ACL tears are treated in different ways. Sometimes, the ACL tear does not require surgery and can heal with little intervention. But, ACL tears can also definitely require surgery, which can take up to 9 months to fully recover. This is why almost all football players who suffer ACL tears usually miss the whole season. So, one of the main treatments is surgery, and when the knee does not need surgery, then physical therapy helps in bringing the knee back to the original state.

When the knee does need surgery, the way the surgery works is complicated. Basically, the surgeon makes a few incisions placed around the knee and places sterile saline to expand the knee. This makes seeing the knee easier for the surgeon to use. Then, small drills are inserted where the surgeon made other incisions. Small holes are drilled in the lower and upper leg bones where the bones come together at the knee joint. The surgeon then takes the graft and pulls the graft through the tunnels drilled in the upper and lower leg bones. Then, the graft is secured by the surgeon, and the patient is taken to a recovery room for a few hours.

When the ACL tear does not require surgery, the most common treatment is physical therapy. Physical therapy will help return the knee to the knees pre-injury state. In …show more content…
Also, with injuries that can end seasons, or even worse, careers, most come from the knee. A study found that running backs and linebackers have the greatest risk of an ACL tear. For a running back, this makes sense because running backs have to make quick cuts, and the running backs also get tackled harder than almost any other position. Also, running backs are not as big and strong as a linebacker, so when the running back is tackled by a linebacker twice the size of the running back, the knee will obviously take greater damage. This provides a risk for the knee to give out, and the player comes down with an ACL tear or knee