Pediatric Sports Medicine Q&A

What is pediatric sports medicine?

Pediatric sports medicine focuses on the welfare of young athletes playing sports. These activities are more than play; participation in athletics improves coordination, physical fitness, and self-discipline and provides children with valuable opportunities to learn about teamwork.

Many sports injuries in young people are preventable. Some effective ways of preventing sports injuries in children include appropriate physical conditioning, age-specific coaching, and showing them how to use equipment properly.

In addition, parents and coaches can help prevent sports injuries by encouraging an atmosphere of healthy competition. The emphasis should be on cooperation, confidence, and a positive self-image, not just on winning.

Why do children need pediatric sports medicine?

Pediatric sports medicine isn’t the same as treating sports injuries in adults. Children and adolescents are still growing, so their risk of sustaining an injury is higher than adults’. Furthermore, overdoing sporting activities can cause overuse injuries that affect how a child’s skeleton develops and could lead to health problems that persist into adulthood.

Children have growth plates at the ends of their bones. Accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment of any injuries are vital to prevent long-term problems with growth.

Ligaments are often stronger than bones in young people, so they suffer certain kinds of fractures that don’t affect older athletes. In addition, children go through periods of rapid growth, which can lead to the development of conditions only seen in younger athletes.

The Pediatric Sports and Spine Associates team also understands that psychology (how they think and feel) is different in younger people. Caring for a young athlete’s state of mind requires specialized skills that clinicians trained in pediatric sports medicine can provide.

What conditions are common in pediatric sports medicine?

Common pediatric sports medicine injuries include ligament sprains, dislocations, fractures, tendinitis (tendon inflammation), meniscus cartilage injuries, concussions, and stress fractures. Some conditions specifically affect the under-18s, including:

• Growth plate injuries
• Sever’s disease
• Osgood-Schlatter disease
• Jumper’s knee
• Sinding-Larsen-Johansson disease
• Stress reaction of growth plates (physis)
• Greenstick fractures
• Chondromalacia patella
• Tarsal coalition
• Perthes’ disease
• Slipped capital femoral epiphysis
• Ilium apophysitis

The Pediatric Sports and Spine Associates team specializes in treating these conditions according to your child’s individual needs. They use conservative treatments where possible but have exceptional skill in performing any surgical interventions that might be necessary.

To find out how your child can get back to an active, pain-free life, call Pediatric Sports and Spine Associates today or book an appointment online.