Holly B. is an active professional in her late twenties who spends her free time playing recreational flag football and league basketball. She shares her experience with us as she explores the world of sports.

After my ACL tear I've heard lots of interesting stories from people about how they tore their ACL.  I think most people know that ACL tears are common during sports, especially ones that involve running such as basketball and football.  But sports with running aren't the only causes of ACL tears.  Check out these other strange ways that I've heard of recently:

Rock Climbing - One of my father's friends tore his ACL during indoor rock climbing.  He apparently slipped off one of the climbing nodes and may have just pivoted his leg incorrectly, moving his knee past its natural range of motion. He had to have ACL reconstruction surgery!

Skydiving - One of my close friends is a skydiving instructor.  Landing can take a toll on the knees.  The impact when landing can cause ACL injuries, as well as other long term injuries to the knee.  That's why it's important to land correctly and to strengthen the muscles around the knee to minimize impact.

During a Sudden Stop - Have you ever been rushing to get somewhere, then suddenly stopped because you realized you forgot something?  Sometimes if the factors are just right, even this can cause ACL tears.  It's the same sort of motion that makes basketball players so susceptible to ligament injuries - changes in speed and direction especially for knees with weaker surrounding muscles may cause injury to ligaments.

River Rafting - This is the strangest story I've ever heard regarding ACL injuries.  My coworker's wife tore her ACL while rafting (it wasn't even whitewater rafting!) because another lady in their raft fell onto her knee.  The weight of the other woman on the knee caused his wife's ACL to tear, along with her meniscus.

As you can see, ACL injuries can occur just about anywhere.  However, it's important to keep doing the things we love... even if it means a little extra protection.  If you're looking for knee brace protection, check out ACL knee braces today!