How To Manage A Head Injury

Contact sports can be fun and rewarding.  But, if your child participates in a contact sport, he or she does run the risk of suffering a mild traumatic brain injury, or concussion. In fact, 20 percent of all high school football players suffer brain injuries each season!

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What is the best way to slide in baseball and softball?

Baseball and softball are two of the most popular sports in America and in the world. While baseball is known as “America’s national pastime,” softball is actually the top recreational sport in this country (with over 40 million participants yearly). Although both are considered non-contact sports, there is one physically jarring aspect of the game that accounts for a significant number of injuries: sliding into a base.

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Back Care for the Athlete

Tips to save your back while weight lifting:

What are the most common factors that lead to a back injury? 

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Strains and Sprains

Injuries will happen...there is no escaping it.

Injuries will cause pain...there is no escaping it

Injuries will lead to debility...there is no escaping it.

But what should one do, when injured?

 

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Overuse Injuries, the #1 Culprit in Injury

Not unlike their adult counterparts, injuries in kids are of many varieties and degrees.
While many are due to direct blows, such as falling from a bicycle and others are due to indirect causes such as a knee-twisting injury while running on a soccer field, the most common one I see today is due to overuse.

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My Aching Shoulder

Similar to elbow injuries, the most common mechanism of injury to the shoulder is overuse. Specifically, it is most often injured when the upper limb ranges excessively in an “over the head” motion. 

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What is Causing that Hip Pain?

Identifying the etiology for hip pain in a child can be tricky. The reason, hip pathology often presents as knee pain.

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What is a Stress Fracture?

A significant extreme of an overuse injury is a stress fracture. This too is a normal reaction to an abnormal stress placed upon a bone. While it is classified as a fracture, it is not the typical, broken bone fracture many of us envision. Rather, it is a fracture of a portion of a bone and there is no displacement of the bone. 

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Elbow Injuries

Injuries of the elbow are not rare in throwing sports. In particular, injuries to the inner aspect (the side that your pinky finger is on) of the elbow are rather common in young throwers.

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Back and Neck Pain  

While back pain will likely afflict all of us at some time during our lives, it is not as universal in the younger population. Fortunately, most low back and neck pain that kids complain about is muscular and likely to resolve in one to two weeks. 

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Oh My Aching Knee

In youth sports, the incidence and prevalence of knee injuries continues to rise. In fact, in parallel to adults, knee pain may soon become the #1 reason young patients visit my office

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My Sprained Ankle

Still the #1 injury in kids, ankle sprains commonly occur during sports. The ankle “twists,” (usually inward) and the bottom of the foot faces the other ankle. Pain occurs rather immediately

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My Sprained Ankle

Still the #1 injury in kids, ankle sprains commonly occur during sports. The ankle “twists,” (usually inward) and the bottom of the foot faces the other ankle. Pain occurs rather immediately. In a day or two, swelling and skin discoloration appears. The simplest of sprains involves injury of the Anterior Talo-Fibular Ligament. One simple rule of thumb, if the child is able to “easily’ bear weight on the sprained ankle and there is minimal to no swelling, the sprain is likely the lowest of grades (Grade 1).  For this, resolution is expected within a few weeks. If the child cannot bear adequate weight, and/or the swelling is significant, and/or discoloration is pronounced, a trip to the local ER is necessary. This may represent a higher grade sprain (Grade 3). If this is so, the child should not be encouraged to attempt to walk on the ankle until x-rays are taken. For higher grade sprains, a period on “non-weight” bearing may be required (utilizing crutches) and the child is not expected on to the playing field for at least six weeks. The treatment for ankle sprains follows the R.I.C.E. principle. 

R stands for Rest
I stands for Ice
C stands for Compression
E stands for Elevation

Rest is maintained only until one can mobilize and get going.

Ice should be applied (through a barrier such as a towel) in five-minute increments. Five minutes on and five minutes off of the injured area. This can be done three to four times/day for a total of 45 minutes on the skin/day.

Compression helps reduce swelling and is used for the first few days after an injury. The compressive wrap should not be applied too tightly. This may damage nerves under the skin and/or compromise blood flow. It is advisable to consult with a medical expert before applying a compressive wrap.

Elevation helps reduce swelling too. It is best to elevate the injured area above the level of the heart. This allows all the accumulated fluid (from swelling) to drain toward the heart, which is the goal. 
 
   
 

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