Ligament damage is caused by sudden blows or repetitive excessive forces, and is common in weak and unstable joints. The knee and ankle are the most commonly affected joints, with the ACL being the most frequently damaged ligament in the knee and the anterior talofibular ligament in the ankle. Other ligaments that are vulnerable to strain include the PCL and MCL in the knee, and the AITFL in the ankle.
The types of ligament damage that are reported most often are strains, when a ligament is stretched beyond its normal limits, and ruptures, which occur when a ligament is partially or completely torn. Ligaments are dense bands of fibrous connective tissue that connect two bones to each other at a joint, holding them together and protecting the joint capsule. Since they are located in moving parts of the body, they constantly absorb and transfer various forces and are therefore vulnerable to injury. Ligament damage is typically caused by a sudden blow to the joint or by repetitive and excessive forces placed on the joint over time, which can cause the ligaments to tear and make them susceptible to strains and tears. It is also more likely to occur in individuals who have weak and unstable joints, particularly in the knee and ankle joints.
Especially among athletes and weekend warriors, the knee and ankle are the two joints in the body that most commonly experience ligament damage. In the knee joint, the ligaments most often injured are the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), and medial collateral ligament (MCL). Of these, the ACL sees the most damage. An intracapsular ligament, meaning it lies within the knee joint capsule, the ACL runs diagonally between the femur bone in the thigh and the tibia in the shinbone. It is typically strained or torn during sudden lateral or external rotation of the knee, such as in changing direction when playing football or soccer, may require arthroscopic surgery if tears occur, and may take months or even a year to heal.
Another intracapsular ligament is the PCL, which crosses behind the ACL in the opposite direction; this ligament tends to see damage from hyperextension of the knee joint caused by a strike to the front of the knee or sudden extension of the legs, as in explosive jumping movements. The MCL, on the other hand, is an extracapsular ligament, which runs vertically outside the joint capsule along the medial side of the knee joint between the femur and tibia. Ligament damage to the MCL most often occurs as a result of a lateral blow to the knee that strikes it inward, overstretching the ligament to the point of straining or tearing.
In the ankle, the most commonly injured ligaments are those on the lateral or outer side of the ankle: the anterior talofibular ligament, posterior talofibular ligament, and calcaneofibular ligament. These see the most ligament damage because, as the ankle rolls, it is more likely to invert or roll outward so that the ball of the foot rolls inward, rather than evert or roll outward. internal. An ankle inversion overstretches the ligaments outside the joint, especially the anterior talofibular ligament. This ligament connects the fibular or lateral malleolus, the large bony prominence felt on the outside of the ankle, with the lateral surface of the talus bone just below it; as such it runs the most parallel to the direction of ankle roll when the foot is flexed and is most likely to experience a strain or tear.
Another ligament near the ankle that is vulnerable to strain is the anterior inferior tibiofibular ligament, or AITFL. This is the ligament that connects the lower tibia and fibula together in the lower leg just above the ankle joint, and injury to this ligament is known as a high ankle sprain. Because this joint is a syndesmosis and therefore not very mobile, the AITFL can also experience ligament damage from ankle inversion.
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