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A Guide to
Childhood Sports Injuries and Their Prevention
Contents
You are
sitting in your office and suddenly the phone rings. "Ms. Ramirez?
Your son, Raoul, was injured during football practice. His knee may
be badly hurt. He is going to County General. Please go to the
emergency room right away." You try to remain composed, but you can
feel panic creeping through your body. With your breathing shallow
and heart pounding, you drop everything and try to remember how to
get to the hospital.
In the past,
Raoul has only had scrapes and bruises, like most kids his age. You
recall being hesitant to let him play a rough sport like football
that requires considerable physical contact. But you decided not to
keep him from playing his favorite sport. This is your child's first
major injury.
Preventing
Injuries
Childhood
sports injuries like Raoul's may be inevitable, but there are some
things you can do to help prevent them:
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Enroll your
child in organized sports through schools, community clubs, and
recreation areas where there may be adults who are certified
athletic trainers (ATC). An ATC is also trained in the prevention,
recognition and immediate care of athletic injuries.
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Make sure
your child uses the proper protective gear for a particular sport.
This may lessen the chances of being injured.
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Warmup
exercises, such as stretching and light jogging, can help minimize
the chance of muscle strain or other soft tissue injury during
sports. Warmup exercises make the body's tissues warmer and more
flexible. Cooling down exercises loosen the body's muscles that
have tightened during exercise.
Make warmups and cool downs part of your child's routine before
and after sports participation.
And don't
forget to include sunscreen and a hat (where possible) to reduce the
chance of sunburn, which is actually an injury to the skin. Sun
protection may also decrease the chances of malignant melanoma--a
potentially deadly skin cancer--or other skin cancers that can occur
later in life. It is also very important that your child has access
to water or a sports drink to stay properly hydrated while playing.
Treat Injuries
With "RICE"
If your child
receives a soft tissue injury, commonly known as a sprain or a
strain, or a bone injury, the best immediate treatment is easy to
remember. "RICE" (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) the injury.
Get professional treatment if any injury is severe. A severe injury
means having an obvious fracture or dislocation of a joint,
prolonged swelling, or prolonged or severe pain.
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RICE |
- Rest:
Reduce
or stop using the injured area for 48 hours. If you have a leg
injury, you may need to stay off of it completely.
- Ice: Put an
ice pack on the injured area for 20 minutes at a time, 4 to 8
times per day. Use a cold pack, ice bag, or a plastic bag
filled with crushed ice that has been wrapped in a towel.
- Compression:
Compression of an injured ankle, knee, or wrist may help
reduce the swelling. These include bandages such as elastic
wraps, special boots, air casts and splints. Ask your doctor
which one is best.
- Elevation:
Keep the injured area elevated above the level of the heart.
Use a pillow to help elevate an injured limb.
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Sprains And
Strains
A sprain is an
injury to a ligament--a stretching or a tearing. One or more
ligaments can be injured during a sprain. A ligament is a band of
tough, fibrous tissue that connects two or more bones at a joint and
prevents excessive movement of the joint. Ankle sprains are the most
common injury in the United States and often occur during sports or
recreational activities. Approximately 1 million ankle injuries
occur each year and 85 percent of these are sprains.
A strain is an
injury to either a muscle or a tendon. A muscle is a tissue composed
of bundles of specialized cells that, when stimulated by nerve
impulses, contract and produce movement. A tendon is a tough,
fibrous cord of tissue that connects muscle to bone.
Growth Plate
Injuries
In some sports
accidents and injuries, the growth plate may be injured. The growth
plate is the area of developing tissues at the end of the long bones
in growing children and adolescents. When growth is complete,
sometime during adolescence, the growth plate is replaced by solid
bone. The long bones in the body are the long bones of the fingers,
the outer bone of the forearm, the collarbone, the hip, the bone of
the upper leg, the lower leg bones, the ankle, and the foot. If any
of these areas become injured, seek professional help from a doctor
who specializes in bone injuries in children and adolescents
(pediatric orthopaedist).
Repetitive Motion
Injuries
Painful
injuries such as stress fractures (where the ligament pulls off
small pieces of bone) and tendinitis (inflammation of a tendon) can
occur from overuse of muscles and tendons.
These injuries don't always show up on x-rays, but they do cause
pain and discomfort. The injured area usually responds to rest.
Other treatments include RICE, crutches, cast immobilization, or
physical therapy.
Heat And
Hydration - Playing It Safe Is Cool
Playing
rigorous sports in the heat requires close monitoring of both body
and weather conditions. Heat injuries are always dangerous and can
be fatal. Children perspire less than adults and require a higher
core body temperature to trigger sweating. Heat-related illnesses
include dehydration (deficit in body fluids), heat exhaustion
(nausea, dizziness, weakness, headache, pale and moist skin, heavy
perspiration, normal or low body temperature, weak pulse, dilated
pupils, disorientation, fainting spells), and heat stroke (headache,
dizziness, confusion, and hot dry skin, possibly leading to vascular
collapse, coma, and death). These injuries can be prevented.
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Playing safe in the heat is cool
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Recognize the dangers of playing in the heat.
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Respond
quickly if heat-related injuries occur.
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Schedule
regular fluid breaks during practice and games.
