Basketball Rehab best of sports medicine content
Here we take a look at our best sports medicine content including analysis of the ACL and Achilles tendon and player injury analysis. Among the things covered: Blake Griffin’s Knee’s, Zion Williamson’s Knees, Kemba Walker’s Knee’s and Karl Anthony Town’s wrist injury analysis.  Each article is labeled for convenience.

Common Basketball Injuries Explained
http://www.basketballrehab.com/feed-your-addiction/common-basketball-injuries-explained

Is Kemba Walker Damaged Goods?
http://www.basketballrehab.com/feed-your-addiction/is-kemba-walker-damaged-goods

What Is An ACL?
http://www.basketballrehab.com/feed-your-addiction/sports-medicine-insight-what-is-an-acl

Karl Anthony Towns Wrist Injury Analysis
http://www.basketballrehab.com/feed-your-addiction/karl-anthony-towns-wrist-injury-analysis

What Are The Concerns With Blake Griffin’s Knee’s ?
http://www.basketballrehab.com/feed-your-addiction/what-are-the-concerns-with-blake-griffins-knees

What is the Achilles tendon?
http://www.basketballrehab.com/feed-your-addiction/what-is-the-achilles-tendon-basketball-injury-insight
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Will Zion Williamson Be Injury Prone?
http://www.basketballrehab.com/feed-your-addiction/will-zion-williamson-be-injury-prone

 The Anterior Cruciate Ligament, also known as the ACL, is one of the primary fibrous connective tissues that connect bones. The ACL helps stabilize the knee joint. It limits the forward movement of the tibia in contrast to the femur and also minimizes rotational movements of the knee. The ACL is the major ligament in the knee whose principal function is to keep the knee joints stabilized.
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The Anterior Cruciate Ligament tears are the injury commonly encountered during any sports activities that involve changes in direction and a sudden stop, such as basketball, soccer, tennis, and volleyball.
The ACL tears in a  injury range from small tears to severe tears. For instance, when the ligament completely tears or when the ligament and also part of the bone are not together with the rest of the bone.
The ACL tears injury can happen when the foot is firmly planted on the ground, and a sudden stop hits the knee while the leg is straight or slightly bent during sport.

There are several signs to know if there is an injury and the ACL tears, such as: Feeling internal pressure in the knee at the time of the damage. Such pop in the knee could be possibly heard as well. Also, there would be severe pain external and back part of the knee. Another symptom that alerts the injury is the knee's swelling, which may give a sign of bleeding within the knee joint on the first few hours of the wound. If it happens to be a solemn one, the swelling that usually occurs in this situation is very immediate. It does not take hours before it gives a sign.
 Additional significant symptoms that worth noticing is unstable feelings and giving out.

Meanwhile, there are treatments for ACL tear injury. The surgical and nonsurgical treatment are the two primary treatments for the damage.
The non-surgical treatment is applicable for those who choose not to have surgery repair for their torn ACL. They do not participate in any sports activities that will place aggressive stress on the knee, such as cutting, twisting, or jumping. Any patient that requires this kind of treatment does not give any other symptoms of ACL injury.

The surgical treatment, on the other hand, is the repair of torn ACL on individuals who participate in any form of sports activities that stress the knee. ACL tears that require this type of treatment will definitely give further signs of the ACL injury.
Surgical treatment is mainly to replace a torn ACL to reestablish normal knee stability.  

We hope this summary of what an ACL is and how it can be treated has been helpful. 
 

​Memphis Grizzlies star PG Ja Morant recently suffered a heartbreaking  ankle injury. In this article we will explore what it will take for him to recover, his estimated recovery timeline and a brief overview of what type of ankle sprain he has. 

Ja Morant has a grade II ankle sprain as confirmed via multiple sources. Typically this type of ankle sprain involves a partial tear in the ankle ligament. When this ligament tears it causes , swelling, pain and reduces stability when trying to walk.

This will require the RICE treatment plan which is the acronym for rest, ice, compression and elevation. The ankle will stabilized , likely in a boot until the ligament has fully healed. Likely it will be 5-6 weeks until Morant is able to play again.

Karl Anthony Towns left wrist was recently injured and he dislocated it. What does this mean and how long will he be out? Typically a dislocated wrist will need to be reduced and have the bone that has moved out of place be put back into the correct position. 

The swelling and inflammation as well as any potential infection will all be factors in the healing process. Treatment will include a sling or cast to stabilize and prevent further injury. Healing time will depend on several factors including if there is any ligament damage or a potential fracture or broken wrist. Recovery time is 3-6 weeks and fully depends on severity of the injury.

We don't have a source with the Timberwolves but assuming there is no additional ligament or bone damage Karl Anthony Towns will be out for the next 1-2 months.  

 ​Recently a news article came out about Kemba Walker having a stem cell injection in his knee. The scary part is why athlete's typically get these injections. Usually they only occur as an arthritis treatment. Osteoarthritis is a strong possibility. Kemba Walker has been a star for years. Drafted 9th overall in 2011 by the Charlotte Bobcats. In the 2011 NBA draft there were no clear health concerns noted.

