Kids participation in any kind of sports activities will enhance and stretch their capability and limit of doing something adventurous and socializing with their peers as part of conclusive social life. As for the other thing which might have certain effects as we involved, sports can also bring the potential risk of injuries to our children. Either it is minor or major injuries, it is an incident that we might not just want to ignore. Roughly 3 to 11 % of school children were injured each year while getting involved in sports activities. Research shows about 43.8% of injuries happened in the upper limbs, 34.5% were in the lower limbs and 16% of it happened in the head. While sprains, contusions and lacerations total up 60% of injuries among children.
Injuries generally can be classified into two classifications; microtrauma and macrotrauma. Microtraumatic is the results of repetitive stresses leading to tissue’s structural breakdown while macrotrauma is a single traumatic episode resulting in injury to a specific region. As children are experiencing growth, the injuries might affect both of their growing bone and soft tissues. There are compelling changes in their biomechanical properties of the bone while they are growing and any injuries changes happened around their soft tissues and bone will disturb the growing process. Common injuries among children include dislocations, fractures, contusions, sprains, stress fractures and soft tissues injuries.
Dislocations can be traumatic for children. Elbow’s dislocation is one of the most common injuries, associated with fractures of the medial epicondyle of the humerus, fractures of the neck of the radius or injury to the median or ulnar nerve. An immediate reduction of all sports activities is required at all ages and children are not encouraged to return before eight to 12 weeks of rehabilitation period. Children should reach a full range of movement before continuing their sports activities.
Contusions and strains are probably the most common injuries among children. Contusions are when the bleeding occurs in the muscle and soft tissues or commonly known as a bruise. The strain is an injury resulted from stretching muscle over its limit. Contusions frequently occur in contact sports such as hockey and football while strain can be happening in any sports especially sports that required running as part of the game such as baseball and basketball. Rest, ice treatment and elevation of the injured part of the body are suggested for treating the children who got affected. Children can return to the activities when the pain has decreased.
Ankle injuries also common in the young athlete. The most common incident is when the foot is plantarflexed and inverted which leads to a lateral ankle sprain. Ankle fractures among children are slightly displaced compared to the cases of adults. Early treatments of ankle sprains are rest, ice treatment, compression and protection. The children can start range of motion and flexibility exercises after few days as tolerated and they can return to their activities evenly after their normal function of the body are revived.
Ligament injuries are the type of soft tissue injuries. Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is rarely happening among children but it is becoming more constant. In one research, 90% of the young athlete with anterior cruciate disruptions were found to have intrasubstance tears or intramuscular cysts. In some cases, surgery may take place if children sustain tears in the posterolateral corner of their knee while injuries of the posterior cruciate ligament can be cured operatively after the growth plates have sealed.
Children can obtain physical and psychological benefits from sports activities. Their involvement in sports can be monitored and supervised by adults (parents, guardians, coaches) to prevent the unwanted risk of having injuries as well as reduce the severe cases of injuries among them. In 2012, more than 1.3 million children admitted into the emergency room with sports injuries cases. Proper types of equipment are advisable as a precaution measure; wearing a helmet, eyewear, shoes and mouthguard are the best approaches for our children.
Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Review Date: January 7, 2019 | Last Modified: January 7, 2019
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