Knee injuries are common during sports activities. Knee injuries are more common, especially in competitive team sports (such as football, basketball, and volleyball). Although various levels of deterioration can be observed in all structures forming the knee structure in traumatic knee injuries, we see meniscus tears, anterior-posterior cruciate ligament tears, internal-external lateral ligament tears and cartilage injuries most frequently in our daily practice.
What is Meniscus Tear?
In the directory structure, there are 2 meniscus tissues, inner and outer meniscus.
Menisci is an important tissue that provides proper distribution of loads coming to the joint during knee joint movement, joint lubrication, and absorption of loads for cartilage tissue.
While menisci are usually torn as a result of sudden-traumatic events in young people, they are torn by the reverse movements in daily life due to the deterioration of the tissue quality of the meniscus (degeneration) in older ages.
When the meniscus is torn during sports, it gives symptoms as pain and swelling. In the later period, additional complaints such as stuttering, noise, limitation of movement, and locking may be added.
It has been scientifically proven that meniscus tears, which are not treated properly, cause additional problems in the knee joint, especially arthrosis (calcification) in the future. For many reasons like this, sports injuries should be taken seriously.
What is Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries (ACL)?
ACL is one of the 4 important ligaments that provide knee stability (others are posterior cruciate, inner and outer lateral ligaments). vineyard). The task of the ACL, located in the middle-inner part of the knee, is to prevent anterior protrusion of the knee joint.
ACL usually occurs with injury in sports activity. Although it can be seen in individuals who are engaged in personal or all kinds of team sports, it most often occurs with sudden rotational movement on the fixed leg in competitive sports competitions. After anterior cruciate ligament injuries, swelling and pain begin in the knee of the person, after which the person cannot continue the sports competition. Since ACL ruptures are high-energy injuries, additional meniscus tears and cartilage It should be expected in injuries. This situation will appear as calcification in the knee joint in the future. Scientifically, it has been shown that if ACL ruptures are not treated, they cause calcification at a rate of 50% after 10 years. Therefore, diagnosis and treatment of ACL injuries require expertise.
What are Cartilage Injuries?
Articular cartilage tissue can be considered as a kind of surface covering located at the ends of the bones forming the joint. Cartilage tissue is a slippery, shiny, smooth structure with its own characteristic. Thanks to this unique cartilage tissue, we perform our daily activities painlessly, and even heavy sports activities without any problems.
Cartilage problems of various degrees are encountered in one third of meniscal tears and anterior cruciate ligament injuries caused by sports injuries.
Treatment of articular cartilage lesions in the early period after diagnosis; It is very important in terms of preserving joint functions, relieving the patient's pain and preventing the development of early osteoarthritis. Because the healing ability of articular cartilage is almost non-existent. Unlike other tissues in the body, articular cartilage cannot originally regenerate itself after injury. Surgical interventions are absolutely necessary to create a healing response in the cartilage.
Various treatments are applied according to the joint where the cartilage lesion is seen, the degree of damage, the presence of ligament injury, and the physical activity of the patient. Surgical treatments can usually be performed arthroscopically (closed) or open surgery if necessary. Treatment options such as lavage, chondral shaving, debridement, and microfracture with the arthroscopic method are successfully applied in patients with appropriate indications.
Pain and Acupuncture Due to Sports Trauma
The use of acupuncture in the treatment of trauma and injuries thousands of years ago was in the war. treatment of trauma and injuries started with the aim of vii. In 2003, WHO (World Health Organization) approved the effectiveness and use of acupuncture in sports trauma. Acupuncture is used in sports traumas in the following areas.
Prevention of sports injuries (preventive treatment): Western medicine is generally focused on treating injuries that occur. However, in addition to this, oriental medicine attaches great importance to the prevention of injuries. Musculoskeletal balance is very important in injuries. Muscle tone and agonist-antagonist (muscle groups working against each other) muscle coordination play a major role in maintaining the balance of the musculoskeletal system. When these are disrupted, the risk of injury increases. It is possible to prevent various injuries by early diagnosis and treatment of this balance disorder with acupuncture.
Increasing sports performance: Sports performance; Good fitness doesn't just depend on good training methods. It also depends on the stability of the person's mental balance and proper nutrition. With acupuncture, it is aimed to stabilize the musculoskeletal system balance and body-brain relationship and to ensure maximum performance of the person.
In addition, appropriate diet and acupuncture treatment are applied to increase the endurance of the athlete. The diet applied here is an application for the strengthening of tissues, unlike the approaches in western medicine such as calories, protein, fat and carbohydrates.
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