If you or a female family member is preparing to start up a new season of soccer, running , tennis, cheerleading, gymnastics, or other sport, spend some time getting your body into shape before the season begins.
Getting your body in shape will help you out-last the competition, and decrease your likelihood of suffering from an injury that could put you on the sidelines. The correct training, along with practicing healthy nutrition habits, will help you stay in your best shape throughout the season. Here's how Robert Berry, D.O., medical director of sports medicine at Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano suggests you get in shape.
Keep Up Your Knees
As you hit puberty your pelvis gets wider, causing a greater angle from your hip to knee.
"This increases a woman's chance of injuring her knee when she lands," says Dr. Berry. In addition, your knee's femoral notch, which is where your ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) is situated, is not as wide a man's. And hormonal variations during your menstrual cycle can cause your joints to get looser.
"Women are at two to eight times greater risk of tearing their ACL than men, and this usually occurs as girls jump and land," says Dr. Berry. "This is because women are more likely than men to land with firm legs, not allowing for bend in the hips or knees."
The ACL Injury Prevention Program at Baylor Plano can help you learn to land properly and protect your knees.
Don't Stress Out Your Shins
Stress fractures impact about 20% of female athletes, and girls who play high-impact sports at a high intensity are at an increased risk for stress fractures.
"Research shows that adolescent girls who partake in high-impact sports are at greater risk of experiencing stress fractures than females who participate in lower impact sports like swimming, biking, dance, or softball," says Dr. Berry. The recent study found that every hour a girl plays a high-impact sport they increase their risk of stress fractures by 8%.
Dr. Berry says that stress fractures are small breaks in the bone, typically caused by recurring use. They can be painful, but most of the time they will go away on their own with rest.
"While weight-bearing movement is helpful in increasing bone density, too much high-impact activity can be hurtful to the bones," says Dr. Berry. "To help reduce the number of stress fractures in girls, coaches should create training programs that balance the high-impact and strenuous activities with lower-impact training so that the total amount of impact is reduced. Also, never increase your running mileage by more than 50% per week, to allow your bones a chance to adjust to the added stress"
Call 469.814.2550 to register for the ACL Injury Prevention Program at Baylor Plano, or find a physician on the Baylor Plano medical staff specializing in sports medicine at www.BaylorHealth.com/PlanoOrtho.
Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano is a 112-bed acute care hospital committed to serving North Texas residents with personalized care and advanced technology on a beautiful campus with hotel-like amenities and all private rooms. Services at the not-for-profit, fully-accredited facility include treatment for advanced spine deformities at the Baylor Scoliosis Center, neurosciences, orthopedics, medical and radiation oncology, surgical weight loss, women's services, gynecology, urology, gastroenterology, pulmonary medicine, sleep disorders, pain management, diabetes management and more.
Patients have access to digital imaging onsite at Baylor Plano, Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano Elizabeth Jekot, M.D., Breast Imaging Center and at the Baylor Diagnostic Imaging Center at Craig Ranch, an outpatient department of Baylor Plano. The hospital is the first in North Dallas and Collin County to offer minimally invasive robotic surgery for procedures through the FDA-approved da Vinci® S Surgical System. The hospital is ranked fourth in the Dallas/Fort Worth area on U.S. News and World Report's Best Regional Hospitals list. Baylor Plano is a 2010 recipient of the Texas Award for Performance Excellence and houses an Accredited Community Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Program by the American College of Surgeons Commissions on Cancer. Baylor Plano is the first hospital in Collin County to be accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers. Jerri Garison is president of Baylor Plano. For more information, or a physician referral, call toll free 1-800-4-BAYLOR or log onto www.BaylorHealth.com/Plano.
About Baylor Health Care System
Baylor Health Care System is a faith-based supporting organization providing services to a network of acute care hospitals and related health care entities that provide patient care, medical education, research and community service. Baylor recorded more than 2.6 million patient encounters, $3.8 billion in total operating revenue, $4.4 billion in total assets and $513.5 million in community benefit in fiscal year 2010. Baylor's network of more than 260 access points includes 26 owned/operated/ ventured/affiliated hospitals, 23 joint ventured ambulatory surgical centers, 50 satellite outpatient locations, four senior centers and 156 HealthTexas physician clinics.
Physicians are members of the medical staff at one of Baylor Health Care System¹s subsidiary, community or affiliated medical centers and are neither employees nor agents of those medical centers, Baylor Regional Medical Center at Plano or Baylor Health Care System.
CONTACT: Kayci Prince
469-814-2109
KayciPri@baylorhealth.edu
Janeen Browning
469.814.2107
Janeen.Browning@baylorhealth.edu
About Baylor Scott & White Health
As the largest not-for-profit health system in the state of Texas, Baylor Scott & White is empowering customers to live well by reimagining traditional healthcare — creating more convenient, personalized and informed experiences. It serves more than three million customers through 53 hospitals, including flagship academic medical centers in Dallas, Fort Worth and Temple; the Baylor Scott & White Research Institute; 1,300+ access points; 59,000+ team members; and its leading digital platform — MyBSWHealth. The system's award-winning employer solutions include Baylor Scott & White Health Plan, Baylor Scott & White Quality Alliance and Levanto — a company offering digitally enabled health products. Founded as a Christian ministry of healing more than a century ago, Baylor Scott & White's mission is to promote the health and well-being of all individuals, families and communities. For more information, visit: BSWHealth.com