ACL injuries in female soccer players

My knee problems started back in high school when I first tore the A.C.L. of my right knee playing soccer, at age 16. Since then I have read and heard about many more injuries to young female athletes. Especially knee injuries. I was given this article by a friend last year and was both fascinated and saddened by the findings.
The story of Janelle is similar to my own. I started playing soccer at age 4 and was playing on a traveling competitive team by age 8. I played on a competitive club team as well as started on the varsity soccer team in high school all four years. You could say I follow the idea that I am a girl "who believes they are as capable and as tough as any boy."

The part of the article I find to be most intriguing is that "the nature of both [Janelle's] A.C.L. injuries — occurring, as they did, without contact and seemingly in the absence of any extraordinary circumstances — is the very thing that perplexes A.C.L. researchers. It takes 2,000 Newtons (a measure of force) to rip an A.C.L. apart. The mystery is why a knee works properly for many years — through game after game, practice after practice, long season after long season, for tens of thousands of repetitions — and then, without warning, a tiny but crucial component suddenly malfunctions." Prior to my first A.C.L. tear I was in the best shape of my life. It was the summer before my senior year in high school which is THE crucial recruiting time for any player interested in playing soccer in college. I was in outstanding shape and ready to be seen by college recruiters who I had already been in contact with. In July I was at a tournament in Colorado, chasing after a ball where I planted wrong and heard that infamous "snap". Every female soccer player fears the letters A-C-L and they all know (without their own experience) that the "snap" means trouble. This article spoke to me, and made me realize that I am not alone and that there are many other young women out there who have experienced, or will experience, the same injury I did.

I often get asked the question "If you knew then what you know now, would you have changed anything? Would you have quit playing soccer?" My answer is always the same "there is no way you could have stopped me from playing soccer". I do not regret my decision and feel that although I have been through quite a long road of knee injuries and surgeries over the past 12 years, I am a stronger person now and the path since my first A.C.L. injury has lead me to where I am today, and I am happy.

Cartilage damage - roadmap

Here is a brief overview of the knee with particular attention to injured articular cartilage. Notice in the image above the pink/red area. This is a simple snapshot of what damaged cartilage looks like and a simple easy to understand look at the inside of the knee.

What is cartilage?

Cartilage is a type of connective tissue in the body. It is made of cells called chondrocytes embedded in a matrix, strengthened with fibers of collagen and sometimes elastin, depending on the type of cartilage. There are three different types: hyaline cartilage, elastic cartilage, and fibrocartilage. Cartilage serves to provide structure and support to the body's other tissues without being as hard or rigid as bone. It can also provide a cushioning effect in joints.

Cartilage is avascular, meaning that it is not supplied by blood vessels. Instead, nutrients diffuse through the matrix. Cartilage is usually flexible, again depending on the type. Some of the bodily structures that include cartilage are the ears, nose, ribcage, and intervertebral discs.
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Torn Meniscus

The meniscus is a C-shaped piece of fibrocartilage which is located at the peripheral aspect of the joint. The majority of the meniscus has no blood supply. For that reason, when damaged, the meniscus is unable to undergo the normal healing process that occurs in most of the rest of the body. In addition, with age, the meniscus begins to deteriorate, often developing degenerative tears. Typically, when the meniscus is damaged, the torn piece begins to move in an abnormal fashion inside the joint.
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Benefits of cartilage repair

Each year, hundreds of million of people injure the cartilage in their knees, shoulders and other joints. Whatever the cause, the result is the same: pain that makes it difficult or impossible for you to lead the active lifestyle you wish to enjoy. Unfortunately, these injuries happen to people considered too young to undergo artificial joint replacement surgery. Many patients have been living with joint pain for years. Some cannot remember a time when their knee didn't throb or swell with every step, flight of stairs or short jog. Fortunately, there are new treatment options-many of them available only in the last five years.
(For more information visit: cartilage.org a website dedicated to cartilage repair. )