A Parent’s Field Guide to Sports Injury Prevention for Kids
If your child plays a sport, you need to know how to play it safe with childhood sports injuries. Kids are very competitive and tend to play sports year-round today, which puts them at greater risk for serious sports injuries. That’s why medical experts recommend that parents remain involved in their child’s sports activities to prevent any medical problems. If your child does suffer a sports-related injury, immediately take them to your nearest MD Now location to ensure that they receive proper care. Rather than waste hours in the emergency room or wait weeks for a doctor’s appointment, MD Now can provide the urgent care your child needs immediately and conveniently. Since prevention is the goal, follow this expert advice on sports injury prevention for kids.
Gearing Up for Safety with Safety Gear
One of the best ways to protect your child from injury is by ensuring that they wear the right safety gear. Luckily, most coaches of major organized sports insist that players have appropriate protective headgear to help prevent head injuries and concussions. With other individual sports like tennis or gymnastics, ask your child’s coach to recommend the proper safety gear and make sure that your child always wears them during both practice and play.
A Game Plan for Handling Childhood Sports Injuries
Whenever your child plays a sport, they run the risk of an injury. It’s important that parents take these injuries seriously and get their child immediate medical care. Even a minor injury demands a doctor’s visit because it may lead to later problems if not treated correctly. Experts agree that a head injury like a concussion is the most troubling. If your child suffers a head injury, make sure that the child receives a complete neurologic exam and gets 100% medical clearance before resuming the sport.
Winning Tips on Sports Injury Prevention for Kids
Prevention is always better than treatment. No matter which sport your child chooses, use these expert strategies to prevent childhood sports injuries:
- Have your child warm up and stretch properly.
- Make sure the child uses proper techniques.
- Check for good form.
- Periodically check that your child’s sports shoes are in good condition and replace them regularly to prevent foot and ankle injuries.
- Keep your child properly hydrated before, during, and after sports.
- Always schedule a brief rest period.
- Have your child vary their exercise patterns.
- Insist that your child take a two- to four-month break from any single sport, especially ones that emphasize overhand motion, such as baseball and tennis.
Run to MD Now for the Highest-Quality Care
Treat your family to the caring, convenient, and cost-efficient treatment that awaits you at MD Now. All of our locations operate on a walk-in, no-appointment basis with hours to conveniently suit your schedule. With 22 locations throughout Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties, quality care is always within your reach. For the Florida locations nearest you, visit https://dev-www-mymdnow-com.mdgadvertising.com/locations.
To learn more about our urgent care centers, call 888-MDNow-911 or visit www.MDNow.com.
MD Now® Urgent Care Walk-In Medical Centers is the leading provider of fast and affordable urgent care to adults and children in Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties. Our state-of-the-art, walk-in medical centers are open seven days a week to deliver an affordable and convenient alternative to long emergency room wait times and the limited hours of family physicians. No appointment is necessary and major insurance plans are accepted. In addition to providing a comprehensive range of urgent care services to treat a variety of illnesses and injuries, our multiple locations offer digital x-rays, EKG, lab testing, physicals, immunizations, vaccines, occupational medicine, travel medicine and selected primary care services. Find the medical care you need with the convenience you want at MD Now. Call: 888-MDNow-911, online: www.MDNow.com.