Why are children vulnerable to sports injuries?
School-age children are still developing their motor skills. So their coordination, strength and balance are still in the development stages. Given that they're not 100 percent yet, they are a little bit more prone to injury.
In addition, they're also learning how to interpret their body's signals, like soreness, discomfort, and fatigue. And then lastly, but probably most importantly, school-age children are actively growing, so their growth plates are at risk for injury during sports.
Growth plates are found at the ends of the bones in children. They're made up of cartilage and immature bone that is not yet calcified. As a result, growth plates are not as strong as mature bones and that's what makes them so vulnerable to injury.
What kinds of sports injuries are most common?
For elementary school-age children, serious sports injuries are much less frequent than in adults or adolescents, simply because the size and the speed of the competitors is so much smaller and slower. It is much more common to see overuse injuries than acute traumatic injuries in this age group, especially in sports like baseball and soccer that involve a lot of repetitive activity.
What is an acute injury?
When we say "acute injury," we mean something that occurs as a result of a single episode. So the classic example is someone who twists their ankle and suffers an ankle sprain. The most common types of acute injuries that we see are sprains, bruises and fractures in that age group.
