Female and ACL injuries

A 16 year old, female high school soccer player, Lindsey Robinson tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) from a soccer game. Interestingly, she was not the only one in her team who injured her ACL, but also several of her teammates have torn the same ligament as well during the soccer season. Lephart (2002) found that women involved in physical activity are more susceptible to acquire the ACL injuries than men who are involved in the same physical activity (as cited in Ogden, 2002). According to “ACL Injury Prevention” (2004), the numbers on female ACL ruptures have been increased for the past ten year. Over 1.4 million women have been suffered from the ACL rupture which is twice the rate of the previous decade. Therefore, female ACL injuries are now a growing problem in the nation (Anonymous, 2004). Back in 1950s and 1960s, female participation in sports was rare; therefore, the rate of injuries was very low. However, according to “ACL Injuries and Female Athletes” (n.d), as Title IX was implemented in 1972, female participation in numerous sports has dramatically increased. Moreover, the rate of acquiring injuries to the ACL also has dramatically increased (Anonymous, n.d). In terms of comparing the rate of acquiring ACL injuries between two genders, females have higher rate than males do. According to the “Physical Therapy Corner” (2007), “women suffered anterior cruciate ligament injuries more often than men, nearly 4 times as often in basketball, 3 times as often in gymnastics, and nearly 2 and a half times as often in soccer” (Knee Injuries section, para.1). There are various risk factors that contribute to the high rate of acquiring injuries to the ACL for female athletes. External factors such as improper sh...

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...usceptibility to ACL injuries. Factors such as different anatomical structures, neuromuscular imbalance, and hormonal changes during the menstrual cycle are generally known as the potential causes for higher occurrences of female ACL injuries. However, those factors are just hypothetical and still being studied by many researchers and experts. The fact is that ACL injuries among female athletes are a still growing problem in the nation. What researchers and experts must do is not only to discover the cause, but also design a special preventive program for female ACL injuries. Many researchers have found that different anatomical structures and neuromuscular imbalance makes females more susceptible to ACL injuries. A special training program emphasizing hamstring strengthening could be effective to reduce the risks of acquiring ACL injuries for female athletes.