Louisville Orthopedic Surgeon and Sports Medicine Doctor Creates ACL Injury Prevention Videos to Reduce the Risk of ACL Tears for Youth Athletes

(PRLEAP.COM) February 2, 2016 – Louisville orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine physician Dr. Stacie Grossfeld is launching a video series focused on ACL Injuries and ACL Injury Prevention. The video series is an adaptation of the Santa Monica ACL Prevention Program. The Santa Monica ACL Prevention Program was created by Dr. Bert Mendelbaum from Santa Monica Sports Medicine. Studies completed in 2001 and again in 2005 showed a 60% reduction rate of ACL injuries in Division 1 female soccer players after implementing the program.

Dr. Stacie Grossfeld is double board certified in orthopedic surgery and sports medicine. As a sports medicine physician, Dr. Grossfeld treats many patients suffering from ACL injuries. As reported by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons there are around 200,000 ACL injuries in the U.S. every year. The majority of these injuries occur in youth athletes participating in soccer, basketball, lacrosse, and football. Dr. Grossfeld wants to focus on ACL Injury Prevention in order to keep young people interested and active in sports while also avoiding an injury that while preventable, sidelines many kids. In fact, 63% of athletes who experience an ACL injury never return to the same level of athletic play that they were competing in prior to injury.

Why Do ACL Injuries Prevent So Many Athletes from Returning to Sports?
Interestingly, the most common reason that athletes do not return to the same level of sports play is psychological. Athletes fear that they will reinjure themselves and after 5 to 6 months of recovery from the initial ACL injury, do not want to risk another tear. Once an ACL injury occurs in an athlete, 20% of them will have recurring ACL injuries and up to 80% of them will develop early onset arthritis.

Who Tears Their ACL and How Do You Know If You've Torn Yours?
ACL tears most often occur in young athletes who play sports that require a lot of twisting, jumping, and contact. It is also proven that females are 8 times more likely to tear their ACL after they hit puberty. Why? It is thought that the change in neuro muscular development controls the jump in the ACL tear rate.

The only way to confirm an ACL injury is through an MRI, but there are three symptoms that are common among ACL injuries. The symptoms include:

A loud pop that sounds when the injury occurs

Swelling in the knee within 12 hours of the injury

Unable to finish the game due to pain in the knee

If you or someone you love is suffering from any of these symptoms, you should seek qualified medical attention for diagnosis and treatment.

ACL Injury Prevention Program
Dr. Grossfeld's ACL Injury Prevention Program is comprised of 20 to 25 minutes of exercise. If this workout is done 2-3 times a week, as a warm up, it will prevent ACL injuries in both male and female athletes. Not only will it help prevent ACL injuries, but it will also help those who have already suffered from an ACL injury who want to return to sports avoid a second injury.

As explained by Dr. Grossfeld: "It is so important in this time and date and age for any athlete who is planning on playing a high risk sport for ACL injury such as soccer, basketball, lacrosse, football, they should be involved in an ACL prevention program. It's so easy. It's only 20 mins three times a week. Use it as a warm up and reduce your athlete's rate of ACL injury at least 50%."

There are five components to the ACL Injury Prevention Program:

Warm Up

Stretching

Strengthening

Sports Agilities

Plyometrics

Each component of the program includes multiple exercises that are covered in the video series produced by Dr. Grossfeld. Interestingly, Dr. Grossfeld also discusses a case study that was done on two groups of young adults who had all undergone ACL surgery. One group did the ACL Injury Prevention Program while participating in sports and the other group did not. The group who did the preventative exercises had a recurring injury rate of 5 times less than the group who did not perform the exercises.

About Dr. Grossfeld and Orthopaedic Specialists in Louisville, Kentucky
Dr. Stacie L. Grossfeld is a graduate of the University Of Louisville School Of Medicine. She served her internship and residency at the University of Minnesota, and completed a fellowship in Sports Medicine at the Fowler- Kennedy Sports Medicine Center. Dr. Grossfeld works as an orthopedic surgeon at Orthopaedic Specialists in Louisville, Kentucky. She is Board Certified in both Sports Medicine and in Orthopedic Surgery by the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery (ABOS). Dr. Grossfeld also serves as an Assistant Clinical Professor at the University of Louisville in the Department of Family Medicine.

Dr. Grossfeld's special interests as an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine physician include ACL injuries, knee and shoulder reconstruction, shoulder injuries, and sports medicine. Along with her work at Orthopaedic Specialists and the University of Louisville, Dr. Grossfeld also serves on the Board of Directors for the YMCA at Norton Commons and the Louisville Sports Commission. If you or someone you know needs treatment for an ACL injury, Dr. Grossfeld can help. For more information about the ACL Injury Prevention Program, or to schedule an appointment, call Orthopaedic Specialists at: 502-212-2663 today.