How do i determine if i have a torn ACL?

i'm 17 years old and active in almost every sport. i recently injured my knee and i'm not sure what is wrong. i went 2 my doctor and he did a test where he pulled my tibia away from my thigh bone (femur) to see how much movement i had in my ACL. my right knee was fine...it only moved away from thigh a few mm, but my left had about 4 inches (or more) of movement. my doctor told me that there was definately something wrong with my ACL, because the front of the knee should not be able to be pulled out that far. he then referred me to a specialist. when i met with the specialist, he looked @ my xrays and told me that it was just the osgood slatter (i previously had osgood slatter disease, but i haven't had a problem with this in 4 years). i was in his office for less than 5 min. and he barely checked my knee. he told me that my knee was fine. he did not do all the tests that he should have. some days i have a hard time walking and bending my knee. how do i know if i really injured my ACL?

If I were you, I would ask Mom or Dad to take me to different doctor. Ask your coach or the school trainer about ortho guys that specialize in sports injuries.

You know someone who knows what to look for the best way to treat. You are 17 and should not put off getting this fixed, you don't want it to get worse.

Best of luck to you in your sports activities and remember to have fun.

Ummmm....I think only your doctor can determine that.

I'll admit, I don't know that much about medicine, but I think the best idea is to back to the doctor or to go see another specialist. If you don't do anything about it, it will only get worse, so the best thing to do is keep getting it checked out until someone gives you an answer or solution that helps you.

i'm not a doctor... but it sounds like you need to head back to the Dr and ask to see a different specialist. the ACL prevents anterior translation of the tibia on the femur...which is what the thing the Dr did tests for. It's called an anterior drawer test. Anyways, osgood schlatters is just inflammation of where your tendon from your quads inserts. It sounds like you have more than one thing going on there. A completely torn ACL won't have pain and the only way it will be harder to walk is if there is instability. But if you are gonna continue to be active in sports its really important to get it fixed. Have your mom call the Dr and talk to them about what the specialist said and that you don't really believe it. And an x-ray won't show the ACL...it's gotta be a CT or MRI....good luck