How to Prevent Common Sports Injuries for Women is sponsored by JAG Physical Therapy.
While regular exercise is one of the best things for you, it can also be tough on your body. Many researchers in the field of sports medicine have found that female athletes are more likely to suffer from certain injuries than male athletes. In particular, women seem more prone to injuries in three areas: knees, ankles, and shoulders.
Let’s look at some strategies that female athletes can use to prevent these injuries.
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Preventing Knee Injuries
Women injure their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) two to six times more often than men. One explanation for why this happens is an imbalance between the strength of the quad muscle (in the front of the thigh) and the strength of the hamstring muscle (in the back of the thigh).
An ACL injury is usually caused by jumping, or by abruptly stopping or changing direction when running. Because women tend to have stronger quads than hamstrings, they tend to rely on their quads when they decelerate. Men, on the other hand, tend to rely on their hamstrings to decelerate, which may protect the ACL from injury. This theory could also explain why men seem to suffer more posterior thigh injuries than women.
This study also found that weaker hamstrings could explain women’s higher rates of overuse injuries to the knee. Overuse injuries include patellar tendonitis and patellofemoral syndrome, which both cause pain in the front of the knee.
To prevent knee injuries, including ACL tears, women can do exercises that strengthen their hamstrings. This study found that Romanian deadlifts and glute-hamstring raises are the most effective exercises for building hamstring strength.
Preventing Ankle Sprains
According to Robert H. Shmerling of Harvard Health Publications, ankle sprains are the most common injury among all athletes, but women suffer from ankle sprains more frequently.
One way women can prevent ankle sprains is to learn better jumping and landing techniques. Women have a tendency to land from a jump in an upright position, which increases the risk of ankle, as well as knee, injuries. To correct this problem, female athletes should practice landing with their hips, knees and ankles flexed.
This study also found that using a laced canvas ankle brace was an effective method of preventing repeat ankle sprains in female athletes who had suffered from this injury previously.
Preventing Shoulder Injuries
Female athletes’ higher rate of shoulder injuries could be due to the fact that women simply don’t have as much upper body strength as men do. According to Dr. Bridget Quinn, a primary care sports medicine physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, “The combination of not having strong shoulder muscles, including the rotator cuff and periscapular muscles, and having loose supporting tissues can lead to instability in the shoulder.”
Dumbbell presses are good exercises for strengthening the shoulder muscles. You can do these presses standing, seated, on an inclined bench or on a flat bench. Doing the presses on a bench works the chest muscles as well as the shoulders. Other good shoulder exercises for female athletes include dumbbell raises and upright dumbbell rows.
More Research Needed
More research is needed to determine exactly why female athletes are more prone to certain types of injuries than male athletes. Based on research that has been done so far, it seems as though the best way for female athletes to protect themselves from injuries is to strengthen the muscles that support vulnerable joints and learn proper techniques for jumping and landing. For the best advice on how to prevent common sports injuries, you should consult a personal trainer or physical therapist.
Top Photo: Licensed from Adobe Stock