Young athletes injury clinic
My clinic welcomes young athletes experiencing pain or discomfort through their sports or recreational activities. I am noticing a large amount of kids aged 11 / 12 experiencing muscular and joint pain linking to growths spurts and puberty. Second to the common signs associated with puberty, if you find your child is picking up more injuries at present or experiencing leg pain, muscle discomfort, chances being is likely to be telltale signs that your child is growing up! Having 17 years of experience running the kids injury clinic through my previous clinic, I like to think I can offer you the very best support to help guide your children through this development cycle whilst trying to keep them active, injury free and participating in and out of school sports activities.
Things you can do to help support your child through growth spurts:
Growth spurs usually promote a lengthening of the Femur (thigh bone) or Tibia (shin bones). It's these two areas that promote the greatest height of that child. This also tends to coincide with muscle growth which together can cause conflict in the knees and bottom of the calves. At this time, the body would greatly value a reduction in physical output in order to add greater tension through the limbs. And although this may not suit present after school activities or sports club commitments, taking a short break to allow the body to reconfigure is often a better outcome than forced rest caused by injury further down the road. Negiotiating with your child to reduce output. Foam rolling the quads can help, sports massage can often help reduce discomfort too.
If visiting me with your child, getting a clear understanding of the reason behind the discomfort they are experiencing is paramount (its not always linked to puberty and growth spurts, but often is!). Taking a case history and asking more than enough questions helps me tap into where they are in the injury cycle and alloow me to create a very simple rehab plan promoting minimum time, minimum effort, minimum concentration! Kids are great to work with ( I have 2 myself) providing you can paint the picture for them and positively motivate them to do their homework!
Rest from sports is unquestionably a big thing to promote. And although it may clash with pre arranged sports commitments or tournaments, a step back from it will often allow you to jump back into it quicker than making the injury or discomfort worse, often prelonging a greater rest / rehab period. Let them sleep more and help fuel their appetite too!
