TODAY.com highlights why women suffer more ACL injuries than men according to research. 

People often injure their ACL while playing sports, especially agility-based sports which involve quick changes in direction or jumping and landing, according to Andrew D. Pearle, MD, chief of sports medicine at HSS.  These include soccer, basketball, lacrosse, football, field hockey and volleyball, Dr. Pearle added.

“It has been known for some time that women have higher rates of ACL injuries ... anywhere from a three to six or four to eight times higher risk of ACL injury as compared to men with the same exposure rate (playing the same level of a sport),” said Dr. Pearle.

Females have wider hips and pelvises which can affect how their lower bodies move.

"There are theories about alignment ... women tend to have more of what's called a valgus alignment of the hips, knees and ankles, where their knees cave in a little bit more," said Dr. Pearle.

This "knock-knee" alignment can impact the way women jump or land, Dr. Pearle added, which may increase the risk of ACL injury compared to men, who often have a more bow-legged alignment.

“Women may be a bit more more ligamentously lax than men,” said Dr. Pearle, adding that this causes looser ligaments and more flexible joints, which may contribute to knee instability.

Read the full article at today.com.