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28 - warm cunomcu: . THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER [5. 2016 fiw _____ W L in .w‘r-‘iililltmliii 5;; . . t g . ‘ t a a e t , 5 How do knee injuries work? “ ' I N 7' . mum: lacxson bodyweight transferred and it tore from . _ ~ Ride "K1: ‘ _‘ . Chronicle Stafl Olson. 3 ' ' New , "‘ 5 c 1;. __‘â€"“'_*~â€"â€"â€" Nicholson's stmyiseerilysimilarto u I I . in“ , ' I “I e Nicholson had just committed to the Wilfrid play field sportswdiasmccer,football -~ ‘ ,. _, ‘ . I Laurier Golden Hawks. The Eastwood Collegiate He tore his anterior cruciate” , ‘ ' Institute student was playing with the Twin~City AC1. . _ I " my -~ ., ‘7‘ Predators in Burlington in May of 2014. But why does it happen? We've . ' ' a; _ ”at; , é,‘ , . Hewasninningaregularpiayasanumingbackâ€"a Romeumsheadathletictherapistat £5: ,1“ v “. 'i' "'5 . straight shot up the middle through his ofiensive line, Waterloo, to help understand what a . ~ ‘ ' f [be .1. 'lmadeacutand my footgotstucklntheturfandmy injuries. 3 .. ,_ 51:". ,or .. " ~ What does the ACL do? Why is it important? ‘ ~ ’ , by in short. the anterior cruciate ligament prevents the betweenthe femurandthetibia.’ 3" fig; _ a tibia from sliding out in front of the femur (hyperenen- 'Most of the time. you don't want ’ ' iii *' . “9““- sion)anditprovidesrotationalstabilitytothelmee. ligamentsto stabilizeyotilt’ssonoflihae"? -' 95 .. . . l'Your ACL is basically just a ligament that sits defence,'saidBums. . I i 3""5 ;’ 3 . inside your knee,“ said Burns. ‘What it does it pro- "the first key is having good neumu ’ ' ' if? m . vide stability it's basically like a rope that stabllioes and being able to stiffen the muscles en _ '- . _* ,. , _ “m » your knee. Your ACL in particular provides stability you” 1-5” K ,5 ‘4 ,. ‘ Q What causes an ACL injury? - 9‘“ 3t. " 5‘ . “i s; OneotthernostoommnncausesdanAuinjuryissudâ€" htee.causingtheACLtotear. ’1 - ' II . denstoppingandptvotingormtting ContactisnotusuallyafactorinanAa. '__ 1» "REâ€"é; Nicholson's injury lines up perfectly with the typical most commonly seen in sports like basketb‘; '1 j ; "‘ ACL tear. He tried to rim around the safety, but his foot and soccer â€" spans that require sudden - u :1 5. got caught in the turf and caused the extra stress on his direction. ; 933‘ y , a ’ j j " 7:, ~ ‘ 1-5 7. Females are more prone to ACL injuries g; 5‘ ‘ According to research, Burns said. there is a much discovered was that it came down to . . .. “f ' 3 3 higher incidence rate in female athletes. control. What he‘s found is that it’s m _ » ’ “No one has absolutely pinpointed why â€" they they can control their body when they ' ‘ it". thought maybe it was horomonal, maybe something in mn.” L “' % terms of the differences between male and female,“ said Hewett’s research has shown that .4. _ f ‘ ,â€" Burns, are two to 10 times more likely to suffer a ' . ‘5 mm what (Ohio State University’s Timothy Hewett) injury, like anACL tear, than men. 3 . Q \ pa» , , Surgery is often the only choice . When an ACL is torn. typically the only choice is sup ered from a cadaver and used on a . ' gery, Luckily. thanks to arthoscopic technology. it can be Olson's case, the surgeon took the ' ‘ done in a non-invasive way. hamstring 7, ' .- Tendon grafts are taken from either the patellar ten- The graft is then folded and brai , ‘- 3 _ ' ‘i don, which connects the patella to the tibia, or from through the heads of the tibia and few . _ W \‘ the hamstring In some cases, ligaments can be recov» fixedwith screws on opposite sides ofthe ‘ ‘ '\ . . I Recovery is a lengthy process .1 it ‘ ‘ Aside from rare situations, Mil. tears are almost always He had the second surgery in Dec. 2014 All season-ending injuries. On average. it takes eight months to walk at a brisk pace in March 2015 In Aptfl, n A before the athlete is allowed to resume normal activities. into a slow jog and in May and lune he worked . .. - Nicholson required two surgeries due to complicar iotherapist to strengthen his knee. 3 5'! tions. but from the second surgery, it took him about eight It wasn't until the summer that he was nib H .. . months to get back to ninning full speed sprints . ' . The mental side of a knee injury Since an M21, injury IS severe enoujdi to knock a player Getting through the rigors of rehabbing a .. out for the season. athletes immediately lose the close (on tough enough, but trusting the knee after an ‘ V" ‘ nectinn with the team. which can be tough, said Burns what takes the longest. .. . . 'They're not as engaged with the team anymore in that 'You're always kind of afraid of injuring it ' “ ‘ situation.” said Burns ing what you went through,' said Nicholson. ‘ l ' ”an“ x j w While recovering Nicholson admittedly lo“ a little bit oi comes with time and building that trust.” . 444. mnfivafinn Part of the process is the athlete's und . - / ' " ‘ "I was getting la7y and put on a hit of weight it was time-line and examiy what is happening in â€" 3.; tough,“ said Nicholson. recovery to ensure they know exactly what to w . I; ' _ l