On June 23, 1972, the United States government passed the educational amendment called Title IX, which prohibited discrimination against females in any type of government-funded educational program. This amendment gave young girls the opportunity to participate in any type of school athletic program, resulting in a growing population of professional and recreational women athletes. As female sport participation flourished, physical therapists noticed that certain injuries and conditions prevail amongst female athletes. Some physical therapists specialize in these conditions.
Female Athlete Triad
Four medical conditions actually comprise what doctors call the "female athlete triad," explains physical therapist Paula E. Papanek, a professor at Marquette University in Milwaukee Wisconsin. The syndrome usually begins with undereating and overtraining, which eventually leads to menstrual disorders such as amenorrhea. Menstrual disorders decrease your estrogen level. Low estrogen levels decrease bone mineral density, giving young female athletes the bones of a menopausal woman. Brittle bones make women susceptible to injury and impede athletic performance.
Treating the Triad
Papanek believes that physical therapists working with female athletes serve as coaches and educators , as well as therapists. They dispel myths about menstruation and athletic performance, and help enforce positive body images in their patients. The therapist may also be the first person to realize that a female athlete's injuries may result from overtraining or undereating. She may prescribe weight-bearing exercises to help the athlete maintain her bone density, and consult with the young athlete's parents regarding their daughter's training schedule. The Independence Physical Therapy in Mystic, Connecticut, also specializes in treating female athletes. If the staff suspect an eating disorder, they sometimes provide nutritional information.
ACL Injuries
Female athletes are two to eight times more likely than their male counterparts to sustain an anterior cruciate ligament tear during sports performance, says physical therapist Maureen Madden of the Stone Clinic in San Francisco, and the incidence of female knee injury is about five times per hour higher than for males. Joint laxity or extreme flexibility, wider pelvises and muscular imbalances between the hamstrings and quadriceps are among the factors that make female athletes susceptible to anterior cruciate ligament tears. Weak hamstrings cause women to recover from athletic movements with their knees in a locked position, which in turn puts excess stress on the joints.
Plyometric Exercise
Many physical therapists who work with female athletes would rather not wait until their clients incur an injury. Instead, they devise injury prevention training programs. Some, like Alan Tyson of Architec Sports and Physical Therapy in North Carolina, also have personal trainer certifications. Tyson, who authored the book "Jumpmetrics," incorporates plyometric training methods into his programs for female athletes. The program emphasizes muscle imbalance correction and proper landing techniques. Plyometric exercise requires you bend your knees and activate your hamstrings when landing from a jump.
Balance Training
Olympic skier Picabo Street incurred frequent knee injuries. Rock Reid, her physical therapist, incorporated balance training exercises into her physical therapy sessions. For example, instead of performing hamstring strength exercises on a leg curl machine, Reid had her place her feet on an exercise ball, form a bridge position with her spine and bend and straighten her legs. Reid told "Sports Illustrated" that athletes should get in shape to play their sport, and that they should not assume that their sport keeps them in shape. This is particularly true for Street, who, despite her extreme athleticism, was kicked off the ski team on 1990 for being out of shape.
References
- Equity Resource Center; Title IX: A Brief History;Iram Valentin
- "Journal of Orthpaedic Sport and Physical Therapy"; The Female Athlete Triad: An Emerging Role for Physical Therapy; Paula Papanek
- Independence Physical Therapy: The Female Athlete Triad
- Stone Clinic; Women and ACL Injuries; Maureen Madden
- "Jumpmetrics"; Allen Tyson; 2004
- "Sports Illustrated"; In the Gym with Picabo Street; Dana Gelin
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