TYLER, Texas (KLTV) - New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers and Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill are the latest to be injured in a recent rash of ACL injuries.
UT Health sports medicine doctor Jayesh Patel joined East Texas Now on Thursday to talk about the injuries, the surgeries, and how to help prevent ligament tears. Patel says there are ways to prevent ACL tears.
“Because ACL injuries are very prominent in soccer, FIFA created FIFA 11 and it’s ACL prevention and it has a bunch of plyometrics,” Patel said. “It’s like a 15-20 minute warm up essentially and it’s show in some registries in Europe that it decreases ACL tears by 30 to 50 percent.”
Due to the amount of injuries, specifically at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey where Nabers tore his knee, there’s been a lot of debate about whether grass or turf is better for the athlete. Patel says it’s all about the upkeep.
“There’s no one thing because there’s never been a study that says, yes, turf is better than grass, or grass is better than turf. We know that upkeep is very important. So, regardless if it’s grass or turf, if you don’t upkeep it, you have a higher risk of injury,” said Patel. “So, I don’t know if there’s a true way to say one type of surface, but we do know upkeep is important.”
Patel says it’s best to get surgery on your knee sooner rather than later.
“I try to fix them relatively quickly. There’s a couple of things you have to have. You have to try to get the swelling down. It has to look very similar to your normal knee. You also have to have your motion because if your knee is stiff going into surgery, it’s going to be more stiff afterwards,” Patel said. “I’m going to try to get your swelling out of your knee, get your motion back and try to get your quad muscle activated and working because I will tell you, as soon as surgery happens, it’s going to shut down and your knee is going to swell...so we try to get to those typically by 7 to 10 days.”
Patel says Nabers should return by the start of next season, but it normally takes about two years for the ligament to fully heal.
“As long as he didn’t have a big meniscus tear, by three months you’re jogging. Usually my protocol is about four and a half, five months we’ll start pivoting and we wait nine months to release you,” said Patel. “Some of the professional athletes will come back at six or seven months, but it kind of depends. If we really look at biology, it takes about two years for that ACL to heal.”
Dolphins receiver Hill tore ligaments in his knee, as well as dislocating his knee during Monday Night Football. Patel says the biggest issue there is blood flow and nerve damage.
“The biggest thing we worry about is the blood flow to that leg because it has a high risk of tearing your artery in that leg and the nerves,” Patel said. “In any kind of knee ligament dislocation, that’s your number one issue...because people will lose their legs if they transect or cut that artery to the lower leg, and if you don’t notice it then you could be in trouble.”
Patel says the biggest obstacle athletes face after an injury like this is the mental aspect of it.
“It’s a lot of mental strength. You get nervous that if I make this cut, is it going to happen again,” said Patel. “And, for Tyreek Hill, that’s a devastating injury. So, how do you run your routes and be confident in it? That’s why I think something like that is more like a 12 to 15 month recovery.”
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