Preventing Sport-Related Injuries
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According to Safe Kids Worldwide, almost three-quarters of U.S. households with school-age children have at least one child playing organized sports. Participating in sports helps to keep our children stay healthy; however, they may be increasing their risk of injury. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report approximately 715,000 sports and recreation injuries occur each year in school settings alone.
- More than 3.5 million children under the age of 14 receive medical treatment for sports-related injuries each year.
- Most organized sports-related injuries (62 percent) occur during practices, not games.
- Thirty percent of parents report that their child has been injured while playing a team sport, and half say the child has been injured more than once.
Injury Prevention Tips
Jon Divine, MD, medical director and Eric Wall, MD, orthopaedic director of Sports Medicine at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, suggest student athletes follow these guidelines to help prevent injury.
- Have a physical before starting any new sport.
- Acclimate to hot weather workouts 10 days to two weeks before practice begins to help prevent heat injuries.
- Wear protective gear made specifically for your sport and size.
- Take time to warm up.
- Learn how to land -- think of the injuries that occur as a result of a hard or bad landing!
- Make sure to drink plenty of fluids before, during and after the workouts or games.
- Don't overdo--avoid increasing the total volume of training or practice more then 10 - 15 percent per week.
- The most common overuse injury is re-injury: follow your injury rehabilitation program to completion.
- Take a break. If you are a single-sport athlete, switch to another sport or activity for three months out of the year.
- Nothing is more valuable then good technique -- find and keep a good coach who understands your sport(s).
- Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation -- RICE still works for every injury (except frostbite!).
- Any injury resulting in swelling, pain or painful normal use lasting more than three days should be evaluated by your physician or a sports medicine trained physician.
At Cincinnati Children's, our entire team is geared to working with student athletes of all ages.
Sports Medicine . . . Just for Kids!
