ACL injuries in the Women's game

[mattcity5]

My 17 year old daughter ruptured her ACL almost a year ago. It happened during a school practice. She just got cleared to start sports again but is understandably nervous about playing again. The doctor who did her surgery shared his opinion about why women are suffering more acl injuries and mentioned about how women's hips are wider and the angles of the bones are different. My daughter was devastated when she got injured. She had a dream of playing in college and finishing off her high school career on a high, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

That's horrible mate, I hope she makes a full recovery and can get back to enjoying herself.

To be honest it's one of the worries I have too as a parent of two girls who play. Male professionals get a huge amount of support through the recovery, female professionals get a decent amount of support, while amateurs have to struggle by to a great extent. I dread the thought of either of my girls getting such an injury and having to keep them positive and cheerful for as long as it takes to recover.

I've heard about the hip size/leg length point before and expect it's valid, at least in part. I wonder if knowing that could be used to train them to move differently, or position their weight differently at certain times, for example.

 

[EliteOne]

That's horrible mate, I hope she makes a full recovery and can get back to enjoying herself.

To be honest it's one of the worries I have too as a parent of two girls who play. Male professionals get a huge amount of support through the recovery, female professionals get a decent amount of support, while amateurs have to struggle by to a great extent. I dread the thought of either of my girls getting such an injury and having to keep them positive and cheerful for as long as it takes to recover.

I've heard about the hip size/leg length point before and expect it's valid, at least in part. I wonder if knowing that could be used to train them to move differently, or position their weight differently at certain times, for example.

Thanks buddy. Her doctor was great and treats a lot of young adults and her physio therapists were awesome too and she received some excellent care. But being 'an amateur' she only had therapy twice a week and there were weeks that she missed out. She was never going to get the care that a pro gets and a lot of the care is dictated by what the insurance company permits. She was just fitted for a custom brace for her knee but her doctor said although it might make her feel more comfortable when she returns to play, it wouldn't stop another injury. Again the insurance company has to approve the brace, otherwise we will have to pay $850 for it.

 

[Mon Autre]

My 17 year old daughter ruptured her ACL almost a year ago. It happened during a school practice. She just got cleared to start sports again but is understandably nervous about playing again. The doctor who did her surgery shared his opinion about why women are suffering more acl injuries and mentioned about how women's hips are wider and the angles of the bones are different. My daughter was devastated when she got injured. She had a dream of playing in college and finishing off her high school career on a high, but alas, it wasn't meant to be.

Ah sorry to hear that. I hope she gets back to enjoying playing again. Hips and angles definitely seem to be one theory. I think changes in hormone levels around the menstrual cycle are another one and as @domalino mentioned above, there's a lot of talk around the fact that women aren't encouraged or facilitated to train and strengthen in the same way that men are. I think the most likely case is that it's a combination of all of these factors. It's quite possible that women will always suffer these kinds of injuries more than men, but hopefully the right research and support will get us to a point where the injuries are kept to a minimum. We won't eradicate these injuries all together, but we should definitely aim to get rid of the ones that could have been avoided with the right training.

 

[jamielowndes]

How to tackle the increased rate of ACL injuries in women’s football

By Morgan Bailey and Nathaneal Ahearn

www.boa.ac.uk

Found this after the subject came up on instagram the other day. Really good article concerning training in women's footballl and the ACL dilemma.