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Drinking
water is the best choice; others include fruit juices and
sports drinks.
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Kids
need to drink 8 ounces of fluid every 20 minutes, plus more
after playing.
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Make
player substitutions more frequently in the heat.
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Wear
light-colored, "breathable" clothing, and wide-brimmed hats
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Use
misting water sprays on the body to keep cool.
*Adapted with
permission from Patient Care Magazine, copyrighted by Medical
Economics. |
Exercise Is
Beneficial
Even though
Raoul got hurt, his involvement in sports is important. Exercise may
reduce his chances of obesity, which is becoming more common in
children. It may also lessen his risk of diabetes, a disease that is
sometimes associated with a lack of exercise and poor eating
habits.
As a parent,
it is important for you to match your children to the sport, and not
push him or her too hard into an activity that he or she may not
like or be capable of doing. Sports also helps children build social
skills and provides them with a general sense of well-being. Sports
participation is an important part of learning how to build team
skills.
Sports Injury And
Prevention
Raoul's mother
may not be able to protect him from all sports injuries, but she now
knows that she may be able to reduce his risk of injury by using
preventive measures. She knows how important it is to know which
sports are more likely to cause injury than others. In addition, she
checks the condition of the athletic area where the sports are to be
played. She makes sure it is properly maintained.
The following
"sports scorecard" shows winning ways to help prevent an injury from
occurring (so you are less likely to get that alarming phone call
like Raoul's mom did).
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Football
This
popular sport "leads the pack" in the number of injuries,
especially in boys, in organized sports.
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Common injuries and locations: Bruises, sprains, strains,
pulled muscles, soft tissue tears such as ligaments, broken
bones, internal injuries (bruised or damaged organs), back
injuries, sunburn. Knees and ankles are the most common injury
sites.
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Safest playing with: Helmet; mouth guard; shoulder pads;
athletic supporters for males; chest/rib pads; forearm, elbow,
and thigh pads; shin guards; proper shoes; sunscreen; water.
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Prevention: Proper use of safety equipment, warm-up
exercises, proper coaching and conditioning.
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Basketball
This
popular sport has the highest rate of knee injuries requiring
surgery among girls.
- Common injuries
and locations: Sprains, strains, bruises, fractures,
scrapes, dislocation, cuts, dental injuries. Ankles, knees
(injury rates are higher in girls,8
especially for the anterior cruciate ligament, the wide
ligament that limits rotation and forward movement of the shin
bone), shoulder (rotator cuff strains and tears, where tendons
at the end of muscles attach to the upper arm and shoulder
bones).
- Safest playing
with: Eye protection, elbow and knee pads, mouth guard,
athletic supporters for males, proper shoes, water. If playing
outdoors, add a hat and sunscreen.
- Prevention:
Strength training (particularly knees and shoulders), aerobics
(exercises that develop the strength and endurance of heart
and lungs), warmup exercises, proper coaching, and use of
safety equipment.
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Soccer
This sport
has dramatically increased in popularity in the past two decades
in the U.S.
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Common injuries: Bruises, cuts and scrapes, headaches,
sunburn.
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Safest playing with: Shin guards, athletic supporters for
males, cleats, sunscreen, water.
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Prevention: Aerobic conditioning and warmups, and proper
training in "heading" the ball. ("Heading" is using the head
to strike or make a play with the ball.)
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Baseball and Softball
Sometimes
called "America's favorite pastime."
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Common injuries: Soft tissue strains, impact injuries that
include fractures due to sliding and being hit by a ball,
sunburn.
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Safest playing with: Batting helmet, shin guards, elbow
guards, athletic supporters for males, mouth guard, sunscreen,
cleats, hat, breakaway bases.
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Prevention: Proper conditioning and warmups.
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Gymnastics
The
performance of systematic exercises.
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Common injuries: Sprains and strains of soft tissues.
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Safest playing with: Athletic supporters for males, safety
harness, joint supports (such as neoprene wraps), water.
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Prevention: Proper conditioning and warmups.
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Track and Field
Competing
at running, walking, jumping, throwing, or pushing events.
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Common injuries: Strains, sprains, scrapes from falls.
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Safest playing with: Proper shoes, athletic supporters for
males, sunscreen, water.
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Prevention: Proper conditioning and coaching.
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How your child can prevent sports
injuries
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Be in
proper physical condition to play the sport.
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Know and
abide by the rules of the sport.
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Wear
appropriate protective gear (for example, shin guards for
soccer, a hard-shell helmet when facing a baseball or softball
pitcher, a helmet and body padding for ice hockey).
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Know how
to use athletic equipment.
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Always
warm up before playing.
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Avoid
playing when very tired or in pain.
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Get a
preseason physical examination.
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Make
sure there is adequate water or other liquids to maintain
proper hydration.
*Adapted from
Play It Safe, a Guide to Safety for Young Athletes, with
permission of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
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Play Safe To Stay
Safe
Luckily for
Raoul and his mom, his injury wasn't serious. In a few weeks, he
will be fully recovered and be able to play football again before
the end of the season. Raoul now also knows how important it is to
do everything possible to keep from being hurt so he won't have to
sit on the team bench as much next season.
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