Injury Prevention: ACL Tear and Concussion


Injury prevention programs are an essential factor in the subject of performance enhancement. Over recent years both knee injury and concussion have been two leading sports related injuries. The following is discussion on why knee injury prevention and concussion prevention programs should be implemented by coaches in all athletic departments.

            “Effectiveness of Knee Injury and Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tear Prevention Program A Meta-Analysis” is a research, by Donnell-Fink et al. (2015), that examined twenty-four studies in order to find the effects that neuromuscular and proprioceptive training programs had on preventing ACL and other knee injuries. According to the study, between ten to twenty-five percent of all sports related injuries are knee injuries, women being more prone to knee injury than men. This is equivalent to 250,000 ACL injuries in the United States each year leading to 80,000 reconstruction surgeries per year. The knee-injury prevention programs, included in this study, were designed to reduce landing force, as well as, improve adduction and abduction movement. The types of exercises included in the program are stretching, strengthening and balance exercise. Research found that neuromuscular and proprioceptive training reduced the risk of knee injury by almost twenty-seven percent and ACL injuries by fifty-one percent. (Dontell-Fink et al. 2015)

            According to a study by Caswell et al (2014), a smaller neck to head ratio can be a leading cause to concussion in adolescents. The study suggests that because adolescents have smaller neck-head circumference than adults, they are at a greater risk for a concussion. Study has proven that increasing neck strength, as a risk reduction strategy for concussion, increases head-neck stabilization which reduces the force of a blow to the head. Head-neck stabilization programs increase the anticipation of collision allowing adolescent athletes to brace for impact. The type of exercises included in head-neck stabilization programs comprised of neck flexion, neck extension, lateral flexion, and shoulder shrugs. Each exercise is performed for three sets of fifteen repetition, three days per week for ten weeks. (Caswell et al. 2014)

            In summary, research suggest that neuromuscular-proprioceptive knee injury prevention program should be implemented by coaches of all athletic departments as part of their injury prevention program. Further, head-neck strengthening programs should also be implemented in order to reduce the risk of concussion in adolescent athlete’s.

Reference:

Caswell, S. V., York, M., Ambegaonkar, J. P., Caswell, A. M., Cortes, N., & Turner, T. (2014). Neck Strengthening Recommendations for Concussion Risk Reduction in Youth Sport. International Journal Of Athletic Therapy & Training19(6), 22-27.

Donnell-Fink, L. A., Klara, K., Collins, J. E., Yang, H. Y., Goczalk, M. G., Katz, J. N., & Losina, E. (2015). Effectiveness of Knee Injury and Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tear Prevention Programs: A Meta-Analysis. Doi:10.1371/Journal.Pone.0144063, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0144063


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