Sports injuries- Females

[worden55]

I am amazed at the frequency of ACL tears, any good suggestions on prevention?

[gatorbillmsu]

Slube, I agree with your post completely. I have to add that there is a difference between playing through pain, and playing through injury.

 

I played through pain all of the time, because I didnt want the next guy to come in and replace me. As a youngster I was taught to shake it off, and get back out there. Fortunately for me, I didnt have anything serious that I was playing through.

 

The only serious injuries I had were bad enough that they could not be played through. But you are right. Proper rehab time is vital.

 

As an adult I had injuries playing semi pro football and baseball, and dealing with an idiot horse, that I have had to "play through" that will probably never heal.

 

anyways, the bottom line is, make them sit and heal. There is plenty of time to play later.

[PHargis]

I am amazed at the frequency of ACL tears, any good suggestions on prevention?

This is a very logical technical subject and one which all should read. If there is a Physical Trainer on line that could walk this subject thru and will take some time, please post some infor. maybe someone from Chattanoog, lebanon or Murfreesboro would be of great help.

[devilish]

Back when I played, we didn't have sports trainers. The coach demenstrated certain strengthening techniques. Most injuries were ankles. Very few players had torn acls and knee problems.

 

We didn't play basketball year round. So, it might be the physical and rigorous strain that are put on the body while conditoning or playing basketball year round?? Body needs time to rest and recooperate. practice, have a game, practice go through tournament time....then aau. When does the body get a chance to heal and relax??

Most players play injuried which later in life the body takes revenge.

 

Then, certain games that I have watched look more like wrestling/football. It was rough. Miraclously no young ladies were injuried. Refs are partially to blame. They let things get out of hand and rough.

[KnightTime05]

This is a very logical technical subject and one which all should read. If there is a Physical Trainer on line that could walk this subject thru and will take some time, please post some infor. maybe someone from Chattanoog, lebanon or Murfreesboro would be of great help.

 

First it's not "Trainer" its "Athletic Trainer". The etiology (study of the cause of an illness or injury) with female ACL injuries has been studied for quite sometime now. There has been research done as to why females are more prone for non-contact ACL injuries as opposed to their male counterparts. First, females have an increased Q-angle in their knee (this angle is measured by drawing a line from the ASIS through the center of the knee cap, and another line drawn from the tibial tubercle(the notch below your knee cap) through the center of the knee cap. then is measured and normally its 17 degrees plus or minus 3 degrees) Females also have wider hips for pregnancy reasons and this causes their knee to have a more valgus (knock-kneed) look. Also when ACL injuries occur its from a hyperextension of the knee. Another mechanism is when an athlete gets a blow to the outside of the knee and completely tears the MCL and the blow keeps moving the knee to an internal movement then you get damage to the ACL. Prevention is key, but not always 100% guarenteed you won't get injured.

[fanonly]

This is a very logical technical subject and one which all should read. If there is a Physical Trainer on line that could walk this subject thru and will take some time, please post some infor. maybe someone from Chattanoog, lebanon or Murfreesboro would be of great help.

 

 

http://www.nba.com/suns/news/adhs_trainers_answers.html

 

Here is a website where you can ask the trainers. I had questions earlier in the year about strength training and they emailed me a couple of articles that answered my questions very well.

[PHargis]

First it's not "Trainer" its "Athletic Trainer". The etiology (study of the cause of an illness or injury) with female ACL injuries has been studied for quite sometime now. There has been research done as to why females are more prone for non-contact ACL injuries as opposed to their male counterparts. First, females have an increased Q-angle in their knee (this angle is measured by drawing a line from the ASIS through the center of the knee cap, and another line drawn from the tibial tubercle(the notch below your knee cap) through the center of the knee cap. then is measured and normally its 17 degrees plus or minus 3 degrees) Females also have wider hips for pregnancy reasons and this causes their knee to have a more valgus (knock-kneed) look. Also when ACL injuries occur its from a hyperextension of the knee. Another mechanism is when an athlete gets a blow to the outside of the knee and completely tears the MCL and the blow keeps moving the knee to an internal movement then you get damage to the ACL. Prevention is key, but not always 100% guarenteed you won't get injured.

Another question commonly asked and may not have anyting to do with prevention, shoe inserts used early in an athletes playing life, will they help keep the alignment better if they are used?

[worden55]

First it's not "Trainer" its "Athletic Trainer". The etiology (study of the cause of an illness or injury) with female ACL injuries has been studied for quite sometime now. There has been research done as to why females are more prone for non-contact ACL injuries as opposed to their male counterparts. First, females have an increased Q-angle in their knee (this angle is measured by drawing a line from the ASIS through the center of the knee cap, and another line drawn from the tibial tubercle(the notch below your knee cap) through the center of the knee cap. then is measured and normally its 17 degrees plus or minus 3 degrees) Females also have wider hips for pregnancy reasons and this causes their knee to have a more valgus (knock-kneed) look. Also when ACL injuries occur its from a hyperextension of the knee. Another mechanism is when an athlete gets a blow to the outside of the knee and completely tears the MCL and the blow keeps moving the knee to an internal movement then you get damage to the ACL. Prevention is key, but not always 100% guarenteed you won't get injured.

 

 

 

Think some girls may be more prone to it than others? There seems to be repeat occurances with some girls.

[PHargis]

Think some girls may be more prone to it than others? There seems to be repeat occurances with some girls.

