Sports Injuries In Children: Types And How To Deal With Them
When children play a sport, it is completely normal for some injury to occur, especially if they play it frequently. Sports injuries in children are different from those affecting adults, because the musculoskeletal system of children has some peculiar characteristics, which involve acute and subacute injuries.
Types of sports injuries in children
When there is a child in the home who plays sports on a regular basis, it is essential to know what types of injuries can occur. Among the most frequent we can find the following:
Acute injuries
Among the most common acute injuries, we find fractures and traumatic injuries of the soft parts, which are directly associated with any kind of contusion that the child may receive while playing. According to the Revista Médica Clínica Las Condes , the following are some of the most frequent acute injuries:
- Tearing of the epitrochlea.
- Fracture of the tibial plateau.
- Avulsion fracture of the pelvis.
- Avulsion of the anterior tuberosity of the tibia.
- Avulsion of the lower pole of the patella.
Injury from overuse
Also known as an overload injury, this type of pathology refers to repetitive submaximal loads, which, if not treated in time, can damage the baby’s skeleton. This type of injury has several possible causes, among which we find the following:
- Mistakes made during training.
- Inadequate footwear.
- Pre-existing orthopedic changes.
- Inadequate playing field.
- Muscle-tendon imbalance.
Studies on sports injuries in children
Some sports may be more likely to cause some kind of injury in children. Knowing which sports are at greatest risk of injury is essential for parents to stay alert.
According to a research conducted by the Revista Internacional de Medicina y Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte , among the sports in which children most exposed to the risk of injury are the following:
Football
It is one of the most played sports by children all over the world. Since it is a direct contact sport, it is more likely to result in different types of injuries, especially to the legs and feet. In addition, injuries can also occur due to poor playing field conditions, the type of sports footwear worn or poor ball control.
According to the data collected for the survey, this sport ranks first in the list of school accidents, with an incidence of 41%. Sports statistics also define football as one of the activities that generate more sports injuries in children during the school phase.
Basketball
Basketball is a particularly popular sport in childhood. The incidence of injuries is also high, due to the conditions of the pitch and the movements that must be performed in the practice of this sport. In this case, the most common injuries that can occur consist of ankle sprain, overload, injuries to the interphalangeal and metacarpophalangeal joints.
Basketball ranks second among the sports that generate the highest number of injuries, with an incidence, according to the survey, of 15%.
Other sports
In the case of volleyball, if the ball used is not the right one, injuries may occur to the forearms. Even the practice of gymnastics and judo is not free from injuries, although they are less frequent. Among the percentages provided by the survey, we find that gymnastics occupies the third place with a 15% incidence, while that of other sports is around 9%.
How to prevent sports injuries in children
It can often be difficult to prevent injuries from occurring while playing any sport, due to the fact that many involve direct contact and require a large number of movements. Nevertheless, some injuries can occur for other reasons, which we can avoid by adopting some preventive measures. Here are the other possible causes:
- Inappropriate use of equipment. In every sport you need to use suitable balls, a pitch in perfect condition and some personal protective equipment.
- Inadequate training.
- Use of incorrect sports footwear. It is necessary to respect the sizes and other aspects, as required by the conditions of the pitch.
- It is recommended that the child attend a sports school to learn technique and team play.
- If the child suffers an injury, he must make a full recovery before returning to playing sports.
It is inevitable that children play some sport, which in fact, in general, offers them a large number of benefits. What matters is that parents are cautious and take the necessary steps to reduce the children’s risk of suffering some kind of injury.
