Torn ACL Glossary of Terms

1. Least Effective Exercises Slideshow
2. Dehydration Slideshow
3. First Aid Care and Pain Relief for Minor Injuries

ACL injury: See: Anterior cruciate injury.

Anatomy: The study of human or animal form, by observation or examination of the living be...

Anterior: The front, as opposed to the posterior. The anterior surface of the heart is tow...

Anterior cruciate ligament: A ligament in the knee that crosses from the underside of the ...

Arthroscope: A thin flexible fiberoptic scope which is introduced into a joint space throu...

Cadaver: A dead human body that may be used by physicians and other scientists to study an...

Cartilage: Firm, rubbery tissue that cushions bones at joints. A flexible kind of cartilag...

Collateral: In anatomy, a collateral is a subordinate or accessory part. A collateral is a...

Compression: 1. The act of pressing together. As in a compression fracture, nerve c...

Conditioning: 1) Exercise and practice to build the body up for either improved normal pe...

Cruciate: Cross-shaped.

Diagnosis: 1 The nature of a disease; the identification of an illness. 2 A ...

Donor: The giver of a tissue or an organ, such as a blood donor or kidney donor.

Essential: In medicine, of unknown cause, as in essential hypertension (high blood pressur...

Femoral: Having to do with the femur.

Femur: The single bone in the thigh, which is the largest bone in the human body. Also kno...

Flexion: The process of bending, or the state of being bent. For example, flexion of the f...

Genetic: Having to do with genes and genetic
information.

Graft: Healthy skin, bone, kidney, liver, or other tissue that is taken from one part of t...

Hamstring: One of the prominent tendons at the back of the knee. The hamstrings are the si...

Injury: Harm or hurt. To harm, hurt, or wound. The word injure may be in physical or emot...

Joint: The area where two bones are attached for the purpose of permitting body parts to m...

Knee: The knee is a joint which has three parts. The thigh bone (the femur) meets the lar...

Knee joint: The knee joint has three parts. The thigh bone (the femur) meets the large sh...

Lateral: 1. In anatomy, the side of the body or a body part that is farther from th...

Leg: In popular usage, the part of the body from the top of the thigh down to the foot, an...

Ligament: A tough band of connective tissue that connects various structures, such as two ...

Magnetic resonance imaging: A procedure that uses magnetism, radio waves, and a computer t...

Medial: 1. Pertaining to the middle; in or toward the middle; nearer the middle of ...

Memory: 1. The ability to recover information about past events or knowledge. ...

Meniscus: The word "meniscus" comes from the Greek and refers to a crescent-shaped structu...

MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging.

Muscle: Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. T...

Neuromuscular: Pertaining to both nerves and muscles, as in neuromuscular blockade by an a...

Operation: In medicine, a surgical procedure. Many operations are named after persons. The...

Pain: An unpleasant sensation that can range from mild, localized discomfort to agony. Pa...

Patellar: Pertaining to the patella (kneecap).

Patellar tendon: A tendon that extends down from the quadriceps muscle in the thigh to inc...

Pelvis: The lower part of the abdomen, located between the hip bones. Structures in the fe...

PEP: The abbreviation PEP stands for a number of things in medicine including post-exposur...

Physical therapist: A person who is trained and certified by a state or accrediting body t...

Physical therapy: A branch of rehabilitative health that uses specially designed exercises...

Plyometrics: Any exercise in which muscles are repeatedly and rapidly stretched ("loaded")...

Posterior: The back or behind, as opposed to the anterior.

Postoperative: After surgery. As opposed to preoperative, before surgery.

Prognosis: The forecast of the probable outcome or course of a disease; the patient's chan...

Quadriceps: Although the term "quadriceps" technically may refer to any four-headed muscle...

Range of motion: The full movement potential of a joint, usually its range of flexion and ...

Rehabilitation: The process of helping a person who has suffered an illness or injury rest...

Shinbone: The larger of the two bones in the lower leg (the smaller one being the fibula)....

Spine: 1) The column of bone known as the vertebral column, which surrounds and protects ...

Sprain: An injury to a ligament that results from overuse or trauma. The treatment of a sp...

Stress: In a medical or biological context stress is a physical, mental, or emotional fact...

Surgeon: A physician who treats disease, injury, or deformity via operative or manual meth...

Surgery: The branch of medicine that employs operations in the treatment of disease or inj...

Tear: A drop of the salty secretion of the lacrimal glands which serves to moisten the con...

Tendon: The soft tissue by which muscle attaches to bone. Tendons are somewhat flexible, b...

Therapy: The treatment of disease. Therapy is synonymous with treatment.

Thigh: The thick, muscular portion of the leg that extends from the hip to the knee. The t...

Tibia: The larger of the two long bones in the lower leg. The tibia is familiarly known as...