Can women do anything to decrease their chances of ACL injury?
Dr. Souryal: I tell my patients that flexibility, strength and endurance are crucial and so is common sense. If you’re playing a sport you’ve never tried before, don’t go out and try 110 percent. If you are not used to doing a 360-degree lay-up, certainly don’t do it when you’re tired. As far as flexibility is concerned, people stretch before and after activity, but sometimes not during a time-out or halftime. Strength and endurance are vital. Not only do you have to have the power in your legs to jump for a rebound, you also need the endurance to play for the entire 60 minutes, because the second half is when you see trouble. These are things in your control. Also, there are certain shoes that are a bit more dangerous than others, especially cleats. In a study on grass fields, longer cleats were far more dangerous than shorter ones. This is an issue for women playing soccer. Right now, unfortunately, there is no brace that you can slip on to prevent ACL injuries. What about rehabilita
