Why Should Injuries in Children and Adolescents Be Handled Differently?
Appropriate treatment and rehabilitation of an injury are just as crucial in children and adolescents because they are still learning how to function in their bodies. Any stiffness or misalignment caused by an injury could have serious consequences, such as limiting their enjoyment of physical exercise or leading to the development of improper movement patterns. In the worst-case scenario, an untreated injury could potentially influence how they grow.
Here are some of the reasons why children and teenagers should not be treated in the same way that adults are.
Young Bones are Delicate
Children are far less prone to sustain ligament or tendon injuries, but they are much more likely to get bone injuries. This is due to the fact that their still-growing bones lack the solidity of adult bone, a weakness that remains or can worsen in adolescence as their abrupt growth spurts spread bone tissue across a broader region, leaving bones thinner and more prone to fracture.
If I twist my ankle while running this weekend, the most likely cause of the damage would be a torn or sprained ligament between my ankle bones, because the ligament is less capable of withstanding the extra strain than my bone. However, in children and adolescents, the ligament may move away from the bone, resulting in a fracture.
While the amount of pull-off from the bone is usually relatively modest, the diagnosis of twisted ankles or similar injuries in children and teenagers should include an x-ray to rule out bone injury. The therapy isn't all that different: tape up the area, apply compression, gradually reintroduce movement, and focus on joint strength and balance - although the younger the kid, the more fun we have trying to make the treatment.
Adolescent Girls Are More Predisposed to Knee Injuries
It is usual for both boys and girls to experience significant growth spikes in their adolescence, resulting in times of low bone density and skewed coordination. This coincides with an increase in testosterone, which increases muscle growth in boys. This muscle growth and strength so counteracts the earlier.
Girls, on the other hand, do not experience an increase in testosterone, and as a result, they have less muscle to sustain the additional stress passing through their joints. This is why adolescent females are more prone to ACL and MCL tears, and cartilage degradation, and are the population segment most likely to have anterior knee discomfort or patellofemoral pain syndrome.
The difficulty is that this is also the age at which females are most likely to get heavily involved in team sports such as football, basketball, and hockey, all of which include twisty-turny movements that can put harmful pressure on their knees.
Injury prevention programs that teach safe leaping and landing techniques have been demonstrated in studies to significantly lower knee injury risk in adolescent girls, hence such programs must be incorporated into the training and coaching of female sports teams of this vulnerable age. Furthermore, as with everyone else, workouts that build leg muscle strength and correct inward knee joint drift (common in females of all ages) will minimize the risk of injury even further.
If you're the parent of a teen girl who complains of knee discomfort, you should limit their activities until the pain goes away, and if it returns, they should consult a specialist. This can be challenging because they are under a lot of pressure to stay up with the rest of their team, but their health always comes first.
Take Back Pain in Your Boy Seriously
Back discomfort may be the typical ailment of middle age, but it can appear much sooner in boys who have a rapid growth spike. Again, bone density and muscle strength relative to size are to blame, but in teenage males, the decreased bone density puts them at a considerably higher risk of stress fracture of the vertebrae.
Pars defects cause 50% of lower back discomfort in young athletes, therefore any hint of such pain should be addressed seriously and treated immediately. A pars defect, if not detected early, can require six months or more of rehabilitation and, most likely, no sport, which is always upsetting for a young athlete.
We Treat Children and Adolescents TooAll kids will acquire a few scratches and bruises, but if there's any cause to suspect more serious harm, bring them in so we can get them back to enjoying their youth.