Essay On ACL Injuries In Female Athletes

ACL Injuries in Female Athletes on the Rise

In the heat of the game, she races toward the ball. As her opponent changes directions, she quickly cuts the corner. She feels a sudden pop and her knee gives out; she collapses in agony on the ground. Her diagnosis: a torn ACL, every athlete’s worst nightmare. Unfortunately, this scenario has become all too familiar in female athletics. Over the past twenty years, there has been a dramatic increase in ACL injuries in young female athletes between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five. A once devastating and career-ending injury has become a common household term and an everyday occurrence, or so it seems. The anterior cruciate ligament, commonly referred to as the ACL, is one of four major ligaments

Since Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was passed, there has been an exponential surge of female participation in organized sports. With this increase in participation, the number of injuries sustained by women has subsequently increased (Silvers & Mandelbaum 52). This surge of female participation is supported by Mary Lloyd Ireland, M.D., Michael Guadette, M.D., and Scott Crook, M.D., who found that prior to Title IX only one in thirty women participated in organized sports; now, it is one in three. Inevitably, there is going to be a much higher injury rate with ten times as many female athletes. In addition to an increase in the number of female athletes, a higher level of competition in women’s sports has also been established. Originally, women participated in sports as a means to socialize. However, once women’s sports became more widespread and gained attention as well as respect, women, much like men, demonstrated a desire to win and pursued sports for the intense competition. Consequently, this has also led to an increase in the number of ACL injuries in young female