Most sports injuries happen where expected - on the field, court or course. Unfortunately, by October, some of our local athletes may already have heard three letters no athlete or parent wants to hear: ACL.

The anterior cruciate ligament is one of the major stabilizing ligaments of the knee. ACL tears are particularly concerning in young female athletes, who have been reported to sustain ACL injuries at rates roughly 2–10 times higher than males in comparable sports and populations. Why? There isn't one explanation. Anatomy, neuromuscular control, strength patterns, landing and cutting mechanics, and other biological and environmental factors can all contribute.

But here's the encouraging part: many ACL injuries are preventable.

Neuromuscular prevention programs such as Sportsmetrics™ train athletes to jump, land, cut and control their bodies more safely. Research has shown 50-75% reductions in noncontact serious knee injuries with appropriately designed programs. Dynamic warm-ups incorporating strength, balance, landing mechanics and neuromuscular training can also become part of everyday practice.

That's another reason we're fortunate in Skaneateles to have Stacey Patalino, ATC, and a dedicated athletic training program. Coaches and athletes should work with Stacey and incorporate appropriate injury-prevention strategies rather than waiting for an injury to occur.

This October also marks a milestone very close to my heart.

On October 29, 2021, I performed the first FDA-cleared BEAR® (Bridge-Enhanced ACL Restoration) procedure in the United States outside a clinical research study—an accomplishment later recognized on the floor of Congress.

Before BEAR, a torn ACL was generally reconstructed: the damaged ligament was replaced using a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's body or donor tissue.

BEAR changed that paradigm.

Instead of replacing the ACL, BEAR provides an environment that allows the patient's own torn ACL to heal back together, preserving the native ligament.

And five years later, the story has become even more exciting.

We have long known that an ACL tear dramatically increases the lifetime risk of post-traumatic arthritis—and traditional ACL reconstruction restores stability but does not eliminate that risk. In January 2026, FDA-cleared labeling for the BEAR Implant was expanded to include a reduced risk of radiographically confirmed post-traumatic osteoarthritis (PTOA) compared with hamstring-autograft ACL reconstruction. In the six-year pooled study data, ACL reconstruction patients developed PTOA at six times the rate of BEAR patients.

That's important to our mission to End The Need For Knee Replacements By The Year 2043. If we can prevent ACL injuries in the first place—and potentially reduce the long-term arthritis risk when an ACL does tear—we may be able to change the entire trajectory of that person's knee.

Today, our BEAR program combines our unparalleled experience with specialized V-Motion Fit Total Body Fitness, Strength & Conditioning, and when appropriate, regenerative medicine modalities including PRP, bone marrow aspirate cells and MLS laser therapy. Rehabilitation after BEAR is different from traditional ACL reconstruction and requires specialized progression. Protocols that Victory In Motion has helped develop nationally.

Five years after performing that first procedure, my team and I remain among the world's longest-standing and most experienced teams caring for BEAR patients outside the original clinical trials.

If an ACL injury occurs, time matters. Don't assume reconstruction is your only option. And if your athlete is healthy today, prevention should begin before the injury—not afterward.

For information about BEAR or our ACL injury-prevention programs, visit victoryinmotion.com or email customerservice@victoryinmotion.com.

I also discuss our repair-first philosophy in my Amazon #1 bestselling book, Repair Not Replace, available on Amazon.