It happens to the best, the littlest, and every player in between

So, I’ll share some child sports injury tips I try teach my patients and their families:

1. Teach your young child it’s okay not to be okay. If it hurts, stop playing. Teaching your child to listen to their body is a great skill. They will learn in time to “shake it off.” If they are crying, let them come off the pitch. (Look, if it’s a simple skinned knee, the drama quickly passes, and they will wan to go right back on anyway.)

2. Safe play matters. Mouthguards, helmets, shin guards, playing by the rules when tackling…it’s all important.

3. Take all head injuries seriously. Always remove from play, and be slow to have your child rejoin play. You should be familiar with your sports head injury and return-to-play written guidelines (you can find these online for almost every organised sport). “If in doubt, sit them out.”

3. Overuse injury is a problem for athletes, including child and adolescent. Make sure they have at least one day off a week from training.

4. Is it broken? The short advice here is that neither Dr. Google nor a crowd-sourced opinion from social media can’t answer this one. If you are a concerned about an injury, seek qualified medical care from an urgent care, emergency room, or GP.

5. Just because it isn’t broken, doesn’t mean it isn’t injured. Sprains, strains, bruising, and inflammation of tendons are all painful and also need recovery.  Pressuring an athlete to return to play can increase their risk of sustaining a second injury. In one study, as much as 15% of athletic injuries are “second injuries”, that is they occur as a direct (example: re-twisting a weakened ankle) or indirect (wrist injury because running was off balance due to a lingering lower limb injury).  “Second hit syndrome” in head injury is a rare, but devastating injury.

6. Pitchside first aid is key. First aid courses are widely available, including through many local sports partnerships. If you are heading to the urgent care/emergency room, do not hesisitate to rest, ice, elevate and give routine pain-killers (such as calpol). Paracetamol and ibuprofen won’t “mask” the pain, but will make your child more comfortable while waiting to be seen or when they are examined.

7.  Don’t be afraid to let your child play sport because of the risk of injury.   There are so many benefits of sports for children – whether team or individual.

Lastly, and I can’t say this one enough: don’t be afraid to be your child’s advocate (if very young) or their scapegoat (if adolescent) if they are being pressured by a mentor, coach, team or peers to play in pain or when it isn’t safe.