ACL tears are common injuries in contact sports, however, it has been found that women are far more likely to suffer from ACL injuries than men.
“Female athletes are anywhere between four and six times more than men with a tear during an athletic event,” physical therapist Dan Shea said.
The reason for this surprising statistic is the difference in knee construction among men and women.
“There tends to be a narrower notch that the ACL travels through as it goes from the femur and attaches to the tibia,” said Dee Rutherford, the head athletic trainer at King High School.
Other factors also affect their knees as well.
“Their knees have a tendency to go inward like lock knee,” Shea said. “So when they land from jumping like basketball they’ll land in such a way their knees come inward causing a tear.”
However both of these experts say a way to prevent this can come from strength training.
“Incorporating strength training into the off season and in season programs has been a contributing factor to the possible declining numbers of ACLs,” Rutherford said.