Sports for physical and emotional wellness in children are good, but too much physical activity can lead to injury. The matter of concern here is repetitive stress injury, also known as overuse injury, which has become a common scenario affecting muscles, ligaments, tendons, bones and growth plates.
Save the growing young athletes from the risk of developing an injury that could potentially lead to long-term health problems. Approximately 50 percent of all pediatric sports-related injuries occur as Overuse injuries.
The following list of simple steps as sports injury treatment is here to guide and help the parents, coaches and even young athletes themselves, so as to enable them in preventing overuse injuries. So here we go:
1. Pre-Participation Physical Examinations:
These important examinations are conducted to screen for potential risk factors including injury history, flexibility, joint stability and anatomic misalignments in adolescent athletes.
Medical specialists such as athletic trainers or physical therapists should be recommended for corrective rehabilitation in order to prevent recurrent injuries, to those with deficits.
2. Athletic Performance Nutrition Requirements:
Poor nutrition will decrease the bone density, overuse injuries and potential stress fractures. So be cautious with good nutrition enough for building a strong body to perform well, able of recovering from injuries and able of meeting energy levels during workouts.
3. Proper Equipment:
Strictly meet the demands of proper equipments and clothes as per the sport. Like, last season’s equipment may not fit your child properly now, potentially leading to injury. Carefully select shoes for sports involving running as common overuse injuries involve the knee and foot. Proper equipment has a major role to play and is not something that can be taken lightly.
4. Prevention through Stretching:
Intermittently or chronically painful tendonitis can be a severe common overuse injury across all sports. Solution is Warming up and cooling down with appropriate stretching. So, young athletes should be educated on how to properly stretch to avoid hyper mobility, which can lead to further injury.
5. Selective Rest is the Key:
Don’t worse the overuse injuries by playing in the pain and forcefully carrying body all through the sport, as it will bring more damage to the body, in turn increasing the recovery time. Immediate orthopedic doctor consultation and being aware of warning signs including pain, swelling, changes in form or technique, and decreased interest in practice, should be taken into account.
6. Don’t Overdo Any Single Sport:
Physically overdoing by playing on more than one sports team in a single season should be avoided, for saving from overuse injuries.
Regular breaks should be taken and play other sports for skill development and injury prevention. Studies show a correlation between higher rates of overuse injuries and playing one sport year round, which is the wrong way as athletes do more than their developing bodies can handle.
Be healthy by playing sports, but be wise enough to avoid overuse injuries.