The start of the sporting season just around the corner! It’s very important to be aware of what sporting overuse injuries your child might be prone to. How best is it to keep these at bay so your kids can enjoy the season to the fullest? Reading Chiropractor, Dr Beccy Norman, explains some of common things to look out for.
Common Childhood Overuse Injuries
One common sub group of injuries seen in children is overuse injuries which are exactly what they say on the tin. These are injuries caused by the overuse of a particular joint or muscle that may eventually causes damage and pain. Some examples to look out for are below:
- Osgood-Schlatters: This is an injury that causes persistant knee pain, probably after exercise that involves running, jumping and twisting and often swelling and a small bump below the knee cap. It’s caused by continuous pulling on the knee from the big muscles at the front of your leg (quadriceps).
- Shin splints: This is a sharp pain felt in the shins often associated with jumping on hard surfaces and running with incorrect footwear/ foot biomechanics.
- Patellofemoral pain syndrome (PFPS): This is knee pain experienced mostly in athletic teenagers. This is where the knee cap rubs on the femur bone below.
- Spondylosis: This is a forward slipping of one of the bones in the spine, most often in the low back. Sometimes it causes pain but most often it goes un-noticed until much later on. This is most commonly caused by sports that involve a lot of over-extension in the low back. These include: gymnastics, pole vaulting and weight lifting.
Here is Reflex Osteopath, Seb Murtagh, with a sporting injury overview:|
Causes of Overuse Injuries
What can cause/aggravate overuse injuries?
- Sticking to one sport throughout the season
- Going through a growth spurt while playing
- Poor technique/ lack of proper supervision
- Excessive training!
- Poor biomechanics within the body (this is something your chiropractor can help with!) or an imbalance of flexibility and strength between muscle groups.
How can they be prevented?
- Get involved in a variety of different sports that use different muscle groups and in different ways.
- Always warm up and dynamically stretch before beginning training or a game.
- If you suspect an injury apply RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation).
- Make sure your child is wearing the right footwear. Have you had your children’s feet checked biomechanically? Do they need foot orthotics in their shoes?
Chiropractor, Dr Beccy Norman
Here at Reflex Spinal Health our practitioners are fully equipped and trained to assess and treat all sorts of injuries, including childhood injuries and sports injury. In conclusion it’s even better to prevent them!
So bring your children for a 15 min complmentary spinal health check with one of our amazing Chiropractor’s or Osteopath’s. We can determine If there is anything we can help with, or give you great advice on how to manage these issues.
Book at Reflex Spinal Health by calling 0118 946 2100 today!
References:
DiFiori, J.P., 2010. Evaluation of overuse injuries in children and adolescents. Current sports medicine reports, 9(6), pp.372-378.
Faude, O., Rößler, R. and Junge, A., 2013. Football injuries in children and adolescent players: are there clues for prevention?. Sports medicine, 43(9), pp.819-837
Hall, R., Foss, K.B., Hewett, T.E. and Myer, G.D., 2015. Sport specialization’s association with an increased risk of developing anterior knee pain in adolescent female athletes. Journal of sport rehabilitation, 24(1), pp.31-35.
Nakase, J., Aiba, T., Goshima, K., Takahashi, R., Toratani, T., Kosaka, M., Ohashi, Y. and Tsuchiya, H., 2014. Relationship between the skeletal maturation of the distal attachment of the patellar tendon and physical features in preadolescent male football players. Knee surgery, sports traumatology, arthroscopy, 22(1), pp.195-199
