ACL Tear

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Nicole LaHaie Ms. Johnson EN111 – I-Search Paper 14 February 2013 Word Count: 855 ACL Tear in Female Athletes The Story of my Search Having torn my anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) my senior year of high school, I had many questions on the subject. I remember my doctor telling me that females tear their ACL four to ten times more than boys. I thought to myself why? Before starting this paper, I had very little knowledge about the exact reason WHY females are more likely to tear their ACL’s. I knew that men and women’s body anatomy was different and that may have been a cause, but I was not sure about anything. Here I am now, presented with an opportunity to answer my own question: why do females tear their ACL’s more than males? For…show more content…
When female athletes jump, the ACL takes a great amount of stress, causing an increase in the amounts of ACL tears. Another reason a female athlete may tear her ACL lies within the anatomy differences in men and women. A researcher for The Morning Call, Monica Deeb, states that “women have a narrower femoral notch -- the space at the bottom of the femur where the ACL runs. Because of the tight fit, many researchers believe the ACL is ‘sheared’ by the femur when too much stress is put on it” (Deeb C06). All in all, the femoral notch, being smaller in women than in men, is an explanation to the greater amount of ACL tears. A third explanation to the tears is leg muscle distribution. John Fauber, an athletic trainer, suggests in Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, that “women have a greater portion of their strength in the quad muscles, and the resulting increased pull in the front of the leg may yank the knee out of position, resulting in a torn ACL” (Fauber ). With the quadriceps (front of thigh muscles) outweighing the hamstrings (back of thigh muscles), the quadriceps tend to pull the leg forward, tearing…show more content…
I can now explain “why do female athletes tear their ACL’s more than male athletes?” The tear occurs more in girls because of the greater ligament laxity, the smaller femoral notch, the stronger quadriceps muscles, and hormones. Getting started with this paper took a little time and I was a little weary on the proper way to write the paper. Once I started writing, the rest of the paper just fell into place and was a fairly easy paper for me to compose. I really enjoyed this paper, and it makes me feel better knowing that many other girls out their tore their ACL and ruined their basketball careers, just as I
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