GREEN BAY, Wis. (WFRV) – As the spring sports season begins, so do injuries. One common injury that Aurora BayCare Medical Center orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Harold Schock, sees is ACL tears.
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“An ACL or an anterior cruciate ligament is one of the four major stabilizing ligaments in the knee,” Dr. Schock said.
On all different playing fields, ACL tears are one of the most talked-about sports injuries, and the tear itself could result from a big hit or a simple twist.
“If there’s too much twerk or twisting on the knee, it can result in an ACL tear Dr. Schock said. “We see it especially with our higher-level athletes.”
Athletes like Clayton Werner and Andy Sevcik both tore their ACLs playing rugby, and both felt their injuries in an instant.
“I [was] on a full sprint on the kick and chase with my foot at a bit of an angle, and felt a pop in my knee,” Andy Sevcik said. “I hit the ground.”
That ‘pop,’ is a common warning sign of an ACL tear, according to Dr. Schock.
“A lot of times, patients will say they heard a pop,” Dr. Schock. “Definitely get in for an evaluation because you can do more damage if left untreated.”
Both Werner and Sevcik were advised to get surgery, because the ACL cannot heal itself.
“We will take some other piece of tissue, whether that’s your quadriceps tendon or your hamstring tendon, or patellar tendon,” Dr. Schock said. “We take a piece of it and reimplant that in you as a reconstructed ligament.”
Recovery can take months to a year, thus, it requires serious commitment.
“I always tell patients it’s half of what we do in surgery and the other half is on the rehab side,” Dr. Schock said.
Werner has been in rehab for nearly a year, almost cleared to play rugby again. He said rehab has helped his healing process tremendously.
“Stick to rehab, you won’t get better if you don’t have help,” Werner said.
Experts warn that patience is key to a full recovery.
“One of the biggest things we see as far as re-injury rates is people going back too early,” Dr. Schock said.
Sevcik credits the time and discipline he put forth in rehab, which he said made his recovery possible.
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“I feel pretty confident I’m back to where I was or close to it,” Sevcik said.
Visit Aurora Bay Care Medical Center’s website to learn more about knee conditions and treatment options.
