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Childhood Sports Injuries
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Childhood sports injuries like Raoul's may be inevitable, but there are
some things you can do to help prevent them:
- 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.
- Make sure your child uses the proper protective gear for a particular
sport. This may lessen the chances of being injured.
- 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.
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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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- 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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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.
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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).
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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.
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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).4,5
These injuries can be prevented.
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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.
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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.
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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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This popular sport "leads the pack" in the number of
injuries, especially in boys, in organized sports.
- 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.
- 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.
- Prevention: Proper use of safety equipment, warm-up exercises,
proper coaching and conditioning.
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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,
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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This sport has dramatically increased in popularity in
the past two decades in the U.S.
- Common injuries: Bruises, cuts and scrapes, headaches,
sunburn.
- Safest playing with: Shin guards, athletic supporters
for males, cleats, sunscreen, water.
- 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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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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The performance of systematic exercises.
- Common injuries: Sprains and strains of soft tissues.
- Safest playing with: Athletic supporters for males, safety
harness, joint supports (such as neoprene wraps), water.
- Prevention: Proper conditioning and warmups.
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Competing at running, walking, jumping, throwing, or
pushing events.
- Common injuries: Strains, sprains, scrapes from falls.
- Safest playing with: Proper shoes, athletic supporters
for males, sunscreen, water.
- Prevention: Proper conditioning and coaching.
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- Be in proper physical condition to play the sport.
- Know and abide by the rules of the sport.
- 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).
- Know how to use athletic equipment.
- Always warm up before playing.
- Avoid playing when very tired or in pain.
- Get a preseason physical examination.
- 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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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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National
Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
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