Knee Injuries in Soccer
Knee Injuries in Soccer
is One of the Most Feared Injuries
Knee injuries in soccer are very common.
Any sport, like
soccer, that requires running at different speeds with sudden change of
direction may lead to knee ligament injury sooner or later.
When playing soccer, it is important to know the symptoms of a knee injury.
Athletes recovery time will greatly depend on the severity of the knee injury.
Players
will need time to recover from the injury, and that time will depend on
a few factors; including injury severity and proper rehabilitation
before returning to the sport.
Almost every soccer
knee injury occurs due to overuse of the knee ligaments, through years
of playing soccer or a different sport that requires sudden change of
direction and speed.
Knee stability is maintained by 4
ligaments. These ligaments are thick bands of tissue that stabilize the
knee joint by keeping it in place and helping with the bending of the
leg at the knee.
In the picture above you can see the four ligaments (MCL, LCL, ACL, PCL), and Meniscus.
- MCL - Medial Collateral Ligament
- LCL - Lateral Collateral Ligament
- ACL - Anterior Cruciate Ligament
- PCL - Posterior Cruciate Ligament
- MENISCUS - Cartilage Between Femur and Tibia
Knee Injuries of MCL and LCL Knee Ligament
MCL (Medial Collateral Ligament) is located on the inner side of the knee, while the LCL (Lateral Collateral Ligament) is located on the outer side of the knee.
Both of the ligaments, MCL and LCL, prevent the knee from sliding sideways, keeping it in place with thick ligament bands on the inside and the outside of the knee.
Knee Injuries in Soccer, ACL and PCL Knee Ligaments
ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) and PCL (Posterior Cruciate Ligament) are two knee ligaments located inside the knee, preventing the knee from sliding back and forth.
ACL and PCL are two thick ligament bands that form an X on the inside of the knee.
Knee Injuries in Soccer, Meniscus Cartilage
Meniscus are two shock-absorbing pieces of cartilage located between the femur and tibia.
Meniscus knee cartilage prevents the bones (femur - top of the leg and tibia - bottom of the leg) from rubbing on each other.
Symptoms for Knee Injuries in Soccer
Knee ligament injury symptoms are very similar for all of the 4 ligament injuries.
Symptoms that point towards knee ligament injury are:
- Moderate to Severe Pain.
- Swelling.
- Instability of the Knee.
- Inability to put any weight on the injured leg.
- There may also be a popping or snapping sensation at the time of the injury.
In
some cases, players around the injured player are able to hear the
popping sound at the time one or more knee ligaments are injured.
Knee injury is most common in sports that require lots of running at different speeds with sudden change of direction.
Soccer,
being exactly the type of sport where running at different speeds with
constant change of direction is present throughout the game, is one of
the sports where players have a fear of knee injuries.
Knee
injury can keep a soccer player on the sidelines for months, especially
if the injury is not fully rehabilitated before returning to playing.
Even the slightest knee injury should be taken seriously.
When there is even a chance that the knee may be injured, players should immediately STOP playing.
As the body cools down, pain and swelling may start to show.
Not treating the injury right away and playing through the slight pain can have long term effects for months and in some cases years to come.
The only way to fully diagnose any knee ligament injury is through visiting a professional and having an X-Ray or MRI of the knee taken.
Once a knee injury does happen, it can have long term effects on the athlete, if not treated properly and right away.
Most common treatment for soccer knee injury is the R.I.C.E method (Rest, Ice, Compress and Elevate).
When the knee injury is more severe, it is best to take the proper time to heal, than to push yourself and play through the pain.
Playing on an injured knee CAN, and in most cases WILL, lead to making the injury worse and bound to happen more frequently.
Torn knee ligament injury will require a visit to the doctors office, where in most cases surgery is required to fix the torn ligament.
With required surgery due to
the severity of the knee injury, athlete will spend 6 - 12 months
sidelined and rehabilitating the knee towards the long awaited return to
sports and running.
For more information on knee injuries in sports visit Different Knee Injuries and Symptoms.
| Soccer Related Injuries & More |
|---|
| ACL Injuries ACL or Anterior Cruciate Ligament is one of four knee ligaments holding the knee joint together. |
| ACL Injury Recovery ACL Injury Recovery will be needed after every ACL ligament tear or mild sprain. |
| Ankle Sprain Treatment Causes for ankle sprain can range from playing sports and forcefully rolling the ankle to just taking a walk in the park and twisting your ankle when stepping down from a curb :( |
| Common Soccer Injuries I wanted to create one web page with information on common soccer injuries and what these injuries feel like so that you can sometime recognize what is going on when it does happen to you or your players. |
| Hamstring Exercises Many athletes and regular people have hurt their hamstring at one point in their life and know how discomforting a hurt hamstring can feel. |
| Treatment for Injured Hamstring Hamstring injury treatment will vary depending on the severity of the injury. |
| Hamstring Injury Hamstring muscle injuries occur very frequently in athletes participating in various physically demanding sports that require sprinting and sudden change of movement and speed. |
| Hamstring Stretches Stretching the hamstring muscles is very important for our overall health as it reduces lower back pain and gives us strong and lean hamstrings that will help with our lower body range of motion. |
| High Ankle Sprain Ankle Syndesmosis injuries are often referred to what people call high ankle injury due to ankle swelling and ankle joint pain in the ligaments above the ankle. |
| How To Tape Your Ankle Ankle taping is a big part of preventing ankle injury for players participating in any type of sport where running and change of direction is required, such as soccer, football, basketball etc. |
| Knee Injuries in Soccer Knee injuries are very common in sports that require running and change of direction. Soccer is one of many sports where ligament injuries have a chance to sideline the player for longer periods of time. |
| LCL Knee Injury LCL (lateral collateral ligament) is one of the four knee ligaments holding the knee in place. |
| LCL Injury Recovery When it comes to LCL ligament injury, time is the best healing process and surgery is rarely required for treatment of common lateral collateral ligament injuries. |
| MCL Knee Injury MCL or Medial Collateral Ligament is one of the FOUR major ligaments that hold the knee together preventing it from sliding left and right or back and forth. |
| MCL Injury Recovery MCL rehab is needed after an MCL ligament injury and time is the best friend in getting over the MCL knee injury. |
| PCL Knee Injury PCL ligament crosses with the ACL ligament preventing our knee from moving back and forth. |
| PCL Injury Recovery PCL injury rehab will be different depending on the level or degree of knee injury suffered. |
| Ankle Injury Most sport players have twisted their ankle at least once considering that rolled ankle is one of the top sport injuries so I decided to cover everything about ankle sprain in this article. |
| Concussion Symptoms What is a concussion? Concussion is a traumatic head injury that occurs from mild or severe blow to the head. |
| Concussion Treatment Following a concussion, rest is the best answer for concussion treatment. |