How To Avoid Re-Injuring Your ACL
An ACL injury can end a season, but it doesn’t have to keep you out of the game permanently. It’s crucial to take the right steps during your recovery to avoid future problems. Read on to learn how.
What Female Athletes Need to Know About ACL Tears
When it comes to sports injuries, nothing cuts a season — or career — short faster than an ACL tear.
Your knee contains four major ligaments that provide support and stability. The ACL, or anterior cruciate ligament, has two primary jobs: keeping your shinbone from moving too far forward and limiting how much your knee rotates.
ACL injuries can occur for numerous reasons, such as:
- Landing a jump incorrectly
- Stopping suddenly
- Quickly changing direction or twisting
- Colliding with someone or something
While anyone can injure their ACL, the risk is 2-8 times higher in female athletes than males. Fortunately, there are ways to avoid this season-ending sports injury.
Dr. Jared Tadje specializes in sports medicine and ACL reconstruction at Tadje Orthopaedics in Meridian, Idaho. He offered these insights into why female athletes experience more ACL tears and how to prevent this injury.
ACL injuries and women
We often associate sports injuries with collisions or direct impact. But 70% of those involving the ACL occur from physical maneuverings, like pivoting, changing direction sharply, or jumping and landing.
Why do female athletes experience these injuries more often? There’s actually a lot of debate surrounding this topic. The most conclusive evidence supports anatomical and biomechanical differences between women and men.
The knee relies on two different factors for stability: static and dynamic stabilizers. Static stabilizers include major ligaments, like the ACL. Dynamic stabilizers describe tendons and muscles surrounding the joint.
Research shows that women have different anatomical and biomechanical movements in the knee when jumping, pivoting, and landing — all movements that often cause ACL injury.
How anatomy and biomechanics come into play
Female and male athletes have a variety of physical differences, including their knees. Women have a smaller groove that holds the ACL in place, and the ACL itself is smaller. But that’s not all.
Women are often more knock-kneed because of the width of the pelvis. This alignment difference causes the knees to bend inward when a woman lands jumps, putting strain on the ACL as it tries to maintain stability.
In addition to anatomical differences, women also have different biomechanics. For example, they often land a jump flat-footed, not on the balls of their feet, which increases pressure on the knees. Similarly, women usually run more upright and have an imbalanced quadricep/hamstring ratio.
How female athletes can avoid ACL tears
Fortunately, you don’t have to give up sports to live an injury-free life. Instead, you just need better biomechanics and training regimens to provide your body with safer, more stable movements and less stress on your joints.
As an experienced sports medicine specialist, Dr. Tadje can help develop a personalized training strategy designed to protect your knees from ACL injury. These programs often include:
- Analyzing your biomechanics
- Creating sport-specific strengthening and stretching regimens
- Training techniques for jumping, landing, and agility
- Strengthening exercises for the core and legs
- Teaching proper warmup and cooldown activities
And if you’ve already sustained an ACL injury, Dr. Tadje can help you recover as quickly as possible and avoid reinjury in the future. Healing from ACL surgery can take at least six months, so prevention should always take priority for female athletes.
Are you a female athlete? Learn more about ACL tears, prevention, and reconstruction by scheduling an appointment with Dr. Tadje by calling 208-515-2654 today.
You Might Also Enjoy...
3 Shoulder Injuries We Can Treat with Orthobiologics
In the past, the best treatment options usually came in the form of medications or surgery, but times have changed. Now orthobiologics can offer life-changing results, especially with several common shoulder injuries. Read on to learn more.
Is Your Strained Hamstring Really Torn? Here’s How to Tell
Did you feel a sudden, sharp pain in the back of your thigh? Mild hamstring injuries can often improve with self-care, but more severe injuries need an expert. Here’s how to know the difference.
3 Vital Steps to Prepare for Your Workers’ Compensation Visit
No one wants an injury, especially on the job. Fortunately, workers’ compensation insurance can help with lost wages and medical care. If you have a work-related injury, here’s what you should know about your doctor’s visit.
What Issues Can PRP Treat?
Treating pain conditions with targeted injections isn’t new. But PRP doesn’t use medication. Instead, it harnesses powerful elements in your own blood to activate the healing process, and it helps with numerous issues. Read on to learn more.
What Type of Surgeries Can Treat a Fracture?
Broken bones may be a common problem, but that doesn’t mean they always need the same treatment. Instead, medical advancements provide numerous methods for treating fractures, depending on location and severity. Read on to learn more.