Sports injuries in childhood
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Sport is always a recommended activity because it contributes to the good health of the child. However, we must take into account certain recommendations to prevent injury.
The practice of sport is highly recommended in childhood and adolescence, as it helps to develop a good health and prevent certain diseases. Still, the fact sports activities is not without risk, especially considering the child as a small adult and do not respect their anatomical, physiological and psychological characteristics.
The child has a body development, growth plates are areas of least resistance skeleton with weak muscles but with strong tendons that experience a loss of elasticity in periods of growth spurts, and with a smaller capacity thermoregulation. If these features are not observed lesions appear.
Sports injuries in children
Approximately 25% of children who do sport are injured each year. They may suffer acute injuries caused by trauma or a bad gesture, such as ankle sprains or knee, fractures, etc.. that, in general, are less severe than those that occur in adults because children have less weight, strength, speed and aggressiveness. However, often they have overuse injuries due to repetitive actions that load in excess osteoarticular system and lead to chronic pain.
There are many predisposing factors for the occurrence of these overuse injuries, all of them preventable. Some are common with adulthood, as equipment (including footwear), land, technical or inadequate heating. The anatomical changes in the axes of the legs or feet can also put children at greater risk for overuse injuries. But the most important factor in childhood is the excessive demand at increasingly early ages, increasing the intensity and duration of training and not respecting rest periods.
Treatment and prevention of sports injuries in children
After the appearance of these lesions is essential to the assessment of children 's orthopedist , who will make a correct diagnosis and give the necessary indications for treatment. This may require a period of rest, immobilization, physical therapy, using templates or other technical aids, among other treatments.
But always the most important should be prevention. For that you need:
- Adult coaches with specific training
- A training program tailored to age
- Combine strength training with stretching
- Proper hydration
- Correct equipment and installations
- Intersperse properly training periods and rest
- Avoid excess activity.
Apart from the above recommendations, the most important and essential always pay attention to the discomfort reported by the child and, in case of pain, stop the exercise.
