Preventing ACL Injuries in Teens: Report

A recent report out from the American Academy of Pediatrics details why so many teens these days are tearing their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and suggests a number of ways that both young athletes and their trainers can better protect their knees.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is the fundamental part of a person's leg which provides stability to the knee. Torn or over-stretched ligaments can result in a loose kneecap and even a collapsed leg, and compromises the stability of the entire limb.

Unfortunately, ACL tears are not uncommon, especially among teens who are in the midst of the "awkward" stages of body growth, where they are unaccustomed and unfamiliar with their body's own strengths and weaknesses; yet, these injuries -- if serious enough -- can be devastating to a teen's athletic aspirations.

However, according to the AAP, there is still hope. In a report published in Pediatrics, AAP-associated experts write that specific types of training can reduce the risk of an ACL tear by as much as 72 percent for young athletes.

This training, called "neurotransmuscular training programs" -- or NTPs -- are designed to strengthen lower-extremity "stabilizer" muscles, maintaining limb stability and also helping athletes become more familiar with the limitations and positioning of their own bodies.

According to the report, that second benefit is hugely important to younger teens, as the risk of ACL injury among young girls rises around the age of 12, and rises for boys around the age of 14, marking points in their life when they will be going through growth spurts that keep the young athletes unfamiliar with their own bodies.

The report details numerous NTPs that can be sport and gender specific, and the AAP urges coaches and trainers alike to make use of this training, as to avoid the alarming number of ACL tears that are currently seen.

According to the AAP, past research has shown that people who suffer from an ACL tear are up to ten times more likely to develop early-onset degenerative knee conditions -- conditions that could have been avoided had they simply trained in the proper way.

The AAP report was published in Pediatrics on April 28.