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 AUGUST 27, 2010 Preventing Back-to-School Sports Injuries Young athletes who are returning to school sports, such as soccer, football, cross-country, and volleyball, can lessen their chance of injury by taking some simple precautions, including not pushing themselves to the point of overuse injuries. The most important advice is to start getting in shape before showing up for the first day of practice or tryouts. If the weather is hot, wear light, loose clothing that breathes and allows air to circulate; keep your fluid intake up; take frequent breaks; and limit your exposure to the sun in the middle of the day, if possible. Half of all youth sports injuries are due to overuse, and the other half are the result of ligament sprains, muscle strains, and bruises. One factor contributing to the rise in overuse injuries is year-round sports specialization. "We're seeing more serious sports injuries at a younger age," says Dr. Laurie Donaldson, sports medicine specialist at the University of Michigan. "The concern is they are still skeletally immature with open growth plates that are prone to injury." The trauma of long-term training can damage joints that aren't completely developed. Before age 13, any activity that requires repetitive jumping, falling, or high-intensity training can affect a child's physical development by putting stress on the growth plates, the growing areas at the ends of bones at the joints. During the growth spurt, the skeleton must support increased weight and load and, as a result, there is increased risk for an injury among teens. This is less of a problem among older teens, who have gone through most of their growth spurts. Dr. Donaldson's advice for parents in order to protect young athletes from potentially serious sports injuries includes: --Discourage year-round sport specialization until after puberty. Young athletes who participate in a variety of sports tend to play sports longer and have fewer injuries than those who specialize in a single sport before puberty. --Use cross-training, that is, alternating activities, to reduce the risk of overuse injuries. --Recommend a day or two of rest a week from organized sports and training. --Make sure young athletes warm up and stretch appropriately to prevent growth plate injuries from lack of flexibility. --Condition ahead of season and follow the 10 percent rule - increase distance or participation by only 10% each week. --Teach children not to play through a painful injury because it could be more serious than they think. |
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