A Merseyside sports physiotherapist has explained why data shows that more male athletes suffer injuries than their female counterparts.
Sports-related injuries have long been a prevalent issue across various disciplines. These injuries often result in athletes being sidelined.
Physiotherapist Scott Seddon is the owner of SS Sports Injury Therapy Clinic in Southport. He was also formerly the sports therapist for Everton Women for seven years.
The 27 year-old said that male and female athletes means they experience injuries differently.
He said: “Men are lot stronger than women, and that tends to result in a lot of muscle injuries because men are much stronger, we’re more explosive.
“So that causes those tears within the soft tissue structure, whereas women get a lot of more ligament injuries just due to the hormonal imbalance during certain times in a month.
“That increased estrogen causes increased laxity within the ligaments and therefore increases the risk of injury during a competitive sport or something like that.”
He also highlighted how age can impact the rehabilitation process for athletes.
He said: “I’ve worked with a lot of youth athletes where the surgeon recommends anywhere from 12 to 14 months.
Aged 18 and over the you’re probably looking at 11 to 15 months and that completely depends on the individual as well, and the person and how their rehabs going. They’ve got to hit certain markers to be ticked off to the next stage, and if you don’t hit those markers they’re not going to progress.”
According to a 2023 report by BMJ Journal, the most recent researched had shown that men where more likely to get injured while playing sport (59%), with women being injured less (41%).
According to Podium Analytics in their 2024 report on sporting injuries 21% of people have at least suffered one injury in their lifetime while playing.
The therapist spoke about the typical steps that athletes need to take, to get back in shape, and to get back to playing again.
Seddon said: “You’re looking at some gentle range of movement and then once you get out of that, you’re then looking at some isometric tests so you’re basically just turning on the quads, you’re activating them, you’re forced in the back of your knee into your bed and that is just getting that quad activated again, getting the signals from your brain to the muscle and getting it working.
“And then over time, I’m pretty sure from day one you’re the surgeon has you out of bed walking. It takes a couple of weeks off and months off, which in sport is massive.”
According to a most recent report written from Science Direct in 2023, women would have to wait on average 300 days to return from an ACL injury while men would only wait 248 days.
The road to recovery is a long one for athletes after sustaining a nasty injury, but Scott shared some thoughts on how they should treat the process.
Seddon said: “Enjoy it. As weird and as hard as that sounds, if you are a professional athlete or you’re an athlete to a certain degree or level, you been doing that sport for a very long time.
“So, enjoy that rest because once you’re back and you’re stronger, you’ll be a better player of whatever that sport is.”
