Kneeded pep work
August 13, 2008
From the Chicago Sun-Times, August 12, 2008
15-MINUTE SPORTS WARM-UP | Study finds jumping, stretching drills can help prevent ACL injuries more common in female athletes
It’s a troubling reality in the world of competitive sports. Female athletes are more prone to knee injuries than their male counterparts, especially tears to the anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, which helps control rotation of the knee.
Mounting evidence suggests a series of warm-up exercises that require little extra equipment or time can help prevent these injuries.
Stretching correctly could hold a key to avoiding tears in the ACL.
Known as the Prevent injury and Enhance Performance program or PEP, these running, jumping and stretching drills are aimed at strengthening the muscles and ligaments in and around the knee.
And studies have shown that the 15-minute warm-up appears to pay off.
Most recently, a study that followed more than 1,000 women’s college soccer players for one season found that athletes who used the PEP program had fewer ACL tears than those who didn’t, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this month. That was even true of athletes with a history of ACL injuries.
The CDC findings are in line with earlier research involving younger athletes.
“We encourage coaches, athletic trainers and athletes to consider adapting this program into their routine,” said Dr. Julie Gilchrist, the study’s lead author and a CDC Injury Center epidemiologist.
Diane Watanabe, an athletic trainer and administrator for the research foundation that developed the PEP exercises, said: “Ninety percent of this stuff is already done on most soccer fields someplace. What’s out of the ordinary is the way you do them.”
PEP emphasizes soft landings and proper alignment of the toes, knees and hips, said Watanabe, who’s with the Santa Monica Orthopaedic and Sports Medicine Research Foundation.
Female athletes, especially those who play soccer and basketball, are three to five times more likely to injure the ACL than males doing similar activities because of the way they use their knees to jump and pivot.
“Girls tend to land with a stiffer knee than boys. They also tend to land with more inward force on their knee,” said Dr. Preston Wolin, an orthopedic surgeon from the Neurologic and Orthopedic Hospital of Chicago.
Chandler Wherry tore her ACL last year as she was changing directions on the soccer field. The 18-year-old Latin School grad had to have surgery to repair the damage and was in physical therapy for three months
Now, she said, “I get nervous that the muscles are going to give way, and I’ll get hurt again.”
Wolin, who wasn’t involved in developing the PEP program, said there are “fancier programs out there, and they work.” But the PEP regimen can be done on any budget, he said.
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The Neurologic & Orthopedic Hospital of Chicago is offering a free injury prevention pamphlet to help athletes avoid ACL injuries. Visit the neuro-ortho.org home page to request a copy of the pamphlet.