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Sports >> ..............................................................Last updated: 3/22/2010 |
Knee injuries pose threat to female athletes
Kerry Savage ~ Staff Writer
She planted her foot, then got tackled from the side. It was a split second, but it would change Katie King’s future forever.
After screaming in unbearable pain and being carried off the soccer field by the trainers, 2009 graduate King awaited her diagnosis on the sideline. Like so many other girls her age, she had torn her ACL; a season ending injury.
“I cried. I sat on the trainer’s table and cried. I had five teammates around me that had torn their ACL, so I knew what I was in for.”
While such an injury is possible for anyone, knee injuries have multiplied specifically in girls sports as they become more common. As girls reach puberty, the way their bodies change puts extreme stress on specifically the anterior cruciate ligament. As their hips open and drop, the angle that the femur comes down is greatly increased, pulling on the quadriceps and the IT band. While the pressure placed on boy’s knees is more evenly distributed due to a small angle, a girl’s knee is 70 percent more susceptible to tears or stains.
Jim Winslow, the Director of Coaching at Strikes Fox Valley Soccer Club, graduated with a degree in exercise science and has worked on a core program for his club to prevent such injuries. He explained that the cause of the increased risk for females is a combination of several different things.
“Anatomy causes problems; muscle imbalance from females to males is pretty drastic. Overuse is a huge problem, lack of good programs. Menstrual cycles often increase injury.”
The menstrual cycle theory is hazy in today’s medical research. It’s difficult to study without being invasive, but research does prove that even though women’s muscle tissue is more flexible than men’s, it’s even more susceptible to injury during their cycle. Winslow noted that birth control could potentially decrease injuries, as the period of time the joints are more flexible is dramatically decreased.
Hours of videotape have also proved that women tend to flex their knees far less than men do when landing their jumps. No one knows this fact better than Courtney and Tori Cochefski. The two twins compete on East’s gymnastics squad and are both highly accomplished gymnasts. Most importantly, both have torn their ACL.
“The hardest part about coming back was just learning how to use your knee again,” said Courtney. “To bend it, then to walk, then to run. It took a lot of work.”
Each gymnast was extremely committed to coming back as soon as possible. Courtney, still in a knee brace, went on to say, “I was able to make a full recovery, but then I tore my other one.”
While it might have worked out for the twins, it isn’t always so easy for athletes to get back to their previous ability. Winslow noted that even after a full physical recovery, it’s sometime’s psychological. One must ask himself the haunting question of, “Can I stick my leg in a tackle again? What will happen when I land?”
Doc Nielson, the Athletic Trainer, knows such an injury all too well. In just the past five years at East, there as been at least one ACL tear a year from the girl’s soccer program. He is grateful there have not been any in basketball, as those two sports claim the most frequent knee injuries.
“Any sport with running, jumping, a lot of lateral movements, someone coming from the side, we worry about the knee. It’s not a good joint for what we make it do,” he said.
Though the fear of injury for many female athletes is ever-present, there is something we can do. Working important muscles like the hamstrings and quadriceps along with a stretching routine can make a difference. A New York Times study showed that out of 160 girls, twenty percent of them tore ACLs after a sports season. Strikers Fox Valley Soccer Club, which implements Winslow’s core training and lifting program, showed a drastic difference of only one percent of their players tearing their ACL.
“It’s the only thing we can control. We don’t have control over genetics, so we have to put the work in,” said Winslow.
In the end, all female athletes can do is work hard and hope their training pays off. King’s only advice to those who undergo a tear is, “Don’t think, “why me?’ See the positive. Crying won’t make it better.
It’s a scary thought, but with preventative measures and a little bit of luck, athletes can keep their knees healthy.
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