Can I take my child to the physio who helped me?
When addressing sports injuries in children and young people, it is crucial to understand that children are not simply mini adults. Their growing bodies require a specialised approach in the assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of injuries. Children’s injuries are rarely covered at undergraduate level so many great adult health professionals are not aware of the different approaches required, so these physiological, anatomical, and psychological differences are often overlooked.
At Kids Back 2 Sport, we specialise in supporting young athletes, ensuring they receive the right care at every stage of their recovery. Understanding the specific needs of growing bodies is vital to preventing long-term damage and ensuring a quick and safe return to physical activity.
Key Differences in Children’s Sports Injuries
Children and adolescents experience sports injuries that are quite different from those seen in adults. These differences arise because a child’s body is still developing. Below are some key factors to consider:
- Anatomy and Growth: Children’s brains, bones, muscles, and tendons do not fully mature until the individual reaches their mid 20’s and so whilst they may look like an adult, their body is still developing. The immature skeleton is less robust, and the growth plates are much more vulnerable to injury than in adults.
- Bone and Muscle Development: Children’s bones are more flexible than adults, which means they sometimes bend rather than break, however, during large growth spurts the bone has a temporary drop in bone density and can make them more vulnerable to bone stress injuries. When the bone grows the muscles and tendons must play catch up. This can place large traction forces on the attachments of the muscles to bones and cause pain at the insertion of the tendon to the bone.
- Psychological and Physiological Factors: When children are injured for the first time, they are often fearful of whether it will get better, and what is wrong with them. Many may have consulted Dr Google and scared themselves by what they have read or seen. They often lack the vocabulary to articulate what they are feeling and may not be able to communicate pain in the same way as adults, which can lead to injuries being misdiagnosed or overlooked. They will often also worry about whether they will get back to sport at the same level, miss their friendship group and can often become quite isolated as a result fo missing their sport. This needs the understanding of a clinician who has experience with young athletes, and who uses language that is appropriate and does not add to their fears and who truly understands what they are experiencing.
- Adolescence is a time of huge change for the child, they may lack emotional maturity when dealing with an injury. Whilst they seek independence, they don’t always have control of decisions that affect them and this can add frustration and barriers to their rehabilitation. Additionally, each child grows and develops at a different rate with some children being up to 3 years ahead or behind others of the same age in terms of skeletal development. This variation in growth means that each injury case must be treated on an individual basis, considering the child’s unique growth and physical development.
Understanding the Impact of Growth and Development
During growth spurts, children’s bodies undergo rapid changes, which can affect their ability to perform in sports and increase their susceptibility to injuries. Below are some common challenges that growing athletes face:
- Disproportionate Growth: Growth starts at the feet, before moving upwards. Children who experience a rapid growth spurt rather than a steady and gradual increase, are often at greater risk of injury. Longer legs and arms become harder to control, and they may develop coordination issues making them more prone to injury or a drop in performance.
- Strength and Power Development: Immediately after the adolescent growth spurt, boys and girls also get a temporary increase in weight gain. Boys get a surge in testosterone which results in stronger muscles. They can kick harder, jump higher and run faster, but longer levers and greater power can result in these stronger muscles exceeding the capacity of the immature skeletal attachments and injuries occur where the tendon joins the bone. Girls commonly get a much slow acquisition of power and don’t achieve the same strength gains as boys so require a different approach to strength training and athlete development.
- Nutrition: During growth spurts, children often require more energy input from all the food groups to meet the energy demands of their different sporting commitments and the needs of their growing bodies. Parents are often unaware of just how much food intake children require, and it differs from child to child. Some children are too sleepy in the morning and don’t want breakfast and many school lunches are not energy rich so all too often children develop low energy availability. This can impact immunity, growth, hormone balance and bone health making them more susceptible to sore throats and injuries.
- Recovery: Many children play sport every day and rarely schedule in recovery days where their growing bodies can pause and create the necessary repairs and adaptations to ensure they can continue to perform at their best. Just like mobile phones need a daily recharge, so do children, and yet many children do not get adequate sleep due to late night training, or early starts.
Always Seek Professional Help
Early diagnosis and proper rehabilitation are essential to ensuring that young athletes recover fully and can safely return to the sports they love. If your child or young athlete suffers a sports injury, it is important to seek professional help from an experienced clinician. At Kids Back 2 Sport, we provide expert care for children and adolescents, ensuring that they receive the best treatment and rehabilitation tailored to their growing bodies.