 

There are a couple of ways to look at it. Three years ago there were a number of schools which had numerous players that had ACL's. This poster remembers going to a gym and seeing 6 players in bleachers at the end and they had their crutches beside them and this was off of one team. The same thing happened at another school except there were 4 players at the end with their crutches standing against the wall. This thread was started at the time and the injuries were public although the schools were not named. At that time, a concerted effort was made to get schools aboard in applying good warm up techniques and stretch exercises which they did. A lot of schools took an extra 20 minutes and it seems have decreased the incidence, in my view, dramatically, at least the injuries are not as visable. Either the way of correcting the injury has improved or part of the reason for the acl's at the time was improper or no warmups. This poster has noticed this year that some schools have either reduced the amount of time or cut down on the number of exercises. Its not sure that the incidence is getting any worse but maybe we willfind out on this thread.

The comment of some girls being more prone to it than others as this poster remembers, was a valid statement at the time by some for the technical reason stated. However it has also been seen that the incidence is higher when players do not listen to their body and try to take risks that their knees cannot handle and it is particularly noticeable with high performance players a lot being in middle school. It is quite disturbing when a player has a great amount of ability and has to sit on the bench because of not knowing the limits of their joints. it is also disturbing to see that same player go back after surgery and make the same mistake and wind up back on the bench. One would think that a coach would have someone orient those type players.

Also at the time there was some thought that some players might need particular type of exercises and they were named. I would hope that if any of the Athlectic trainers that have posted or looking in to this thread would elaborate on this. It appears that there has been some action to reduce the acl's. At least they are not in bunches like they once were.

[KnightTime05]

Some people think that some girls are more prone to damaging the ACL than others. Prevention can help reduce injury to the ACL, but is not guaranteed. A good strength program along with proper warm up and stretching will help decrease the number of injuries, not only to the ACL but to other body parts as well. The muscles that help take the stress off of the knee joint are the quads, hamstring, hip abductors, hip adductors, hip extensors, hip flexors, and recently found out that the glutes also help. Also, especially in basketball, athletes have to be taught to land "soft". By this I mean to not land with your legs fully extended (straight). This helps reduce the number of hyperextension injuries in the knee, which is one mechanism that injures the ACL. Foot orthotics have been shown in the past to help reduce leg injuries such as shin splints, knee and ankle injuries, back injuries, and hip injuries. Think of the body as a stack of blocks. If all the blocks are straight then the stack is stable, if one block is off then the whole stack is unstable. Since the base of the body starts at the feet then you should protect your feet by taking good care of them. Identify if you have flat feet or high arches. If you do then a good orthotic would be a good decision. Now, just because you do all of this does not mean you will NEVER have a knee injury. Some people have asked me if there is a brace that will eliminate ACL injuries. The answer is NO. There is not a brace that will COMPLETELY eliminate ACL injuries, but there are braces to help reduce ACL injuries.

[worden55]

Some people think that some girls are more prone to damaging the ACL than others. Prevention can help reduce injury to the ACL, but is not guaranteed. A good strength program along with proper warm up and stretching will help decrease the number of injuries, not only to the ACL but to other body parts as well. The muscles that help take the stress off of the knee joint are the quads, hamstring, hip abductors, hip adductors, hip extensors, hip flexors, and recently found out that the glutes also help. Also, especially in basketball, athletes have to be taught to land "soft". By this I mean to not land with your legs fully extended (straight). This helps reduce the number of hyperextension injuries in the knee, which is one mechanism that injures the ACL. Foot orthotics have been shown in the past to help reduce leg injuries such as shin splints, knee and ankle injuries, back injuries, and hip injuries. Think of the body as a stack of blocks. If all the blocks are straight then the stack is stable, if one block is off then the whole stack is unstable. Since the base of the body starts at the feet then you should protect your feet by taking good care of them. Identify if you have flat feet or high arches. If you do then a good orthotic would be a good decision. Now, just because you do all of this does not mean you will NEVER have a knee injury. Some people have asked me if there is a brace that will eliminate ACL injuries. The answer is NO. There is not a brace that will COMPLETELY eliminate ACL injuries, but there are braces to help reduce ACL injuries.

 

 

 

thanks, very helpful information. I think the landing is a major factor. How do you suggest a young lady learn to jump and land properly?

[ksgovols]

I am amazed at the frequency of ACL tears, any good suggestions on prevention?

 

 

Female athletes are more susceptible to ACL tears and ankle instability because of their bone structure. The way it was explained to me is that when jumping and landing, the knees tend to point inward, putting more pressure on the ligaments. Likewise the ankles are not supporting the weight in a linear fashion through the bones. Females typically have proportionately wider hips than males, and that is the culprit. Female athletes are more than twice as likely to suffer ACL injuries than males.

 

I agree that the risk for some of these injuries can be reduced with technique.

 

Oops! /blush.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blush:" border="0" alt="blush.gif" /> I was responding from page 1 and hadn't read KnightTime05's very imformative posts.

 

I will add that last year I injured/reinjured a knee that had been scoped in 1983. The diagnosis then was 'stretched' ligaments. The injury this time was torn meniscus but in the process of getting the MRI I discovered that I didn't have an ACL anymore. It was probably never 'stretched' but torn the whole time. I guess the point is, you can live with a torn ACL and not have any ill effects for years. You probably couldn't play basketball or football, but I played softball for several years with only minor discomfort. The first sign of anything abnormal was a cyst that formed on the back of my knee. Baker's Cysts are from bulging sacs of fluid that indicate something is wrong with that knee. This was 20 years after the initial injury. Take care of them. You only get 2 'good' ones.