ACL Tears on the Rise?

I have played sports since was four years old I have played soccer, basketball baseball, &
done swim team but I stuck with soccer for the last 15 years of my life. As I grew older and
moved up in the competition level I couldnt help but notice one common trend ACL tears and
not just in athletes my age and older but also younger. Or anterior cruciate ligament. It is a very
serious injury and can be a career ending injury, it usually cause by over stretching or tearing of
the ligament. For those who dont know where the ACL is it is the point where the femur and
tibia meet this is a very key ligament for stabilizing the knee. Without the ACL it becomes very
hard to participate in any physical activity.
Well when I first heard that someone tore their ACL I didnt know what it was so I went
to look it up because I had never heard of it. For those that havent heard of an ACL it is a
ligament in the nee mainly for stabilization of the knee to keep it in place. Without it can jump in
and out of place very easily. What usually causes an ACL tear is the overstretching of the
ligament. But a lot of people who I talked to said that they didnt know like my dad he said that it
was new to him. 20 years ago no one tore their ACLs they fracture their tibia spine, which is a
split of the bone that extends from the tibia or shinbone which is attached to the ACL. According
to doctors the tibia spine tore because bones arent fully developed in kids but ligaments are fully
developed in kids. The tibia spine was stronger than the ACL ligament but now it seems
something has changed to make the ligaments stronger or tibia spine weaker. So this made think
what has changed? Why are kids Tibia spines stronger now? Or is it that ligaments are getting
weaker in our youth?

The very first piece of information I came across was titled Once an Adult injury.
Which I have found to be very true my dad and mom didnt know what an ACL was 20 years
ago. And it became known in the last 20 years as injury only adults had but it has slowly become
more occurring in younger athletes. But one article pointed the fact out that these kinds of injury
were rare but no longer. They are more common than ever and not just in adults now in todays
youth. Why are ACL tears on the rise? Why are younger kids more prone now to ACL tears?
So looking through the tons of injury articles I came a across a key few that I could piece
together. So the first article I came across intrigued me because doctors in Philadelphia found
that there was a 400% rise in ACL tears in younger athletes. After reading many stories of these
kids who varied form 4 years old to 20 years old I noticed a few common trends. One was that
some of the kids were practicing 2-3 hours a day three to four times a week and playing games,
which was my schedule I had two a day practices because I played for two teams. Parents
thought that it was just that their kids were just playing too much and werent getting proper rest.
Another trend I noticed was that they all started playing sports at younger ages like me. But
many didnt switch sports they stuck with one from a young age and played only that sport like
soccer which I played year round and doctors said that it the cause for a ACL tear is multi
factorial but one may just be pure overload either too much load to quickly or just strenuous load
over a long period of time. But the last reason they gave was that it may be lack of proper form
while running, lifting or stretching. Doctors noticed that a lot were seemingly cause by poor form
of the activity which may cause the act to move or stretch in unnatural ways causing the tear. So
once again this article raised more questions than answers. Like was it poor form? Or is it kids
just simply being to active? Or does it stem from an early age? Im not sure but I really to find
out which it is it just one or all three? Or just a coincidence?

This led me to look to answer those questions. I found an article titled are kids
specializing to soon? So its looking at the starting from a young age aspect. Specializing means
committing to one sport to early this could cause the overuse of the ligament in the same way for
a long period of time could cause the tear. Mainly because the kids may have the stamina but not
the strength and flexibility they need and the continued abuse of the ACL ligament. Robert
Sandmeier, MD said Balanced fitness is crucial for durability and essential for recovery to
prevent further episodes. Another key point this article made was how important a proper
recovery is because 50% of athletes after an ACL are back to playing within a year but in some
cases kids never play again. Why is that? Well they state that a proper recovery is important if
not done properly injuries can become permanent. A lot of the time people do physical therapy
but it is key do to it properly and not rush it. Many athletes cut corners or start playing again too
early only increasing their chances for a second tear. Which would be devastating to an athlete. I
know plenty of people who skipped out on a lot of physical therapy because it was hard or it was
boring. But its not supposed to be fun its to help you rebuild and rehabilitate the muscles in
your leg. But I noticed a lot of it was kids form age 8-18 that were in physical therapy because
they were young they didnt realize the benefit of physical therapy. So I wanted to look more into
the Youth side of ACL tears. Because I noticed a huge increase in younger kids from ages 5-18
mainly.
I did come across one story of an 11 year old girl who tore her ACL while running
sideways in gym class. Thats all it took to tear this young girls ACL. She had to wait for surgery
because she was still growing. I know doctors urge kids to remain active and they do give kids
braces but from knowing so many people that tore their ACLs and had to wait for surgery they
said it was hard to remain active because their knees keep giving out. And little do most of these

athletes know but there will more than likely be lifelong consequences. And 11-yearold Josie
Berg-Hammond knows all too well she didnt know that day would have lifelong repercussions
but it did. She says to this day and it has been more than a decade after the surgery and she still
has pains in her knee. This is a very serious injury and needs to be taken very serious. But
changes need to be made. Why are kids asked to wait on surgery? Are their benefits to waiting or
not waiting? What are the long term effects of these injuries?
I noticed a lot of younger kids from ages 5-18. So I did some research because I do know
that the kids in those age ranges are in a key developmental stage in their lives. So want to know
are there any permanent or common occurring long term injuries? Or are there some benefits of
it tearing at a younger age? I found article that said early ACL tears and surgery can be
beneficial. Not in a way where you get superhuman leg strength but in a preventive way. There
were a lot of statistics on the page but a few stood out to me. The first was that kids who wait
longer than six weeks have a much higher risk of tearing their meniscuses. A meniscus for those
that may know its a series of c shaped ligaments that are like shock absorbers in your knees.
The biggest point this article made was to correct the common misconception that doctors should
wait to perform surgery on kids because they may mess with the growth patterns. A lot of the
time doctors will wait till kids growth plates are closed so they dont affect their growth. But
there are many repercussions I know a lot of teammates who now complain of constant pain in
their knee and they all waited till they were 18 to have surgery.
So I have discovered a lot about why ACL tears are a very serious injury. Also why kids
are more prone but I have no definitive answer there are still a lot of questions to be asked but
this a relatively new injury in todays world. I still dont know what has changed making the tibia
spine stronger or the ligaments stronger. But I do have a better idea as to what can cause the ACL

tear like overuse, or early specialization into one sport the repeat punishment over time can cause
the tear. But there are still the freak accidents like 11 year old Josie Berg-Hammond where the
smallest activity can cause a tear so I have learned a lot but there is still some ways to go.

Work cited

"ACL Tears Are on the Rise in Kids." Tribunedigital-chicagotribune. 2013. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.

"ACL Tears Are on the Rise in Kids." Tribunedigital-chicagotribune. 2013. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.

"ACL Injuries in Children and Adolescents." Nationwide Children's. Web. 16 Feb. 2016.
"Early ACL Surgery Has Benefits for Young Athletes." Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 2014.
Web. 01 Mar. 2016.
"ACL Tears Are on the Rise in Kids." Tribunedigital-chicagotribune. 2013. Web. 01 Mar. 2016.