5 Differences in The Female ACL
Understanding these differences can help the athlete, coaches and surgeons make some basic changes to pre-season and even post injury treatment plans to lessen these devastating numbers.
-Dr. Sterett
One of the major reasons that females experience more ACL tears than their male counterparts is that they have inherent physiological differences that impact the amount of strain put upon the knee when participating in athletic endeavors. But what are these differences?
Here's a quick outline: 5 Differences in the Female ACL
Women are more commonly born “knock kneed” which puts the ACL at risk
Women are more commonly loose jointed which puts all ligaments at risk.
The ACL is smaller relative to their body size in women
Females tend to land more straight legged when they jump than men.
Women have monthly hormonal related changes in the stiffness of the ACL that men don’t.
Sports medicine docs that care for high level, and even recreational, female athletes have to be prepared to see a higher rate of knee injuries and a higher rte of re-injuries than the their male athletic counterparts.
Understanding these differences can help the athlete, coaches and surgeons make some basic changes to pre-season and even post injury treatment plans to lessen these devastating numbers.
For more on this topic, check out the videos on the front page of the site.
