You can’t 100% prevent injuries, but you can lower the risk.
There are more opportunities to be physically active in the summer and warmer months than in the winter. Your kids are likely looking for activities to enjoy. Unfortunately, this can come with the risk of developing orthopedic injuries.
Let’s list the five most common summer orthopedic injuries for children and how to prevent them:
- Bicycle Injuries
- Playground Injuries
- Swimming Pool Injuries
- Trampoline Injuries
- Overuse Injuries
Bicycle injuries are very common among children. Children between the ages of 5 and 14 years are at the highest risk for bicycle injury. Sprains and fractures are most common and can happen if your child loses their balance and falls off the bike. To reduce the risk of bicycle injuries, make sure your child knows how to properly ride a bike and is wearing a helmet and knee/elbow pads to reduce the risk of injury. Serious injuries and fatalities can also occurred by collisions with motor vehicles.
There is no equipment designed to protect against playground injuries. Choose playgrounds on softer grounds. Some tips to avoid injuries are: always swing sitting down, wait your turn on the slide, sit on the slide, and slide on your bottom only, use monkey bars for climbing only — not acrobatics, among others.
Orthopedic injuries that can occur in the water are usually from diving in the shallow end of the pool, which can lead to neck and spine injuries. Slipping and sliding can also occur along the sides of the pool. There is no swimming gear that protects against these injuries, so supervision and teaching your child about safety in and around the pool is the best way to prevent injuries. Also, keep in mind that from 2017-2019, Florida was ranked the highest in the nation for unintentional drowning for kids ages 1-4, according to the CDC.
Trampoline jumping poses a high risk of injury for children. The activity can result in sprains and fractures in the arms or legs — as well as head and neck injuries. The best prevention is to supervise your child, and keep in mind that the American Academy of Pediatrics strongly discourages the use of trampolines at home.
Children can develop overuse injuries, the most common overuse injuries involve the knee and foot. To prevent overuse injuries, proper conditioning and training, wearing the appropriate protective gear, and using sports-appropriate equipment while playing are recommended. Keep in mind that bones grow faster than muscles in children.
Pediatric Orthopedics Can Be Described As the Study and Treatment of Growing Bones, Joints and Muscles.
A Pediatric Orthopedic Specialist is dedicated to the care of musculoskeletal problems in children and adolescents. Pediatric Orthopedic conditions are relatively common.
At OrthoNOW, we don’t treat teen bones like adult bones, because physically, they’re not. Where your children are treated really matters. Our team of Pediatric Orthopedic specialists at OrthoNOW delivers care to hundreds of kids and teens each year.
OrthoNOW accepts walk-ins…NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY!
Leave Fully-Treated In Less Than One Hour (including on-site X-Ray).
Difference Between Pediatric Orthopedics and General Orthopedics?
Orthopedics was formerly oriented only toward treating children with birth defects in their bones – thus the root word “ped” which means “child” – but it has since expanded to all age groups.
Why Should I See a Pediatric Orthopedist?
Pediatric orthopedic specialists have the best training and experience to communicate with your child, getting to the bottom of their injury or condition, while also explaining to them in kid-friendly terms what is going on with their body.
Pediatric orthopedics is a specialization within the orthopedic branch of medicine. An orthopedic physician can choose to focus his or her practice in a subcategory such as pediatric orthopedics for children, sports orthopedics for athletes, or even hip and knee surgery.
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👉 Because Injuries Don’t Happen by Appointment®
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