PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — As students prepare to head back to class, many are already back at practice for school sports. 10 On Your Side talked with a sports medicine doctor about who is most at risk and how to prevent injuries.
Before your child hits the field for any sport this season, get the green light from a doctor. Schools often require a physical to make sure a child is healthy enough to play.
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Next, no matter how excited he or she is to play, Dr. Jason McHugh with Bon Secours Sports Medicine recommends your athlete eases into the season.
“If you go from zero to 60 in a day, and don’t build that stuff up slowly, you’ll be more likely to have things like that like runners knee and Little Leaguer’s Shoulder and stuff like that.” said McHugh.
McHugh said the three injuries he sees most are concussions, ACL or knee injuries, and back or shoulder injuries. He sees the most concussion cases in football players, soccer players and cheerleaders.
McHugh said parents should not count on the kids to tell them when they’re hurt.
“Good athletes want to play, they don’t want to watch, right? They want to be on the field,” McHugh said. “So really as a parent or guardian, the best thing you can do is watch for changes in their behavior.”
Spending less time or their phones or iPads and/or watching less television could indicate a concussion. That’s because those with a concussion are more sensitive to the bright lights.
Teenage girls who play soccer are most at risk for ACL tears, according to McHugh.
“A lot of that has to do with the way that the wideness of their hips are and what that does to the angle of their knee — it makes them more likely to put that ACL at a really tight position, which will then tear when they’re in the wrong spot on the field,” McHugh said.
McHugh said the best way to protect from that injury is strength training.
He added that an ACL injury can put someone on the sidelines for up to a year so with that — or any injury — the sooner you get help the better.
