

IN

THE

Michael Abdulian, MD

In this issue

The power

of the lift

Bliss Saleebyan triumphs

under the heaviness of

a new cancer diagnosis.

Equipped with persever-

ance and strength, she

carries the weight of her

challenge high above

her. Find out where she

draws her source of

strength from: Read her

heroic story on page 4.

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