HERSHEY, Pa., July 7 (UPI) -- Risk factors for a first ankle injury are different for young men than for young women, U.S. researchers find.
"Some athletes have characteristics that make them more vulnerable to ankle trauma," says study author Bruce D. Beynnon, who conducted the research with colleagues from the University of Vermont in Burlington.
"Our data showed that young men have an entirely different set of risk factors for first time ankle ligament injury than young women."
Beynnon measured factors in 901 high school and collegiate athletes and found that the women in the study were at increased risk of suffering an ankle injury when there is a strength imbalance in the muscles that control the side-to-side movement of the ankle.
They also identified several non-modifiable risk factors including alignment of the muscles in the front of the leg with the knee; loose ankles suggestive of weak ligaments or structural problems; and equally dominant legs. Men who had undergone one or more prior surgeries to their legs were at increased risk of injury.
The findings were released at the annual meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine in Hershey, Pa.
