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Theories on contributing factors for so many acl/mcl/achilles injuries

Nawledge

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In looking for variables that could be contributing to ACL injuries in the NFL, many experts and analysts have pointed to aspects of the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the league and players, the signing of which in August 2011 ended that year’s player lockout.

The new CBA mandates a significant decrease in the length of the offseason training program, number of “organized team activities” (offseason training sessions), and number of full-contact practices. In addition, the CBA limits players’ access to team training facilities and medical personnel during the offseason.

The new rules, perhaps ironically, are designed to protect players—the reduced physical contact is intended to decrease the risk of concussion, and the reduced training volume is intended to decrease the risk of overuse injury and general wear and tear. But some believe the limitations may have unintended consequences when it comes to risk of ACL injuries.

Tim Hewett, PhD, director of the Ohio State University Health and Performance Institute in Columbus, noted that the ACL injury patterns in the NFL this season are reminiscent of the increase in ACL injuries seen after the 2011 National Basketball Association lockout and the increase in Achilles injuries that occurred after the 2011 NFL lockout (see “Lockout lessons: NFL Achilles injuries spark debate,” November 2011, page 15). Athletes had no access to team training facilities during both lockouts, so it makes sense that the training restrictions for NFL players mandated by the CBA would have a similar effect, he said.

“This number of ACL injuries in the preseason is way beyond what you’d normally expect, and now there have been three instances of what appear to be significant anomalies in injury patterns. When you put the three together, you may have something real,” Hewett said. “There is extremely strong evidence now showing we can reduce the risk of noncontact ACL injuries through training. Could we make the leap to say in the absence of that kind of training the injury rate would go up? I think logically we could say that.”

Whereas altered training practices may have contributed to rates of noncontact ACL injury, a change in the on-field rules—again, intended to protect players from concussion—may be inadvertently increasing the risk of ACL injuries resulting from contact between players. A 2010 rule established fines for tackles targeting an opponent’s head or neck under certain situations. But some defensive players, in an effort to avoid such infringements, have compensated by focusing their tackles on their opponent’s legs, in turn putting the knees at risk.

Both Bramel and Hewett suggested that newer-generation artificial playing surfaces may also be contributing to ACL injury in NFL players, citing a 2012 study conducted by the league’s Injury and Safety Panel that found a 67% higher rate of ACL sprains on artificial turf than on grass (see “Artificial surfaces evolve, but safety debate persists,” May 2013, page 57). An ACL sprain may be less severe than a tear, but the mechanism of injury is essentially the same, Hewett said.

http://lermagazine.com/news/in-the-...acl-issue-experts-debate-contributing-factors



This article is from 2013...i decided to look for it because of the insane amount of these injuries that have been happening over the last few years. I know its football and injuries are inevitable but it seems like people are tearing acls every week. Alot of them are non contact related as well. Stars are dropping like flies to these injuries. It is definately more common it seems like for these injuries to occur over the past few years than ever before. I thought this was an interesting article on the topic and thought id post it up for ya guys. Losing wake was devastating for us, then today leveon bell tears his acl...forte could possibly have tore his. Its really crazy how many acl/mcl and achilles tears are happening.
 
Achilles issues are more likely 'shoes' related than practice/training; Nike is romantically beautiful to behold, but his shoes are pos; bad for every part of your body... if Asics or Brooks made football cleats, they'd be the shoes all players should wear... also check the tackling on most of the knee injuries; you may notice runners getting landed on by tacklers; it's not form tackling, it's dirty tackling... it's purposefully done... grab on and land your weight on some part of the lower extremities... hard. or make sure your roll up on guys at the end of plays... messed up


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interesting tidbit on the three achilles this week. Wake, Smith and Foster all have had injuries in prior weeks or were out.
 
Players are bigger, stronger, faster. More strain on tendons and ligaments means more tendon and ligament injuries.
 
They need to do less weight room training and more full contact practice work. Players should alsomhave weight limits for their respective positions. Like lineman can't exceed 300. Lbs can't exceed 250 etc. Something needs to change because injuries are destroying the game. Jamal Charles, tony romo, big Ben, dez bryant, leveon bell, Steve Smith, Cameron wake, desean Jackson...its crazy. These are all franchise players. The injuries, cheating and general unfairness in the NFL is making me second guess watching this **** anymore. The league is completely built around the qb, if you don't have one you have no shot. There's all of 5 that are worth a ****, you do the math.
 
You will never get me to believe its not from PED's. Steroids (Or whatever designer name they are going by that week) strengthen your muscles, they do nothing for tendons and ligaments. once your muscles are too much to handle this is what happens. Most people dont tear their achillies just turning like Foster did. No way i believe it any other way. Now if your knee gets rolled up on thats different, but non contact.........
 
They need to do less weight room training and more full contact practice work. Players should alsomhave weight limits for their respective positions. Like lineman can't exceed 300. Lbs can't exceed 250 etc. Something needs to change because injuries are destroying the game. Jamal Charles, tony romo, big Ben, dez bryant, leveon bell, Steve Smith, Cameron wake, desean Jackson...its crazy. These are all franchise players. The injuries, cheating and general unfairness in the NFL is making me second guess watching this **** anymore. The league is completely built around the qb, if you don't have one you have no shot. There's all of 5 that are worth a ****, you do the math.

Good post and agree with you on the weights and contact drills. The problem is with the amount of money that is out there these guys are going to hit the weights and try to get every advantage they can. I never thought about the weight restrictions on positions, kind of intriguing, but doubt that would ever fly.

I absolutely agree with you on the QB though would love to see the league move away from some of the rules that help the QB. With more college teams running spread offenses the quality of the QB seems to shrink every year.
 
You will never get me to believe its not from PED's. Steroids (Or whatever designer name they are going by that week) strengthen your muscles, they do nothing for tendons and ligaments. once your muscles are too much to handle this is what happens. Most people dont tear their achillies just turning like Foster did. No way i believe it any other way. Now if your knee gets rolled up on thats different, but non contact.........

I agree that steroids is part of the problem, but it's not always the case. Eventually those who are juicing make themselves more likely to get injured.
 
Achilles issues are more likely 'shoes' related than practice/training; Nike is romantically beautiful to behold, but his shoes are pos; bad for every part of your body... if Asics or Brooks made football cleats, they'd be the shoes all players should wear... also check the tackling on most of the knee injuries; you may notice runners getting landed on by tacklers; it's not form tackling, it's dirty tackling... it's purposefully done... grab on and land your weight on some part of the lower extremities... hard. or make sure your roll up on guys at the end of plays... messed up


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Asics are some of the ugliest shoes, but I still buy a couple of pair every year for running and working out. Easily some of the best made shoes I have owned...
 
You will never get me to believe its not from PED's. Steroids (Or whatever designer name they are going by that week) strengthen your muscles, they do nothing for tendons and ligaments. once your muscles are too much to handle this is what happens. Most people dont tear their achillies just turning like Foster did. No way i believe it any other way.
Actually, most achilles tears are completely non-contact. The standard story is "I went to run/jump/plant, I felt a pop and I went down". A friend of mine just tore his second achilles shooting baskets in his driveway, the same way he tore his first. Another friend of mine (a gal) tore hers at aerobics just doing jumping jacks. I do agree that there's likely a stress component involved (and this is where something like PED's could overload the tendon), a repetition component, and a genetic component. But it's impossible to pin it down to one cause - the injury occurs far too often and under the most benign circumstances to be able to do that.
 
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