Concept in Definition ABC

The musculoskeletal system is formed by the skeleton and the soft tissues that are attached to it, the latter include the muscles, the tendons and ligaments.

The Ligaments are structures made up of fibrous tissue, mainly collagen, which are shaped like bands and are fixed to the bones at their ends, being necessary to give stability to the various joints. For this reason they are located in all joints.

They differ from tendons in that ligaments attach bones to each other, while tendons are the terminal part of the muscle that allows the muscle to attach to the bone.

Ligaments are also called the bands that form the membrane that covers the abdominal cavity known as the peritoneum and whose function is to stabilize the liver and the stomach by holding them attached to the diaphragm muscle and the wall of the abdomen.

Ligament injuries

The most common type of injury that can affect a ligament is its sudden stretching during trauma or movement inappropriate which is commonly known as sprain.

Sprains can be of various degrees according to their severity, and can range from a simple elongation or stretching until its partial or total rupture, in the latter cases the joint It loses its stability, so a surgical treatment must be carried out, which will consist of repairing the ligament.

Another injury that can occur at the joint level and that involves the ligaments is the dislocationsIn this case, the stretching of the ligaments causes the bones to “come out” of their place. This is most common at the shoulder, knee, and hip level, usually it must be treated with surgery.

Most vulnerable ligaments

While any ligament is susceptible injury, some are the most frequent target of injuries due to the high mobility of the joints in which they intervene, such is the case of:

Cruciate ligaments of the knee. These are two cord-shaped ligaments found within the knee joint that connect the femur to the tibia; there are two, the anterior cruciate ligament and the posterior cruciate ligament. They are very important since they are necessary to give stability to this joint, the anterior cruciate ligament is the one that is most frequently injured during falls, sudden trauma or while playing sports such as football.

Ankle ligaments. The ankle is a complex joint that is made up of three joints at the same time, however there are two important ligaments that are the lateral internal and external ligaments that tend to stretch when carrying out the inversion or sudden eversion of the foot during a fall as occurs to the to walk with high heels, in sports like basketball, Athletics, soccer, gymnastics or in the ballet.