Sports Medicine Clinic
Kids' Athletics: No Longer Child's Play?
Over 30 million American children take part in organized sports annually, and most will find themselves both happily and healthily engaged. For a growing number, however, injuries no longer consist of harmless bumps and bruises. Head injuries, ACL tears, and broken bones—once the preserve of the hard-charging professional athlete—are becoming all too common in youth sports, in some instances leaving lasting damage.
According to the American Academy of Sports Medicine, 3 million children ages 14 and under get hurt annually playing sports or participating in recreational activities. And approximately 800,000 of those will experience injuries serious enough to warrant treatment in a hospital emergency room. Sports and recreational activities contribute to 21 percent of all traumatic brain injuries among American children.
Parents who want to keep their young athlete out of the ER may need to pay closer attention to what's an appropriate activity for their age, cautions Valley Medical Center physician Wuaca Luna, MD. Dr. Luna heads up a new Valley Sports Medicine Clinic and treats children in a wide number of sports.
It's tempting to watch the World Series and want to immediately emulate star players, Dr. Luna says. "But children's physical development can be impeded by adapting an action that isn't age-appropriate. A Little Leaguer just isn't physically ready to throw a curve ball."
Other examples include young gymnasts who practice 5 hours a day. "That's a prescription for repetitive stress or overuse injuries," Dr. Luna says.
Soccer, an especially popular competitive sport for both boys and girls in the Northwest, has also seen rapid growth in its frequency of serious injury. Girls experience ACL tears-which can leave the athlete sidelined for6 months or more-in greater percentages than boys. And the practice of soccer headers, especially those resulting in subsequent concussions, are increasingly the subject of worry among sports medicine specialists because of the possibility of long-term damage, Dr. Luna says.
Careful attention both to prevention practices and physical conditioning are among the "exercise prescriptions" Dr. Luna stresses to his young patients. He also suggests familiarity with recommendations from the American Academy of Sports Medicine.
Dr. Luna is board-certified in family medicine and fellowship-trained in primary-care sports medicine at the University of Washington. He serves on the medical school faculty at the UW and has been the team physician for Rainer Beach High School for 5 years.
The Valley Sports Medicine Clinic is located at 3600 Lind Street Southwest in Renton, Washington. The phone number is 425.656.4260.
