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Dr. Hacker shares what a woman can do to prevent an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear.
Dr. Hacker:
Women can focus on strengthening their legs to get the muscles in better condition around the knee so that the ligament never has to see that load or that stress applied to the time of the potential injury. It’s been shown that men have much better conditioning in terms of their hamstrings muscles than women, and that most women, when they are susceptible to an injury, fire their quadriceps quite strong, but not their hamstrings muscles in the back quite as well.
So women can certainly focus on appropriate conditioning with a trainer or with appropriate guidance from a physician to understand and learn ways to prevent these injuries from happening in the future.
About Dr. Hacker, M.D., M.S.:
Dr. Hacker specializes in sports medicine, both on and off the field. Dr. Hacker completed extensive training in bioengineering at both the undergraduate and graduate level, and was given a Regent's Fellowship as well as a National Science Foundation Honorable Mention for his work. He completed a Master's Thesis in Engineering on the properties of meniscal tissue in addition to multiple projects including pioneering research in ACL healing and repair. He then served as director of the Coutts Institute in San Diego, a leading center for Orthopaedic research. Dr. Hacker completed an orthopedic research fellowship studying the ability to grow and transplant cartilage.
Visit Dr. Hacker at the Alvarado Orthopedic Medical Group