Each year, more than 3.5 million young people under the age of 14 experience sports- and recreation-related injuries. Sprains, strains, bruises, abrasions, and cuts make up 60 percent of all sports injuries to children, with fractures being a little less than 15 percent.
In games like soccer, football and hockey, knocks and bangs are common. Players who fall, get hit by a ball or puck, or come into forceful contact with other players often suffer bruises and knee, ankle, and shin injuries. Spinal injuries from gymnastics are common, and playground equipment is responsible for an estimated 125,000 injuries annually. Swimmers and skaters are at risk for developing an overuse syndrome due to repetitive stress on particular joints. As cheerleading has become a year-round gymnastics-driven activity, the number of cheerleading injuries resulting in hospital visits has increased dramatically in recent years.
Our Pediatric Sports Medicine team is made up of physicians, surgeons, therapists and psychologists. We take a multi-disciplinary approach to delivering a wide range of services for all areas of your child’s health, whether he’s in a tumbling class for 3-year-olds or on a college football team. In addition to working closely with both you and your child, we often involve his teacher, coach, athletic trainer and/or primary care physician to speed recovery from the existing injury and to help prevent similar and other injuries in the future.