A recent report by SELF.com highlights an increase in anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears among women athletes. Researchers have found that women are three to four times more likely than men to experience these injuries, though exact rates can differ based on age and population.
Gabriella Ode, MD, a sports medicine surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), member of the Women’s Sports Medicine Center, and team physician for the New York Liberty, described the ACL’s function in stabilizing knee movement. According to Dr. Ode, “the ACL’s role is to stabilize the knee’s front and back motion, preventing your tibia from sliding out ahead of your femur. It also gives you control over rotation—’the ability to step with your foot and then turn and feel like, ‘Hey, I have good support below me in order to move explosively.'”
Dr. Ode also emphasized the psychological toll these injuries can take on athletes: “This is an injury that typically occurs in athletic people who are participating in a sport or doing some sort of high-level activity, and it really derails their mobility and their desires for sport and activity, whether short- or long-term,” she said. “It’s totally okay to have an emotional response.”
For further information on this trend among women athletes, readers can access the full article at https://www.self.com/story/women-athletes-acl-injuries.
