Your Child's Sports Injury: How To Help Them Bounce Back
When you have a child who participates in sports and athletics, your biggest worry is that they will sustain an injury. Sports-related injuries are common among youth athletes, and when it happens you will have to be prepared to help your child recover and get back to training and competing. As such, you need to know the vital steps to take to help your child bounce back:
Do Not Just Rely On The School Athletic Trainer
When your child participates in sports through their school, they will more than likely have an athletic trainer available to treat and assess minor injuries as they occur. Athletic trainers can provide heat and cold treatments, apply first aid, and try to diagnose various injuries as they occur.
After your child is injured, their first stop will likely be the athletic trainer's office. While you should talk to your child's trainer and take their advice for care and potential treatment of your child's injury, you should not take it as the be all and end all of medical advice.
You will also want to schedule an appointment with your child's doctor or take them to the emergency room or urgent care clinic for further tests and evaluation. What may appear to be a sprained ankle, for example, could actually be a hairline fracture or serious muscle tear. So, be sure to get a second opinion.
Keep An Eye On Your Child
If your child is serious about athletics and their sports career, they will be anxious to return to training and competition as quickly as possible. This often means they will try to get back at it sooner than they really should.
Because of their tenacity and potential lack of foresight, you will need to monitor them closely to make sure they do not overdo it or return to practice too soon. This may mean both keeping track of them at home and talking to their coaches and trainers to ensure they do not try to return to the arena behind your back.
Invest In Protective Gear
Depending on the type of injury your child sustained, you may want to invest in protective gear that they can wear to prevent future injuries. For joints such as knees, ankles and elbows, you should get your child a brace to wear while training and competing.
Braces and similar supports will still allow and assist your child to maintain full (proper) range of motion in their joints while preventing improper movements. These devices can help your child to avoid re-injury or can keep them from aggravating any chronic conditions such as arthritis or tendonitis they may suffer from, and can be easily purchased at most pharmacies (like Parkwood Street Road Pharmacy).
If your child athlete does sustain an injury, following these simple guidelines will allow you to help them recover fully. While you would prefer they avoid injury entirely, you are now prepared to cope should one occur.