Female Athletes and ACL’s Injuries

The ACL(Anterior Cruciate Ligament) is one of the four major stabilizing ligaments of the knee, and the most commonly injured. It sits behind the patella and connect the tibia to the femur, its main function is to strain forward motion on the tibia and preventing to slide too far forward. The tear of a ACL usually occurs during high impact sports such as basketball and soccer and women have a higher risk of tearing their ACLs than men. Many studies has been done, and some are to blame the anatomy differences and neuromuscular training between women and men, and the production of estrogen in women.
As a woman matures, she produces more estrogen, which makes the joints more flexible and more prone to tear because it affects the collage production, and as a men matures, he produces more muscle which protects the knee. Another risk factors are the common hip weakness in women and the hamstrings. This imbalance can cause the femur to move inward, increasing the tension on the knees.
There are some ways that can help preventing this type of injury. Training the muscles to protect the knees is a great start, specially the hamstring, since it is not well developed in women. Some exercises should be include to the daily warm ups and practices, such as stretching, strengthening and polymeric. Women that practice high impact sports, such as basketball and soccer, where the risk of tearing the ACL is high, should also learn how to land and jump in a different way that is more protective to their knees.