What can you do to prevent an ACL injury?

According to statistics, female athletes are two to eight times more likely to tear their ACL than their male counterparts, and basketball, soccer and volleyball players between the ages of 15 and 25 are the most at risk. Athletes who have suffered an ACL injury have an increased risk of developing arthritis later on in life even if they have surgery for the injury. Some studies have indicated that one out of every 10 athletes will have a season-ending ACL injury. So, on any given high school or college basketball team, one girl on that team will go down with an ACL injury. Why do these injuries occur disproportionately among females, and what can athletes do to protect themselves against these devastating injuries? The Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons has cited four categories of risk factors for non-contact ACL injuries: environmental, anatomical, hormonal, and biomechanical. Of these four categories, only neuromuscular training programs were noted as showing potential to decrease ACL injuries by altering the mechanics of the way girls jump, land and cut. In studies conducted on youth soccer players, the Santa Monica Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Research Foundation has shown that ACL injuries have been reduced by 85 percent or more when implementing their 15 minute PEP (Prevent Injury and Enhance Performance) Program that includes warm-up, stretching, strengthening, plyometrics and agility drills. Approximately 70 percent of ACL injuries are non-contact in nature and occur when the athlete lands from a jump, cuts to change direction or stops suddenly. Observation of the female athlete shows that they tend to play their sport in a more upright position than males. They also tend to have some key areas of muscle weakness, specifically the hamstrings and the hip muscles. Poor movement patterns and key muscle weaknesses allow for vulnerability at the knee. Positions of risk for the knee are when it is almost straight and when it caves inward, called a valgus position or "knock-knee". So, what can be done to help prevent this devastating injury? Every female athlete must be taught how to jump, land, cut, and strengthen the right muscles in order to complete their athletic activity in a better position. Then the knee is not placed in a position of risk for injury. Partnering with Oklahoma Sports and Orthopedic Institute and Dr. Jim Bond, we are offering the PEP ACL prevention training program, free of charge, to area soccer and basketball programs. We will be presenting to the Oklahoma Soccer Association in February. We'll teach the prevention program to coaches along with specific instruction on what to look for in their players as they use the program as part of their training. We have also created a similar program with adaptations specific to basketball. We are teaching the program to Oklahoma junior high, high school and AAU girls basketball teams and coaches. It emphasizes proper technique in warming up, strengthening of key muscle groups, agility training, plyometrics and stretching and can be implemented as part of both preseason training and the in-season warm-up routine. Again, this is a free program being offered by OSOI to anyone who is interested. For more information or to have us come to your school or sports team call OSOI at 405-360-6764 or contact me directly, Kim Robinson PT, OCS at 405-590-1016. Kim Robinson is a Board Certified Orthopedic specialist and is in practice at the Physical Performance Center in Norman.