SELF.com reports on the rising number of women athletes experiencing ACL tears.

Researchers have long known that women are far more likely to tear their ACLs. While precise estimates vary depending on the age group and population, they likely have about three to four times the risk as men,

Gabriella Ode, MD, sports medicine surgeon at HSS, member of the Women’s Sports Medicine Center, and team physician for the New York Liberty, explained that the ACL’s role is to stabilize the knee’s front and back motion, preventing your tibia from sliding out ahead of your femur. It also gives you control over rotation—“the ability to step with your foot and then turn and feel like, ‘Hey, I have good support below me in order to move explosively,'

There's another effect of ACL tears that can’t be understated: The mental impact can be huge. “This is an injury that typically occurs in athletic people who are participating in a sport or doing some sort of high-level activity, and it really derails their mobility and their desires for sport and activity, whether short- or long-term,” Dr. Ode says. “It’s totally okay to have an emotional response.”

Read the full article at self.com.