Preventing Youth Sports Injuries Begins Before First Practice For the past 14 years, MomsTEAM has been working to educate parents on ways to keep their kids safe playing sports. Preparing kids for sports participation: Get a pre-participation exam: All athletes should have a pre-participation exam to determine their readiness to play and uncover any condition that may limit participation. A young athletes underlying medical condition can be exacerbated with vigorous, sustained physical activity. Physical and mental preparation is paramount: Parents, with input from coaches and athletic trainers, should determine whether their children are physically and psychologically ready for the sport/activity level theyre playing. A young athlete should not be pushed into something he/she does not want to do. If an athlete has been injured and is returning to sport, its critical for him or her to have the right mind set and confidence to return to play and avoid repeat injury. Share an athletes medical history: Parents should complete an emergency medical authorization form, providing parent contact information and permission for emergency medical care for the student athlete. Check with your school/league to obtain the form. Individual athlete concerns and considerations for the sports medicine team. Beat the heat: Acclimatize athletes to warm weather activities over a 14-day period. The goal is to increase exercise heat tolerance and enhance the ability to exercise safely and effectively in warm and hot conditions. It is suggested that for the first two days in sports requiring protective equipment, only helmets should be permitted; during days three to five only helmets and shoulder pads worn; beginning on day six, all equipment can be worn. Use your head: There are between 1.6 million and 3.8 million brain injuries occurring in sports each year and 63,000 occur in high school sports alone, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Be certain the student athlete and medical team are well educated on concussion prevention and management and that the athlete is encouraged to speak up if hit in the head and suffering from any related symptoms including dizziness, loss of memory, light headiness, fatigue, or imbalance, to name a few. Be smart about sickle cell trait: All newborns are tested at birth for this inherited condition, and those results should be shared during a pre-participation exam. Red blood cells can sickle during intense exertion, blocking blood vessels and posing a grave risk for athletes with the sickle cell trait. Screening and simple precautions may prevent deaths and help the athlete with sickle cell trait thrive in his or her chosen sport. Be aware of warning signs including fatigue or shortness of breath that may indicate an athlete is in danger. Build in recovery time: Allow time for the body to rest and rejuvenate in between seasons. If the athlete has just finished the basketball season and has his or her sights set on baseball, make sure there is rest time build it to recover from the rigors of grueling months on the court. If athletes dont make time for recovery, injury can occur. Acclimatizing to the next sport, with appropriate strength, flexibility and balance training, and the supervision of an athletic trainer, will help ensure a healthy season ahead. For more about overuse injuries, click here. Pay attention to sport-specific injury prevention: Any repetitive motion can lead to overuse injury. With baseball, it may be the turning of the torso and impact on the hip or the repetitive motion a pitcher goes through each time he or she throws a ball. These motions can put added stress on the joints, muscles or ligaments with sudden movement or rigorous activity increasing the change of injury. Following a protocol of flexibility and strength training is integral to a young athletes participation. Read more: momsteam/health-safety/preventing-youth-sports-injuries-begins-before-first-practice#ixzz37phckZFq
Posted on: Sun, 20 Jul 2014 15:26:17 +0000
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