​The New England Journal Of Medicine states Oseoarthritis is a degenerative disease characterized by loss and degradation of articular cartilage in addition to synovial inflammation, leading to joint stiffness, swelling, pain and loss of mobility. The reason any type of arthritis is a concern is the breakdown of knee cartilage and the extreme pain that eventually comes. When a joint suffers from arthritis it starts to lose mobility and eventually the pain and loss of motion are crippling. 

Blake Griffin has been a shell of himself ever since his knee arthritis started. Kemba Walker is likely looking at a similar fate. It only took a couple years for Blake Griffin to struggle to stay healthy and make an impact. The last year or two of Kemba Walker's contract is sounding like an albatross. Did the Celtics sign damaged Goods? Let us know in the comments.

​As much intrigue as Zion Williamson holds for his athletic tools, his question marks spark just as much debate. At a height of 6’7” and weighing 285 pounds Zion’s measurements cause real concern about his non traditional proportions.
Although not obese to our knowledge his BMI of 32 puts him in that range. Let’s take a look at some of the high BMI and high weight risk factors and the research on how much more prevalent injuries become.
 
A study in the American Journal of Medicine showed a potential link between obesity or high weight and a higher prevalence of injuries. This includes anything relatively minor for sake of context. In another study it was shown shin splints and ankle sprains were more common to anyone with a high weight and or BMI. 
My bigger concern however are Zion’s knees his dependence on his athleticism means a knee injury would be devastating. Your anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a key stabilizer of your knee and guides your tibia (shin bone) through a normal, stable range of motion. 
The ACL is a broad, thick cord the size of your index finger with long collagen strands woven together in a way that allows it to withstand up to 500lbs of force.
 
 
A study in the Oxford journal of medicine shows that high weight can contribute to osteoarthritis a type of arthritis caused by heavy use of the joints and commonly seen in your 30’s. As far ligament damage ligament sprains seem to be more prevalent but could an ACL tear be more likely? Let’s keep digging.
 
Some risk factors that make ACL tears more prevalent are genetics, anatomy which can include weight and proportion, being female or obese. Zion is not female that we know of. Genetics definitely does play a role but for the purpose of this we don’t know Zion’s genetic profile.
 
It would seem his weight, proportions and the process of cutting, running and the strain playing basketball mean Zion is at a higher risk of an ACL tear. Zion’s weight is heavier than you would like for his height and it would seem increases his risk of a potential ACL tear.
 
We see a fairly strong chance Zion is injury prone. What do you think? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Update:
Zion Williamson suffered a knee injury before the season started. Zion Williamson was initially given a window of six-to-eight weeks to return from a torn right lateral meniscus. It has now been eight weeks since Williamson's surgery, though, and the rookie does not appear close to making his NBA debut.  This injury could be a sign that an ACL injury is more likely for Zion. 
​These are among the reasons we believe Zion Williamson will be injury prone.

Foot and Ankle Injuries:
The physical strain and the repetition that is involved up and down a basketball court commonly contributes to over use injuries in the feet and ankles.
Among these are Plantar Fascitis, and Ankle Sprains 

The foot and ankle in the human body work together to provide balance, stability, movement, and propulsion.
This complex anatomy consists of:
• 26 bones
• 33 joints
• Muscles
• Tendons
• Ligaments
• Blood vessels, nerves, and soft tissue

The most common points effected in this region are soft tissue, muscles and ligaments so we will focus on those.
Plantar Fascitis:
The plantar fascia ligament is overstretched or partially torn causing inflammation and pain. Joakim Noah is a recent NBA example of this injury. Typically requires RICE which is the acronym for rest, ice,compression and elevation.

Ankle sprains are typically a strain of the  talo-fibular ligament and the calcaneo-fibular ligament. The are also a overuse injury but can also be caused by torsion or trauma.

Knee and thigh injuries:
​Thigh bruises are fairly common typically caused by trauma of inadvertent elbow or knee to the thigh region.

 Patellofemoral pain syndrome -- pain felt behind the kneecap (Patella) at the point it meets the thigh (Femur) This is typically a biomechanical issue caused by the physical stresses of playing basketball with potential degradation of cartilage contributing. This also typically requires RICE (the acronym not the food).

Patella fracture- also known as a fractured knee cap this is when you have some form of fracture in the patella.

ACL tear- Anterior Crucial Ligament is the primary stabilizing ligament in the knee and one of the more severe potential knee injuries. 
MCL tear- can be a grade 1,2 or 3 injury and is typically a 6-8 week recovery. The MCL is the medial cruciall ligament.

PCL tear- least severe and stands for pateller crucial ligament

Types of ligament strains:
Grade 1 is a hyperextsion with inflammation but no tearing
Grade 2 is a partial ligament tear
Grade 3 is a full tear of ligament

I hope this guide helped to clear up some of the more common basketball injuries and what they are.