Female Athlete Program

The female athlete triad is a syndrome of three medical conditions: disordered eating, amenorrhea (lack of menstrual periods) and low bone density. This syndrome is often overlooked in physically active young women and can lead to increased risk of fractures and sports injuries. If your child is exhibiting any signs of the triad, she should be evaluated for treatment by our sports medicine team.

Athletes usually have higher bone mineral density than less active individuals. However, overtraining and excessive exercise can put bone health at risk. If your child does repetitive, high-impact motions, such as distance runners, he or she is at risk for overtraining. Bone health is also affected by calcium and vitamin D intake, nutritional balance and estrogen. Compromised bone health in young female athletes may lead to small microfractures commonly referred to as stress fractures, which most often occur in the tibia. Along with a risk of stress fractures and bone loss, athletes with amenorrhea and disordered eating patterns are at risk of osteoporosis. Healthy eating habits and appropriate training regimens allow your child to grow in the fittest way possible while also putting her in the best position to achieve her goals in future endeavors.

Eating a proper amount of healthy calories each day optimizes your child’s ability to perform and prevent injuries. Your child also must take in a certain amount of protein, vegetables, carbohydrates, calcium and vitamin D to improve muscle function and decrease risk of stress fractures, infection and inflammation. Our doctors and nutritionists can help craft an individualized dietary plan to optimize the your child’s performance.

There are two primary eating disorders, anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. A refusal to maintain a minimally normal body weight is known as anorexia nervosa. Bulimia nervosa is characterized as recurring incidents of binge eating, followed by inappropriate compensatory behaviors such as excessive exercise, self-induced vomiting and misuse of medications. Disordered eating in athletes has serious consequences. It can contribute to nutritional deficits and directly affect your child’s ability to build bone, maintain muscle mass and recover from injury. When your child’s body is low on fuel, it can lead to an inability to concentrate and a loss of overall strength.

Amenorrhea can be caused by a variety of things. Most often, female athletes develop functional hypothalamic amenorrhea due to a combination of exercise and stress. Amenorrhea leads to an estrogen deficiency, which increases the risk of stress fractures, especially in active females.

Women are more than twice as likely to get a head injury than men playing the same sport. Our team of sports medicine doctors and athletic trainers correctly diagnose and manage concussions to allow a timely and safe return to sports. We also offer pre- and post- concussion neurocognitive testing.