Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries are most commonly musculoskeletal conditions. However, have you ever noticed that people who have undergone an ACL reconstruction typically experience a second ACL surgery later on? We are going to tell you a possible reason why…
Individuals with ACL injuries or those who have had surgery on their ACL have been shown to have lingering somatosensory deficits, such as decreased sense of movement, some pins and needles, or reduced sensation. Therefore, these individuals may rely more heavily on visual input during dynamic tasks that challenge their postural control.
A recent scoping review of available studies aimed to assess this idea. Researchers found that multiple studies showed people who had undergone ACL reconstruction surgery exhibited increased reliance on visual feedback to maintain muscular control compared to uninjured control subjects.
This puts people at increased risk of injury during sport in situations where there is a greater volume of visual and mental stimuli and the need to be “thinking on the run” while also performing at their physical capacity.
To address this it is best to include exercises with dual tasks performed at the same time as functional tasks. Essentially this means getting the client to practice a task that strengthens their ACL or challenges their control whilst also tackling a visual-cognitive task.
Examples of visual-cognitive tasks are (you might like to google them!);
1 Stroop task
2. Mental rotation 2D/3D
3. Flanker task
If you are struggling with an ACL injury or have recently undergone an ACL reconstruction, give us a call at 9997 4970 or email us at [email protected] to talk to one of our trained professionals. A strengthening plan may be beneficial to you!
Reference: Tortoli E, Gokeler A, Tak I, Pellicciari L, Norte G. Is Visual Reliance Increased in Athletes After ACL Injury? A Scoping Review. Sports Med. 2024 Oct;54(10):2531-2556. doi: 10.1007/s40279-024-02085-2
