BUENA VISTA, FLA – The cups and ribbons that young athletes bring home sometimes come with a price – injuries that can sideline them for a few games or haunt them for the rest of their lives.
Teenagers are more likely than adults to sustain sports injuries, Dr. Ilene Claudius said at a meeting sponsored by the American College of Emergency Physicians and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Immature bones, strong tendons, and a general tendency to brush off aches and pains all conspire to increase the risk.
Open epiphyseal plates are always points of weakness on a growing bone, said Dr. Claudius of the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. "During periods of rapid growth, the epiphyses are incredibly weak, so boys in their early teens get a lot of sports injuries. They also have strong tendons that insert there and set those kids up for inflammation."
Dr. Ilene Claudius
Most of these stress injuries occur in runners, jumpers, and dancers, she said – but they can be seen in those who play other sports. The risk is highest in two periods during a young athlete’s career – just as they delve enthusiastically into their sport and when they reach an elite level, during which time physical efforts grow even more demanding.
"Think about what that person has been doing that might predispose him to an injury: the couch potato who has been doing nothing for 12 years and then starts running every day, the elite athlete who excels in a sport and never deviates from that sport, or the athlete who has played a single sport for years and then takes up a new one, which uses an entirely different set of muscles and bones."
Muscles and bones grow rapidly to accommodate new activities, Dr. Claudius said. Muscles increase in mass and pull on bones, increasing bone mass. It takes a full 14 months for skeletal remodeling. But, in the meantime, when bone absorption outstrips bone repair, stress fractures can occur.
With some ice, rest, and NSAIDs, most of these injuries will heal within 8 weeks. Occasionally, stress fractures appear in more concerning places, like the navicular bone, femur, or femoral neck "These have a higher risk of complete fracture, so they need more aggressive treatment."
Gymnastics, football, and wrestling predispose athletes to hyperextension injuries. Symptoms include lower back pain that radiates to the buttocks and gets worse with exercise. Affected teens can present with paresthesia. These patients usually respond to a few months of activity modification and some physical therapy.
Repetitive hyperextension injuries can leave a lasting effect in the form of traction apophysitis, impingement of the spinous processes, or pseudoarthrosis of the transitional vertebrae.
Concussion is probably the most-feared sports injury. Every time an athlete sustains a concussion, the chances of getting another are increased and the time it takes to recover is extended.
Repeated head trauma can lead to a chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The latency period is 6-10 years, after which the athlete may begin to express emotional disorders, paranoia, memory problems, and even suicidal ideation. "Pathologically, it looks a lot like Alzheimer’s," Dr. Claudius said.
Concussion isn’t always easy to identify on the field or in the emergency department. Preseason neurocognitive testing can make diagnosis easier. "This gives you a baseline; if a concussion is present, the score typically decreases by 10% or more."
While adults typically return to normal in 4 or 5 days, research shows that young people have a much longer recovery time. For a teenager, up to 3 weeks or recovery is not unusual. Any kind of return to full play is absolutely contraindicated during recovery, and resting the brain is just as important as resting other parts of the body.
Cognitive rest can be a difficult concept for the teen to grasp. Dr. Claudius said. "We always need to tailor our message to the audience, and in this case, our audience is an adolescent. A week of cognitive rest means more than just a few days off school. It means not staying up late; it means no texting or video games. It means no sex."
When symptoms recede to mild – for example, sustained attention for 30 minutes without the return of somatic symptoms- the teen can take on a limited amount of school work. It’s important to get up out of bed and start returning to regular activities, with the exception of sports.
"They should avoid aerobic activity until they’re completely asymptomatic," Dr. Claudius said. "Then there can be a careful program that includes light aerobic exercise."