Sch (l) succession to the World Cup That's why footballers get o-legs

Myth O-legs aired by football

The starting signal for the 2018 World Cup has already fallen and Germany is in football fever. In many countries football is the most widely practiced sport of children and adolescents. In general, soccer players expect a higher incidence of genu varum, better known as O-legs. A German medical team has looked at the relationship between intense football training and the development of O-legs to find evidence for this often-heard guess.

The team around the surgeons Peter Helmut Thaller and Julian Fürmetz from the Ludwig-Maximilians University evaluated the data of 1,344 football players. All subjects have played football since childhood. In fact, the doctors could find differences to non-kickers. The distance between the knees was on average 1.5 centimeters higher for the athletes. The experts suggest that asymmetric muscle forces and increased one-sided loads on and around the knee joint could be a cause of the increased distance. In particular, during growth spurts before and during puberty, this could occur in competitive athletes. The results of the study were recently published in the "Deutsches Ärzteblatt".

A recent analysis shows a direct correlation between intensive football training and the development of O-legs and knee arthrosis. (Image: videodoctor / fotolia.com)

The conclusion

"Intense football game in the growing age can favor the development of Genu varum (O-legs)," report the doctors in the evaluation. In addition, there is an increased risk of knee osteoarthritis. The authors of the analysis advise physicians to point out this risk when footballers want to do their sport at a high performance level. As long as football is practiced as recreational sport, the concerns are rather small.

How does it come to the high loads?

In typical movements, the football players often exercise during training and games, it comes to heavy stress on the adductor of the thigh. These muscles start on the inside of the leg. The doctors report in the analysis that the adductors pull so hard on the inside of the knee, that they stress the growth joints at the knee joints unilaterally. This effect is reinforced by cleats on the shoes, because the force can not be derived by an external rotation of the foot.

In adolescent O-legs - In adult osteoarthritis

Overall, the physicians noted that intensively practicing football in adolescents tends to increase the risk of O-legs, while adults are more likely to be at increased risk of knee osteoarthritis. It should be noted that this is performance-based sport, which is run five times a week. From a transferability of the results on the recreational sports, the doctors do not go for the time being.

Famous kicker with leg misalignments

There have long been observations of frequently occurring O-legs in the football industry. Experts often argued about whether a link between football and legged legs is just myth or tangible medicine. The most famous O-legs has probably Pierre Littbarski, for which the crooked legs were almost a trademark. More recent representatives include Kevin-Prince Boateng and Marko Marin.

Effects of O-legs

The malposition of the knee joints can often be seen at first glance, depending on the severity. The curved shape is also referred to as the varus position of the knee and leads to increased stress on the knees and feet. Typical symptoms include knee joint pain or leg pain under stress, morning pain when getting up or after prolonged sitting. The malposition may favor the formation of kink-lowering feet. In addition, the risk of knee osteoarthritis increases. If only one leg of Genu varum is affected, spinal cord injury can occur. But many sufferers do not experience any discomfort caused by O-legs. (Vb)