Tuesday, December 20, 2016

Childhood Sports Injuries



 Kids and Fitness
 It's never too early to get your kids into a fitness routine. This is a habit that will last a lifetime.

Without regularly scheduled exercise and sports activities, children will automatically default to watching television, playing on the computer, and playing video games. These pastimes are great for stimulating creativity and developing hand-eye coordination, but contribute nothing to a child's level of fitness.

One out of three American children are overweight, obese, or at risk for being overweight. This appalling public health information indicates a much greater risk of diabetes and heart disease as the child becomes a young adult.

Regular exercise and good nutrition will help a child maintain an appropriate weight and will promote long-lasting health benefits.
Kids get hurt all the time. They're running, they're jumping, they're crashing into things. Kids want to have fun, and when they play, they play full-out.

So, when kids play real sports, stuff happens.1,2 Whether your kid plays soccer, baseball, football, or studies karate, a broken bone, sprained ankle, or twisted knee is just the natural fallout of learning new skills and having a good time.

The treatment for most childhood sports injuries is straightforward and standard.3 For strains and sprains that involve only mild to moderate swelling and pain, the time-honored RICE protocol is followed - rest, ice, compression, and elevation.

Pediatric orthopedists get involved when the injury is more severe or when an arm or leg bone is broken.

But there are other issues, and every parent needs to be aware of these possibilities. In one of the unusual chains of circumstances that make the practice of medicine and the practice of chiropractic so interesting, a physical trauma (like a sports injury) can reveal an underlying serious problem.

In other words, various disorders of bone may not show themselves in terms of symptoms until a physical trauma makes them apparent. Such problems include metabolic disorders, growth and development problems, and even benign and malignant tumors.

What would make a parent suspect such an issue? First, if the child's pain seems out-of-proportion to the degree of injury. A mild knee sprain - for example, caused by tripping over second base while trying to stretch a double into a triple - should not be causing significant pain.

Also, mild-to-moderate injuries should not be warm to the touch. A parent can evaluate this. And, a child should not be running a fever after an activity-related injury.

It would also be suspicious if the pain did not improve daily. For the majority of injuries, pain that lingers beyond several days suggests an underlying problem. Children are resilient. Healthy kids heal quickly. They want to shrug off an injury, forget it happened, and get back to playing.

If your child isn't getting better in a few days, seems lethargic, or feels ill following an injury, warning bells should go off.

Your family chiropractor is familiar with all such conditions and scenarios. He or she is always alert to unusual situations and will recommend the appropriate steps to take, including a complete physical and x-ray examination. If necessary, your chiropractor will be able to recommend appropriate specialists for follow-up, including hematologists, endocrinologists, and pediatric orthopedists.

These more serious problems are uncommon. And, of course, well-informed parents help their kids grow up healthy and strong.

Dr. Dave Edenfield, "Your Jacksonville Chiropractor", and Lakewood Chiropractic offers the most advanced treatments for back pain, sciatica, neck pain, whiplash and headaches. They also treat auto accident victims with state-of-the-art technologies. Now accepting VA patients. For more information visit:
Lakewood Chiropractic
Jacksonville, Florida 32217
904-733-7020
http://www.lakewoodchiropracticjax.com/
https://www.facebook.com/lakewoodchiropractic
https://twitter.com/AskDrEdenfield

1Caine D, et al: Incidence and distribution of pediatric sports-related injuries. Clin J Sport Med 16(6):500-513, 2006
2Emery CA: Risk factors for injury in child and adolescent sport: a systematic review of the literature. Clin J Sport Med 13(4):256-268, 2003
3Demorest RA, Landry GL: Prevention of pediatric sports injuries. Curr Sports Med Rep 2(6):337-343, 2003

Friday, December 9, 2016

Back Pain - Am I At Risk?


 Your Family and You
For the most part back injuries are caused by mechanical issues, and the tendency to get such injuries is not inherited.

However there are family-related behavioral tendencies, and these behaviors - while not "inherited" as such - may easily be passed down from parents to children. When we grow up, these ingrained habits of daily living may lead to back injuries.

Poor posture, lack of interest in exercise, and a tendency to be overweight are all patterns of behavior we learn from our parents. As adults, its valuable for us to make conscious efforts to revise these unhealthful patterns, being proactive in developing new behaviors that support our goals of health and well-being.


And, various health issues that actually may be inherited can increase a person's susceptibility to back pain and back injury. Your chiropractor will be of assistance in identifying such additional risk factors.
Are there risk factors for back pain? And, if there are, what can I do to keep myself healthy and well? Your chiropractor can help answer these questions and more.

One primary risk factor relates to exercise. Everyone has heard, "if you don't use it, you lose it". If you're not exercising regularly, your back muscles are deconditioned and much more susceptible to injury - the strains and sprains we're accustomed to calling "back pain".

Muscles get stronger when they're required to do work. Also exercise helps "train" the soft tissues around a joint - the ligaments and tendons - these supporting structures "learn" how to withstand mechanical stresses and loads without becoming injured. Basically, when you exercise - when you do any kind of exercise - your body gets "smarter" and you're less likely to get those annoying back problems.1

A related risk factor is weak abdominal muscles. When you were a kid, at some point one of your gym teachers probably told you to "suck in your stomach". Actually, it turns out that was pretty good advice. Your abdominal muscles support the muscles of your lower back. If your abdominals are weak or if you're not using them - letting them hang out and droop instead of keeping them activated - your body weight has to be held up by the muscles of your lower back. They're not designed to do that - they're designed to move your spine around. And eventually, these lower back muscles will give way under the excess strain. The result is a very painful lower back injury.

There are many easy-to-do exercises for your abdominal muscles. The key is to actually do them - and do them after you're finished doing the rest of whatever exercises you've scheduled for that day. How often? Three times a week is plenty. Abdominal routines are quick - no more than 10 minutes. And, remember to use your abdominal muscles throughout the day. Imagine your abdominals are being pulled in and lifted up. This is not a "tightening" - your thought should be "activate". Your body will know what to do, once you've started adding consistent abdominal training to your exercise routine.

Risk factors for back pain may also be found in your personal and family medical history.2,3 During your initial visit your chiropractor will ask you about accidents and surgeries you've experienced, and discuss any important elements in your family history. For example, surgery to remove an inflamed gallbladder or appendix or to repair a hernia may result in weakened abdominal muscles. A motor vehicle accident or a fall from a height may have caused injuries that healed with soft tissue scarring.

Learning about potential risk factors and taking appropriate action will help ensure a stronger, more flexible, and healthier lower back.

Dr. Dave Edenfield, "Your Jacksonville Chiropractor", and Lakewood Chiropractic offers the most advanced treatments for back pain, sciatica, neck pain, whiplash and headaches. They also treat auto accident victims with state-of-the-art technologies. Now accepting VA patients. For more information visit:

Lakewood Chiropractic
Jacksonville, Florida 32217
904-733-7020

http://www.lakewoodchiropracticjax.com/

https://www.facebook.com/lakewoodchiropractic

https://twitter.com/AskDrEdenfield

1Jones MA, et al. Recurrent non-specific low-back pain in adolescents: the role of exercise. Ergonomics 50(10):1680-1688, 2007
2Cherniack M, et al. Clinical and psychological correlates of lumbar motion abnormalities in low back disorders. Spine J 1)4):290-298, 2001
3Plouvier S, et al. Biomechanical strains and low back disorders. Occup Environ Med 2007 (in press)