A pediatric sports injury can be defined as an injury that happens to a child when the child is engaged in sports activities such as running, basketball, soccer, football, and so on. Most of these injuries in children are acute injuries, that is injuries caused all of a sudden, such as when they fall down while running, or when the ball hits on them while playing soccer or colliding with each other while playing basketball.
Let us look at how to diagnose pediatric sports injuries and how to treat them. Before that let us look at what are the most common sports injuries among children.
Most Common Pediatric Sports Injuries
- Ankle injuries
- Ankle sprains
- Ankle strains
- Growth plate fractures
- Muscle strain and other strains
- Knee pain
- Overuse injury in knees due to continuous or overusage
- Joint stiffness
- Fractures
- Turf toe
- Shin splints
- Also, concussion
Pediatric Sports Injuries Diagnosis
You can diagnose pediatric sports injuries by checking for the following signs:
Most Common Signs And Symptoms Of Pediatric Sports Injury
- Bruising
- Swelling
- Redness
- Stiffness
- Abrasion
- Difficult to move the body part
- Difficulty develops as an inability
- Extreme pains while moving the body part
- Pain on the injured part
- Pains worsen when you engage in further sports activity
Pediatric Sports Injuries Treatment
The common treatment methods for treating sports injuries in children are as follows:
Use the RICE method.
RICE method is the initial way to treat all kinds of sports injuries in children.
R – Rest
I – Ice
C – Compress
E – Elevate
- Sports physiotherapy
- Medications
In detail,
- The right way to treat a sports injury is to get it diagnosed at the right time. When you feel that something is wrong, you should go to a doctor, get tested, and diagnose whether there is an injury.
- Sports physiotherapy can be begun even before there is an injury. It can help to prevent injuries to an extent and to increase the flexibility of the body. When you undergo sports physiotherapy it will help to fasten the healing process and will also contain sports-specific activities. The massages and heat treatments in sports physiotherapy will have more focus on the injured body part and will help you to return to the sports event faster.
- When you are using medications, it should be prescribed by the doctor. Suing random medications that someone else recommends to you or the ones that you saw in an advertisement is not a healthy choice.
- You can make sure that you are not stressed or going through overtraining as it can do more damage than you can imagine.
Read More:- Pediatric Sports Injuries: Common Types And Treatments
The Bottom Line
Children are prone to injuries, especially when they are engaged in sports-related activities. Children in sports might be only beginning to learn about the sports and they might know the right and proper method to do each act. Therefore, it is necessary to look out for sports injuries in children.
When the child is telling you that a specific part of their body hurts or that they are unable to move it, you should be taking care of the situation rather than dismissing them and forcing them to train more.
You can also make sure that the child is wearing protective gear while playing the sport and that the shoes they wear are the right fit for them. As children grow faster, trying to save money by buying larger shoes than their real size and making them play in their old ones can only increase the possibility of the child getting injured.
FAQs
The overuse of the bones and muscles can stress them out. The repetitive motion of the legs in running also tires them out. Colliding with other children in the ground can also damage their muscles and bones.
As children have not fully developed their bodies and are still under growth, growth-related injuries can be more in children.
The most common injuries that happen to a majority of children while they play are strains and sprains in different parts of the body. There is a good chance that these can lead to fractures.
