Matt Does Physio

You already know the news

All-World Guard Klay Thompson who had just recovered from an ACL tear in last years NBA finals tore his Achilles tendon yesterday during training.

has a good post summarizing the injury if you want to take a look.. but I wanted to dig into the risk of Achilles tears post ACL injury/reconstruction.

And although the current literature on the topic of injury/re-injury is scarce, there are a few high quality studies and meta-analyses.*

Maybe not surprising, the research suggests that ACL injuries are linked not only to further ACL injury but also other injuries in the lower body (for example an achilles tear), and furthermore that in general injuries such as ACL tear, achilles tear, and hamstring tears are associated to increased risk of other injuries in the lower body.

This suggests changes in the mechanics of how we move post injury, and very noteworthy for therapists and trainers to consider when creating treatment plans for return to sport regardless of the level of competitiveness of our clients.

This is unfortunately reminiscent of Boogie Cousins; but fingers crossed that Klay will return next season to close to the same player we’ve come to know.

thoughts on this? drop them in the comments!

*Fulton, J., Wright, K., Kelly, M., Zebrosky, B., Zanis, M., Drvol, C., & Butler, R. (2014). Injury risk is altered by previous injury: a systematic review of the literature and presentation of causative neuromuscular factors. International journal of sports physical therapy, 9(5), 583–595.

**Toohey LA, Drew MK, Cook JL, et al Is subsequent lower limb injury associated with previous injury? A systematic review and meta-analysis British Journal of Sports Medicine 2017;51:1670-1678.
@ Toronto, Ontario

⚽️Liverpool star Van Dijk was injured over the weekend, sustaining the injury from a vicious tackle from Everton keeper.🥅

The common joke on social media seems to be “what are ACLs even good for”; they are essential in stability of the knee joint and the control of pivoting and cutting movements.

Football is a high risk sport for ACL injuries. The FIFA 11+ program focusing on fitness, strength, balance, and jumping has demonstrated a significant benefit to reducing ACL and lower body injuries in athletes.

however, you can’t train for dangerous tackles.

Swipe left to see the screen shots of Van Dijk’s knee injury. We can see his knee end up in hyperextension for a strong lateral blow with his foot planted. Although the diagnosis of an ACL tear seems to well-known, recent news suggests the injury is worse than initially thought and he still hasn’t scheduled surgery to repair the tear. It’s likely that Van Dijk has suffer the “unhappy triad” of injury to the ACL, MCL, and medial meniscus… and perhaps a fracture as well.

Bad news for Van Dijk, Liverpool fans, and EPL fantasy players as he’ll be out for at least 9 months.
@ Toronto, Ontario