Why Women Are More Likely To Experience Knee Injuries, and What You Can Do To Protect Yours

Why are ladies extra susceptible to ACL accidents than males?

Dr. Coleman says that though there has but to be conclusive proof pointing to a selected purpose, there are a number of components that possible contribute to the disparity. “Males’s and girls’s our bodies have distinctive variations relating to muscle mass, ligaments, and bone construction,” he says. “Females are likely to have wider hips than males, which impacts the forces throughout the knee joint. As well as, studies have proven that girls have extra laxity of their knee ligaments, in addition to different components of the physique, and adjustments in each hormone concentrations and menstruation can play a job in ligament laxity.”

One other key issue growing the danger of ACL accidents in ladies vs. males has to do with variations in muscle activation patterns and relative energy across the knee when leaping and touchdown which will lead to larger forces throughout the ACL for ladies, in line with Dr. Coleman.

“A giant issue resulting in ACL accidents in feminine athletes is the weak spot of the quadriceps muscle mass above the knee,” he shares. “Strengthening the quadriceps muscle mass in feminine athletes will help to guard the knee joint from harm.”

What actions and threat components trigger essentially the most knee accidents in ladies?

There are particular actions or sports activities that may make ladies extra susceptible to ACL accidents than others, primarily as a result of motion patterns and the stresses positioned on the knee joint. “Ladies who play sports activities that contain reducing and pivoting like soccer, basketball, snowboarding, and lacrosse are particularly in danger for a knee harm as these actions generate massive forces throughout the ligaments of the knee,” explains Dr. Coleman.

Moreover: “Any repetitive exercise that causes constant affect to your knee places you in danger for knee accidents and subsequent ache. This contains working, leaping, deep bending within the knee, or squatting.” That is to not say that you just should not do these actions. Actually, weight-bearing exercises like working and energy coaching are a number of the greatest methods to guard your joints—you simply need to be sure you’re understanding with correct type and never overtraining.

Curiously, Dr. Coleman says that there will also be exterior life-style components that additional improve the danger of knee accidents like ACL tears. He explains, “Fatigue and dehydration are additionally huge threat components for a knee harm as each could cause the muscle mass that assist the knee to present out, which might result in the harm of ligaments or cartilage within the knee joint.”

What can ladies do to maintain their knees protected from harm?

Dr. Coleman is a giant proponent of prevention as the primary line of protection when coping with knee accidents in ladies. Stopping knee ache and ACL tears begins by making certain that you’ve got satisfactory energy and suppleness (aka mobility) in your muscle mass and joints for the varieties of train and exercises you might be doing.

“Many research have demonstrated that sturdy and versatile quadriceps and hamstrings—particularly in ladies—are the easiest way to forestall knee accidents, particularly ACL tears,” advises Dr. Coleman. “It’s essential to include energy coaching into any train routine, and along with strengthening the leg muscle mass just like the quadriceps and the hamstrings, it’s best to deal with the larger muscle mass of the core.”

By way of strengthening your core, which is in the end essential in stabilizing your physique throughout any kind of bodily exercise, Dr. Coleman recommends Pilates. “Moreover, a easy, proactive, at-home remedy like utilizing a Motive Knee gadget that targets the knee particularly is a good ache administration instrument so as to add to your wellness routine,” he says. “It’s app-based and can be utilized at dwelling to strengthen the quadriceps muscle mass above the knee joint [through electrical stimulation therapy]. Our medical proof exhibits that stronger quadriceps muscle mass cut back the forces throughout the knee joint, resulting in much less knee ache, higher joint well being, and elevated mobility.”

Dr. Coleman says that Motive Kee is the one FDA-cleared stimulation gadget to deal with knee ache and improve mobility by treating the basis reason for the ache—a scarcity of quadriceps muscle energy—and it may be safely utilized by anybody.

Can I keep energetic if I’ve knee ache?

Whereas lots of people embody the mindset that if they’ve knee ache, they should cease understanding and/or take ache remedy, the other is definitely true, in line with Dr. Coleman. “When knee ache is attributable to muscle weak spot, it’s essential to strengthen the muscle mass across the knee, particularly the quadriceps muscle mass. Moreover, remedy may be useful, however remedy doesn’t deal with the underlying drawback—the secret is to maintain the muscle mass across the knee as sturdy as potential to be able to lower knee ache and assist to forestall harm.”

In the end, Dr. Coleman believes that knee ache can typically function a crossroads for many individuals of their lives: “One path is to be proactive and to diagnose and deal with the underlying reason for the knee ache,” he says. “The second path that folks can take once they expertise knee ache is to develop into much less energetic and to chop out actions that, though pleasurable, trigger the knee ache to extend. The latter path ends in a vicious cycle the place the individual turns into much less energetic, the muscle mass across the knee weaken, and the ache turns into extra extreme.”

That is all to say that generally the trail of least resistance is resistance coaching.