Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Essay

Female athletes tend to have a higher rate of brain injury than their male counterparts

Over the past couple years, female soccer players are starting to increase and now account for 10% of the 265 million active players in the world.1 With the higher percentage of female soccer players comes the greater risk of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. It is reported that the ACL injury rate is up to six times higher in female players than in males.1 Previous studies have shown that there is no difference in offensive and defensive players or between goalkeepers and other players, but there might be a connection between pressing and contact and non-contact injuries.1 The purpose of this study was to “identify the most common type of situation associated with ACL injury in female soccer players.”1 The

Women have struggled for more than two centuries to be taken serious as professionals. There should not be a double standard in sports especially if it is loved and played by both genders. Over the years, females have competed against the stereotype of being too fragile both mentally and physically to play strenuous sports. The passion and work ethic of the female professional athletes is just as strong as the males and everyone should be treated equal and be able to have a chance at making a better living for themselves as well as their family. One area that still faces a continual struggle in sports is gender equality. Female

This can be a safety hazard for females in a highly contact sport like football, if society were to allow girls to play on all boy’s teams. Also, Dr. Wallace agrees with this statement, “And in most sports, strength and size make the difference, and these attributes are extremely important to team success. That's why I firmly believe the sexes should be separated in athletics” (www.creators.com).

If I could do-over one day I would choose May 5, 2015 of my junior year of high school. On that day I tore my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and it changed my life forever. Tearing my ACL affected me academically, athletically, and mentally.

To begin, the physiological process women and men go through from impact and healing is different in a plethora of ways. For example, women are shown to report more concussion symptoms like: “poor concentration, increased fatigue, headache, and visual hallucinations” (NCAA). Also, women “ suffer from greater cognitive decline and slowed reaction time relative to males” (NCAA). Lastly, “female concussed athletes perform more poorly on BESS (Balance Error Scoring System) following concussion relative to males” (NCAA). On the other hand, the men will have the same symptoms but will last shorter than what women deal with due to “low pre-injury levels of progesterone” (The Washington Post).

Recent studies have shown that female athletes experience two times the amount of trauma related injuries than male athletes. Women do not have the same build as men; specifically in their neck, head, and musculature, which makes them weaker. While on their premenstrual period, they can be more susceptible to symptoms of nausea and headaches as well. The loss of hormones also contributes to the cause of

Sokolove mentioned this idea on page two when he says “The influence of estrogen makes girls’ ligaments lax, and they outperform boys in tests of overall body flexibility – a performance advantage in many sports, but also an injury risk when not accompanied by sufficient muscle to keep joints in stable, safe positions.” This comes back to the injury prevention program; it will help strengthen the athletes’ weaknesses. These athletes with the injury prone bodies will still have a risk of hurting themselves in the future, but the risk percentage will decrease with the help of the prevention

Whenever an athlete participates in a sport, whether it be practice or a meet/game, they run the risk of injuring themselves. When it comes to basketball, Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries are common. ACL tears are more likely to occur in female basketball players as opposed to males. In basketball, speed, strength, and power are the most important physical qualities to develop. Sometimes an athlete may be lacking in certain areas which puts them at a greater risk for tearing their ACL.

With an ever increasing number of people becoming involved with athletic activities, there is an increasing number of injuries occurring which can be devastating for the individual. Most of the injuries that affect athletes occur in one of four structures in the human body: bones, muscles, tendons, or ligaments. Because ligaments attach bone to bone and play a major part in providing stability for joints, the major stabilizing ligament in the knee, the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), assists in performing everyday actions of the human body including sitting, standing, walking, running, dancing, and participating in other sports. The injury that specifically affects this ligament is very serious and always

The Anterior Cruciate Ligament also known as the ACL is deemed the most commonly torn ligament in the knee and can result from both contact and noncontact injuries. Most Anterior Cruciate Ligament injuries result from an extreme force on the lateral side of the person’s knee causing a valgus force which pushes the knee inward (Kisner & Colby, 2012, pp. 802-803). This injury to the side of the knee can also cause a “Terrible Triad” injury which also injures both the medial meniscus and the medial collateral ligament (Kisner & Colby, 2012, p. 803). Our textbook further states that “the most common noncontact mechanism is a rotational mechanism in which the tibia is externally rotated on the planted foot….this mechanism can account for as many as 78% of all ACL injuries” (Kisner & Colby, 2012, p. 803). If the person does not seek medical help with this injury they are susceptible to also injuring the remaining support ligaments as well. Patients usually present with joint effusion; possibly 25 degrees of flexion, joint swelling if blood vessels are involved, limited ROM, stress pain and instability along with quads avoidance gait patterns (Kisner & Colby, 2011, p. 208)

Several recent studies demonstrate that the rate of ACL injuries among women can be significantly reduced by following proper neuromuscular training (NMT) and conditioning programs.

In the sports world the word ACL brings absolute horror and cringe with it. That’s because when an ACL tears it can be one of the most painful experiences an athlete can have, especially with the surgeries and recovery it brings with it. Along with that, the ACL is in the deep part of the middle of the knee, so most of the time when you damage your ACL you most likely have damaged something else. Women especially have to worry about the overall health of their knees as they have a 4.8% greater chance of tearing their ACL than men (Musgrave). ACL tears are one of the worst injuries in the sports world and in order to recover to full health it takes time, patience, and a hard-work ethic.

The knee joint consists of four ligaments, two intra-capsular which are the ACL and the PCL and two extra-capsular ligaments including the MCL and LCL. The ACL is an extremely strong stabiliser which prevents anterior displacement of the knee. The ACL is a ligament and therefore connects one bone to another, the femur with the tibia. The ACLs origin is from the anterior intercondylar eminence of the tibia (home,2017) and the fibres pass upwards, backward and laterally inserting into the lateral condyle of the femur.

Women are physically weaker. Their genetic structure is made differently than the males. Susan Brownmiller