Sometimes I wonder if cheese smells the same to every person?

Something to look into perhaps?

Knee injuries are very common and are in fact the most common injury for people across ALL age groups. Shocking, right? Knee stretches can help to mitigate that risk and even just spending a few minutes each day can make your knees more flexible and stronger. In fact, knee stretching can help to prevent common injuries.

A typical injury among sports athletes is tearing their ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). It's not only common, but it may be very painful and perhaps require surgery to repair. Should you now, or have ever performed sports, odds are you have encountered somebody who has experienced this injury and maybe even have experienced it yourself.

Tearing your ACL happens many different ways. In contact sports, the ACL could be torn when a player has their foot firmly rooted to the ground and is then hit with a strong force to the outside or inside of the knee. ACL injuries don't only occur to sports athletes. The ACL could be hurt when twisting or pivoting, over stretching grabbing something or miss-walking around the pavement.  Many people report hearing a 'popping' noise  as soon as the injury happens and usually it stops you from finishing whatever activity you we are doing, needing at the minimum immediate immobilization. Swelling can happen instantly, and may continue within the next couple of hours.

One of the reasons tearing your ACL is so common is that the knee is a complicated and fragile joint. The anterior cruciate ligament prevents the tibia (shin bone) from sliding forward and rotating around the femur (leg bone). The anterior cruciate ligament is just one of four ligaments which are important to the stability of the knee joint. It's situated at the middle of the knee, and works together with the posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), medial collateral ligament (MCL), and lateral collateral ligament (LCL) to help stabilize the knee joint.

A torn ACL is a very common sports knee injuries. However, it’s vital that you talk to your physician if you feel you’re struggling with a torn ACL. An ACL tear is generally identified by giving an accurate background and physical examination. Connected injuries can include additional ligament sprains, articular cartilage damage, and meniscal tears. X-rays can assist to determine whether there are any fractures or underlying joint issues. In some instances, an MRI scan maybe used to fully understand the extent of the damage.

When a complete diagnosis has been found, the doctor may suggest one of two types of treatment. Generally, when the ACL is totally torn then ACL surgery is going to be needed. This surgery includes rebuilding the ligaments using other tendons or ligaments, as repairing the ACL is frequently difficult. In instances where the tear isn't complete, patients and doctors may proceed with a non-surgical treatment, with patients resting the knee and anti inflammatries or other painkillers. Oftentimes, within a few days the knee will begin to improve, although instability will probably still occur.

Finally, I used a number of different knee stretches to rehabilitate my knee after I tore my MCL a few years ago. The collection of my knowledge can be found on my blog, My Knee Stretches. My knee is much stronger today, and a few years ago I won a gold medal at the National Marathon Rowing Olympics and I've also competed in a 155-mile ultramarathon in the Sahara.