Regain Your Peak Performance

Injury Prevention

ACL Tear Prevention 

Westwood Physical Therapy now has a program available which is designed to decrease the incidence of non-contact anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears, one of the most serious knee injuries sustained by athletes.

Research has shown that female athletes are 6 to 9 times more likely to sustain an ACL injury than their male counterparts.  The ACL is a major ligament of the knee.  It’s role is to provide stability to the front of the knee joint, keeping the lower leg from sliding too far forward.  Athletes participating in basketball, volleyball, soccer and skiing appear to be the most threatened with injuring their ACL when they decelerate, pivot or land after a jump.  Research has shown that an ACL prevention program can reduce this risk of injury by upto 90%.

Our ACL program has been designed based on the results of a 2 year clinical prevention trial among NCAA female soccer players completed by the Santa Monica Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Foundation.  Results showed that increasing flexibility, proprioception and agility can reduce non –contact ACL tears by up to 88% in female athletes. 

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Our ACL prevention program works by retraining the nervous system and muscle system of an individual to be more efficient and as a result reduces the potential for non-contact ACL tears. 

WHAT IS THE ACL PREVENTION PROGRAM?

The program consists of 5 components:
1. flexibility exercises for the lower extremity to optimize muscle length
2. proper running form and technique analysis and instruction
3. lower extremity strengthening exercises: this portion will focus on increasing leg strength which in turn will lead to a more stable knee.  Technique is everything and we ensure that all exercises are done with proper form to avoid injury
4. plyometrics: these are explosive exercises that help build power, strength and speed.  The landing technique is the most important and therefore proper form is the focus here.
5. agility training

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