Female athletes more likely to tear their ACL than male athletes, research says
BOSTON - The U.S. Women's National Team is set to play Sweden in the next round of the 2023 World Cup in soccer without one of their best players.
Christen Press has scored 64 goals the national team but she's benched after her fourth surgery to repair her ACL. Massachusetts native Kristie Mewis suffered the same injury in 2018.
"We're certainly seeing a lot of ACL injuries in our female soccer players," said Dr. Elizabeth Matzkin, the co-director of Women's Sports Medicine at Mass General Brigham. She's a soccer fan with a different take on the game.
"Having watched a lot of women's soccer, first thing I'm worried about is an ACL," said Matzkin.
According to Matskin, women are two to eight times more likely to tear the ligament, which is necessary for rotation of the knee especially lateral movement like cutting and pivoting on the field.
But why are women more susceptible? According to Matzkin, anatomy plays a major role.
"What we've honed in mostly on females, they tend to have a different quad to hamstring strength ratio that puts them at higher risk. Our pelvises tend to be wider, we tend to have more valgus or knocked knees both of which can put us at higher risk of ACL injuries," said Matzkin.
And getting back on the field is a long journey.
"Often they'll regain the strength they need to return to sports but they may not be psychologically ready. It's heartbreaking news. I have three athletic daughters and I have been on the other side of this. One of the hardest things is when I have to tell a patient and usually their parents that they tore their ACL. The good news is we can address it," said Matzkin.
Dr. Matzkin sees multiple ACL tears a week. In fact, on Friday, she had four patients in her office. We spoke to one named Izzy. A senior in high school who just had her ACL surgery two months ago.
"I was running to get the ball and I just felt this tearing sensation in my knee. I remember looking at my parents and thinking, oh my gosh, I just tore my ACL," said Izzy Graziano.
But the panic subsided when she remembered several teammates had already torn theirs.
"I knew that the procedure was very, very common so I knew I'd be ok," said Izzy.
Matzkin performed the surgery in June and now Izzy will get to work to get back on the field.
"I start on the bike, I've been working on improving my quad strength with exercises, I can start weightlifting in probably about six weeks," said Izzy.
Izzy's mom, Kathleen, is grateful for the care.
"You realize that with the team of people we had around us everything was going to be OK," said Kathleen Graziano.
"It will all work out in the end," said Izzy.