Archive for sports injuries
I see a lot of children as patients in my Cameron Park chiropractic office. And, as a chiropractor Cameron Park, I’m concerned with many things that affect their growing musculoskeletal system, from sports injuries to carrying a backpack, either improperly or packed too heavily. Now that it’s back-to-school time again, I’d like to add a health warning that you don’t always hear from a chiropractor, but one that is important, indeed. I know that parents are super-busy not only buying their kids back-to-school clothes, but also equipping them with all the sports gear they need for safe play, such as helmets, pads, braces and mouth guards. I applaud all parents who take that extra step to prevent broken bones, bruises and chipped teeth. But, there is one more danger zone that needs parental attention. Your child’s eyes. Eye injuries such as a scratched cornea, fractured eye socket, or permanent vision loss, can be avoided with taking these steps, encouraged by The Pennsylvania Association for the Blind what are they doing to prevent possible permanent vision loss, a scratched cornea, or fractured eye sockets? Here are several ways to help your child to enjoy their favorite sports this season safely:
- Wear proper eye guards (lensed polycarbonate protectors) for racket sports, basket ball, tennis or volleyball;
- Use batting helmets with polycarbonate face shields for baseball and softball;
- Use helmets and face shields approved by the U.S. Amateur Hockey Association when playing hockey.
It is important for parents to know that regular reading glasses, sunglasses, or even safety glasses do not provide the adequate eye protection for many sports. Eye guards can be purchased at sports stores or local optical store. But, be sure to ask someone familiar with your child’s eyesight to fit them properly, making certain that the eye guard contains cushioning along the eyebrow and the edge of the nose to help prevent your young athlete from cutting or damaging his or her face.
Source: Pennsylvania Association for the Blind
2555 Greenwood Ln Cameron Park, CA, 95682 USA
dr.yongkim@gmail.com • 530-677-7333
If you’re a young athlete in junior high or high school, or if you’re the parent of one, Thomas Solecki, DC, DACBSP, a sports medicine expert and chiropractic physician, has some tips on how to get the most out of youth fitness and sports activities that will not only maximize the health benefits of youth exercise, but will help to avoid injuries as well. Dr. Solecki is a faculty clinician at National University of Health Sciences’ Whole Health Center, is certified in exercise rehabilitation and exercise performance enhancement, and also serves as a chiropractic physician for athletic teams at DePaul and Northwestern universities. So, when Dr. Solecki offers advice, as your Cameron Park Chiropractor, I say “listen up!”
Sports Safety Tips:
- Warm up with light activity, then progress to moderate activity at least 5-10 minutes before exercising or participating in sports. You should feel “hot” and have a little sweat going if you are properly warmed up.
- Cool down and stretch after every workout. Never just walk away from a sport or activity. Hold each stretch for 30 seconds to one minute without bouncing.
- For safe training, never increase your exercise intensity or the amount of weight lifted by a factor of more than 10 percent every two weeks.
- Train specifically for your sport. Each activity uses different muscles and patterns in the body; make sure your body is trained for your sport
- Use heart-rate guidelines in training for endurance sports. Certain formulas can be used to help calculate safe heart rates for training children, teens, and adults. These ranges can be used to train specifically for longer endurance, short bursts of heavy exercise, etc. Talk to a fitness professional to help you find these ranges.
- Give your body a break. Always take one to two days off per week to let your muscles heal and your body repair.
- Cross-train with different activities. This allows your body to repair and helps you gain strength and endurance at the same time. Your body adapts to an exercise program every four to six weeks. Change exercises or types of workouts every four to six to help improve your performance and also to avoid overuse injuries.”
- Don’t use thirst as a guide to drinking. By the time you are thirsty, you are already more than 3 percent dehydrated. Guidelines:
- Drink at least 64 ounces (eight 8 oz. glasses) of water per day
- Drink two to three cups of fluids up to two hours before exercise
- During intense and prolonged exercise sessions, or when exercising in an environment that is hot and/or humid, drink 8-10 ounces of fluid every 20 minutes.
- After exercise, drink enough fluids to quench your thirst plus extra. (A good guideline for hydration is urine. Urine should be clear, if it is dark colored you have dehydrated and need to drink more.
Dr. Solecki advocates using what he calls a “periodization schedule of training” for serious and competitive high school athletes who focus year-round on their fitness and sports training. What does this mean? According to Dr. Solecki, it means that your training should be very different in your off-season versus pre-season. In other words, give yourself periods of time with more strenuous exercise and periods with lighter/recovery types of exercise.
Dr. Solecki also wants you to be aware that if you change workout types or start a new sport, some muscle soreness is normal and even good. The soreness from lactic acid build-up is an indication that you are building stronger muscles. But, not all pain is “gain.” He suggests that if you find yourself much more sore on day two than you were on day one, or if you’re only getting sore on days two or three, this is an indication that you are pushing too hard and need to back off.
And, finally, Dr. Solecki advises that children age 12 and under should avoid using weights or heavy lifting because the growth plates at the end of children’s bones may be damaged by lifting weights too early, which will affect later growth and development. The alternative? Dr. Solecki recommends that younger athletes stick with exercises using only body their own body weight until their growth plates have closed.
Source: National University of Health Sciences, www.nuhs.edu
