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As fall sports rivalries brew, high school and collegiate athletes are hitting the courts and practice fields. But every year nearly two-hundred-thousand athletes are sidelined by an A-C-L injury.
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In fact, University of Florida sports physicians say tears to the anterior cruciate ligament, a major connection between the thigh and lower leg, are the most common major injury in young athletes. Doctors say A-C-L injuries generally happen when the athelete is stopping, cutting, or jumping and landing. But U-F sports trainers say repetitive-practice drills to improve balance, as well as the practicing and perfecting of proper "landing" technique, decreases the likelihood of improper form that can lead to A-C-L tears.
Dr. Pete Indelicato / UF sports physician
"We're trying to train them, them being the muscles, to react in a different pattern to be more protective of the ligaments in their knee joint."
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U-F physicians add that strength and flexibility exercises for the quadriceps and hamstrings also appear to lessen chances of A-C-L damage. But doctors also emphasize that several factors contribute to the likelihood of an A-C-L tear. For example, women are nearly ten times more likely to injure their A-C-L, than men playing the same sport.
Dr. Pete Indelicato / UF sports physician
"It's not only necessarily age-dependent, but it's gender dependent, it's sports dependent. There's a genetic factor, in that there can be a family history of it. There's one family that has seven siblings and all seven have torn their ACL in each knee."
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Experts say more information on A-C-L injury prevention is just a mouse click away&$45on many credible sports medicine Websites. Athletes are also encouraged to contact their local sports medicine pros for hands-on training tips. At the University of Florida Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Institute, I'm Mike Garrison.
