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Dr. Daniel Green, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Hospital for Special Surgery in Stamford offers the following suggestions for getting -- and keeping -- your student in shape.
- High-risk sports for ACL ligament injuries include soccer, basketball, lacrosse, football and skiing. ACL prevention programs help prevent ACL injuries by improving a young athlete’s core strength, functional movements and flexibility.
- As children get older and begin playing school sports, they should no longer play to get in shape, but train and get in shape in order to safely play sports.
- If your child is recovering from an injury, he or she should not compete in sports until his/her strength and flexibility has returned to pre-injury level. If your child is injured and tries to play through it, he can make the injury worse or hurt other parts of his body.
- Make sure your child is ready for sports activity by checking to see if he can run without pain or a limp. Is he able to jump up and down on one foot with good strength and coordination? If not, he may have an injury needing attention that could flare up once organized sports begin.
- Ensure your child’s backpack has two well-padded straps and weighs a maximum of 15 percent of your child’s body weight to help protect his back.
- As your child prepares for the upcoming school year, he or she may be looking to try new sports. It's a good idea to encourage him to play different sports during different seasons to give him variety and help prevent overuse injuries.
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