Bryan T. Kelly, MD, MBA President and Chief Executive Officer | Hospital for Special Surgery
Bryan T. Kelly, MD, MBA President and Chief Executive Officer | Hospital for Special Surgery
Andrew D. Pearle, MD, chief of sports medicine at Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), offers insights into strategies that could help teenage athletes prevent ACL injuries. Dr. Pearle notes that most ACL ruptures happen when an athlete makes a sudden change in direction, such as dodging another player or landing after a jump. Sports that require agility, like soccer, football, and basketball, tend to have higher rates of these injuries.
Girls are particularly susceptible to ACL tears, experiencing them up to eight times more frequently than boys. Among high school girls who play soccer year-round, the risk is especially high with a 16% to 18% chance of suffering an ACL rupture.
However, knee injuries do not have to be an unavoidable consequence of participating in sports. Dr. Pearle explains that decades of research indicate targeted exercises designed to enhance agility-based body control can significantly lower the risk of ACL tears and other knee injuries by 50% to 80%.
For more detailed information on this topic, visit grandforksherald.com.
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