Mayo Clinic Minute: How young athletes can reduce their risk of injury

More than half of youngsters within the U.S. ages 6 to 17 take part in sports activities. With participation additionally comes the painful actuality of accidents that occur throughout gameplay.
Dr. Wes Troyer, a Mayo Clinic physical medicine and rehabilitation doctor, explains easy methods to reduce youngsters’s risk of sports activities accidents.
Journalists: Broadcast-quality video pkg (0:57) is within the downloads on the finish of the put up. Please courtesy: “Mayo Clinic News Network.” Read the script.
From strikes and strains to footwork and fractures, accidents can occur to any young athlete.
Reducing the risk of injury begins with an annual bodily to ensure youngsters can take part. When it is time to play, heat up muscle tissue by stretching, and use protecting tools, when acceptable.
“It’s important to try out your equipment before you get into game-time situations to make sure it works properly, so that it’s actually protecting you when you’re going out there to perform the sport,” says Dr. Troyer.
Try to keep away from overusing sure muscle tissue over others. Repeated motions can occur round growth plates and will require young athletes to pause sure actions.
“They need time to rest because they’ve put too much stress on the area. And without that, they just don’t heal,” says Dr. Troyer.
If youngsters are injured taking part in a sport, hold them out of competitors till they can be evaluated.
“The worst thing that you can do is get up and try to play through these things and make the injury worse,” says Dr. Troyer.
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