Sports and Kids!!

 I am a big fan of having your kids play a sport!  They learn how to use there body, they develop coordination, they learn discipline, they learn ethics, they learn how to win and lose,they learn how to set and reach goals, and many more valuable things.

There has been an increasing trend in youth sports to have them play a particular sport in school during the regular season, and in clubs during the off season.  The racial being that it will increase the child's abilities in the sport making them a better candidate for college scholarships and professional sports careers. 

There are many kids today from 10-18 who play a sport year-around and are never given an "off season". Essentially they have become professional athletes because they are always training and playing.  

 

It is true that the more you do something the better you get at it, but often coaches and parents do not take into consideration the physical demand that year around training puts on the growing, developing, and changing body of the child. Nor do they consider that with increased activity comes increased need for recovery and preventive therapy to keep the youth injury free and performing at his/her best. 

All professional athletes receive recovery and preventive care.  They receive it between practices and after games/matches.  It helps their body recover faster and helps prevent injury because it keep their body functioning correctly. 

I have noticed a trend of increasing overuse injuries in the young athlete population (age 12-22) that are typically not seen at the professional level until later in their careers.  I believe that this increase is due to the increase of children participating in year around sports/training for years and years without recovery or preventive care. 

Medically speaking it is import to have activity for the developing body, it helps build strong bones and muscles.  When the activity is in excess (too demanding, too frequent, or too repetitive) it causes an imbalance between the developing bones and muscles which will cause improper development.  When bones and muscles develop improperly it changes the bio-mechanics of the joints which increases the the risk of major injury now, and chronic injury or pain later in life.  

Chiropractic care helps to restore proper balance between developing muscle and bone in the young athlete. 

• Young athletes should receive care 2-3 times a month while actively playing/practicing to help their bodies recover from the physical demands of their sport, to help prevent injuries, and to help them perform at their best.
• Young athletes should receive care 2-3 times a week when injured to help them recover faster and to help prevent any long standing injuries or problems from bothering them in the future.

If you have kids playing sports year around then they should be getting regular chiropractic care to recover from the rigors of constant training and to prevent injury.  Please don't wait till your kid is injured before you seek care.  

Chiropractic care can help you and them reach the athletic dreams and ambitions you both have!