This week, Bobbi Conner talks with Dr. Shelli Ciandella about preventing overuse sports injuries in children and teens. Dr. Ciandella is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopaedics and Physical Medicine and a non-surgical sports medicine physician at MUSC.
TRANSCRIPT:
Conner: I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio with Health Focus here at the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. It's estimated that 50% of all sports related injuries in kids result from overuse. Doctor Shelli Ciandella is here to talk about strategies to prevent overuse injuries in young athletes. Doctor Ciandella is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Orthopedics and Physical Medicine, and she's a non-surgical sports medicine physician at MUSC. Doctor Ciandella first explain how overtraining can hurt children and teens in sports.
Dr. Ciandella: Overtraining is particularly concerning in kids, mostly because their bodies are just still developing. Their bones are getting longer at a faster rate than their muscles and tendons attached, which in itself causes stress. Also, their growth plates are still open. So oftentimes our tendons and ligaments attach near a growth plate. And repetitive motions can cause stress on these tendons and ligaments, and growth plates end up leading to pain and widening of these growth plates as well. Overall, I would just say that overtraining in young athletes is an issue, and we're always thinking about the longevity of the athlete.
Conner: What's really considered overuse then for young athletes.
Dr. Ciandella: This is a tough one because there's no perfect definition for overuse or even like perfect way to prevent it. But generally speaking, I worry about overuse in kids who specialize in a sport at a young age, kids that don't have many rest days or practice the same sport many consecutive days in a row. I also worry about particular sports more than others. So, some examples are running or throwing sports. I tend to see a lot more injuries in those types of sports than others.
Conner: So, what are some guidelines then to prevent overuse injuries in young athletes?
Dr. Ciandella: One of the big ones we talk about is that we recommend against early specialization of sports. Therefore, we want kids to vary their activity, play multiple sports. And we also want kids to have rest days. So, we recommend at least two rest days per week, if not more. Kind of along that line, we also recommend against year round training in any specific sport. Kids should have some downtime. They should have a few months off per year from a specific sport. And lastly, I'd be wrong to not mention that healthy diet also plays into this as well.
Conner: And Doctor Ciandella, are these guidelines that you mentioned recommended and appropriate for athletes in the teenage years, as well as for younger children who are playing sports?
Dr. Ciandella: Yes. So, I think this is appropriate for quite honestly, all ages of athletes, but specifically the young and teen athletes. One big thing I think about is that some of these injuries can be career ending injuries. So, it's important to think about the longevity of the athlete in their sport and just not working them so hard early on that they're not even able to make it to college or professional athletics.
Conner: Doctor Ciandella, thanks for talking with us about overuse sports injuries in children.
Dr. Ciandella: Thank you for having me.
Conner: From the radio studio for the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, I'm Bobbi Conner for South Carolina Public Radio.
Health Focus transcripts are intended to accurately represent the original audio version of the program; however, some discrepancies or inaccuracies may exist. The audio format serves as the official record of Health Focus programming.
