New Research Confirms Youth Athletes Face Significant Injury Risks
According to Kevin Plancher, MD, a leading sports orthopaedist in the New York metropolitan area, "America's youth athletes have far more to worry about than just their performance or the final score. Several recent studies concur that student athletes are at serious risk of sustaining a sports injury during practice or competition, and for more children and teens than ever, those injuries are serious ones. While staying active and playing organized sports are important in promoting physical and social well-being during childhood, experts are urging improvements in safety measures to protect student athletes"
Greenwich, CT (PRWEB) November 9, 2007 -- When they take the field, America's youth athletes have far more to worry about than just their performance or the final score. Several recent studies concur that student athletes are at serious risk of sustaining a sports injury during practice or competition, and for more children and teens than ever, those injuries are serious ones. While staying active and playing organized sports are important in promoting physical and social well-being during childhood, experts are urging improvements in safety measures to protect student athletes.
"With 1.4 million injuries reported on the sports fields every year - many of which are preventable - youth athletes clearly need more advanced training in strategies to avoid injuries and to minimize their impact when they occur," says Kevin Plancher, MD, a leading sports orthopaedist in the New York metropolitan area and founder of the Orthopaedic Foundation for Active Lifestyles.
Addressing - and reducing - the numbers
Dr. Plancher points to several recent reports that indicate youth sports are riskier than they should be. For instance, findings reported in July from the Sports Medicine Institute at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago reveal that, although college football players have higher overall injury rates than their high school counterparts, high school players are far likelier to sustain serious injuries. What's more, students' tendencies to "specialize" in one sport early on, and to play it year-round, or to play multiple sports throughout each season of the school year, have led to an unprecedented rate of "overuse" injuries among youth athletes.
"Children's bodies are often physiologically unprepared to handle such prolonged intensity," Dr. Plancher advises. He notes, for example, that even high school athletes do not have the muscle mass of collegiate or adult athletes. In addition, the "growth plates" at the ends of the long bones in the body do not fully calcify until adulthood, making them softer and more prone to fractures in childhood. Finally, the human body achieves optimum physical conditioning when periods of physical activity are followed by periods of rest, during which the muscles build and strengthen. Without rest periods, muscles and ligaments are easily fatigued and prone to injury - particularly when young athletes lack the skills or awareness of proper methods for conditioning and competition.
Dr. Plancher points out that many of these factors can be minimized with high quality training. "Providing students with expert coaches who can teach them, for instance, safe techniques for tackling, running, jumping and falling is so critical to helping these athletes protect themselves from preventable injuries like muscle or ligament sprains and broken bones," Dr. Plancher explains. "Just as important, however, is the role of the Certified Athletic Trainer on the field during practices and games," he adds.
Certified Athletic Trainers may be key to fewer sports injuries
In a 2006 study sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), data was collected from 100 high schools to determine current injury rates among student athletes. Yet, many experts believe the results underestimate the actual number of young people who are hurt during practices or games. Why? Because the data came from high schools with Certified Athletic Trainers - indicating that their programs were safer than those at schools without Athletic Trainers. In fact, several scholastic sports and medical associations have recommended that a Certified Athletic Trainer be present at every sports practice and competition at the high school level.
"Some schools believe that simply having a medical professional, such as a nurse or general practitioner, on the field is sufficient to ensure the safety of players," Dr. Plancher advises. "However, Certified Athletic Trainers have better expertise in the specifics of biophysics and the musculoskeletal system, a sharper understanding of how injuries affect the muscles, tendons, ligaments, joints and bones, and more experience in evaluating the severity and best 'first response' to an injury," he says. "In addition, a Certified Athletic Trainer has the expertise to coach kids on how to play in a way that allows them to maximize their performance while preventing injuries from occurring in the first place."
To address the need at the local level, OFALS provides the services of its Certified Athletic Trainer, Hunter Greene, to Fairfield County, CT schools free of charge for high school athletic programs. Greene brings expertise in injury assessment, treatment, rehabilitation, casting, bracing, sport-specific strength and conditioning, exercise physiology, surgical management of orthopaedic injuries, postoperative care, and sports medicine-related research. Prior to joining Plancher Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, he provided athletic training services for professional sports teams, including the U.S. Men's Soccer Team, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Pittsburgh Pirates. He also has worked with NBA players, tennis professionals and several track and field Olympians. Greene's scholastic experience includes work at the University of Arkansas, University of Central Arkansas, Georgia Tech, Emory University, and many high schools. Greene is a graduate of the University of Central Arkansas, where he received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Athletic Training in 2003. He earned his Master's Degree in Exercise Science from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. For more information or to schedule his services, contact OFALS at 203.869.2002 or visit www.ofals.org.
Bio:
Kevin D. Plancher, M.D., M.S., F.A.C.S., F.A.A.O.S, is a leading orthopaedic surgeon and sports medicine expert with extensive practice in knee, shoulder, elbow and hand injuries. Dr. Plancher is an Associate Clinical Professor in Orthopaedics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in NY. He is on the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the American Journal of Medicine and Sports.
A graduate of Georgetown University School of Medicine, Dr. Plancher received an M.S. in Physiology and an M.D. from their school of medicine (cum laude). He did his residency at Harvard's combined Orthopaedic program and a Fellowship at the Steadman-Hawkins clinic in Vail, Colorado where he studied shoulder and knee reconstruction. Dr. Plancher continued his relationship with the Clinic for the next six years as a Consultant. Dr. Plancher has been a team physician for over 15 athletic teams, including high school, college and national championship teams. Dr. Plancher is an attending physician at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City and The Stamford Hospital in Stamford, CT and has offices in Manhattan and Greenwich, Connecticut. www.plancherortho.com
Dr. Plancher lectures extensively domestically and internationally on issues related to Orthopaedic procedures and injury management. During 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 Dr. Plancher was named among the Top Doctors in the New York Metro area and was the New York State Representative for the Council of Delegates to the American Academy of Orthopaedic surgeons. For the past six years Dr. Plancher has received the Order of Merit (Magnum Cum Laude) for distinguished Philanthropy in the Advancement of Orthopaedic Surgery by the Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation. In 2001, he founded "The Orthopaedic Foundation for Active Lifestyles", a non-profit foundation focused on maintaining and enhancing the physical well-being
of active individuals through the development and promotion of research and supporting technologies. www.ofals.org.
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