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Play it safe
Category: Youth & Sports
Apr 17, 2007
BY BORDEN BLACK
Special to the Ledger-Enquirer
More than 3.5 million American children younger than 15 are treated for sports injuries every year, according to SafeKids USA. The nonprofit organization reports about half those injuries are the result of solo activities like biking or skateboarding. Team sports are the source of the rest. Of injuries that result in emergency room visits, 40 percent occur between May and August.
The prevalence of injury and the upcoming National Safe Kids Week have prompted Hughston Orthopedic Hospital to sponsor a lunchtime seminar on April 24 called "Safe or Sorry: Playing It Safe." Dr. Christopher Bowman, an orthopedist and sports medicine specialist, will share tips on playing safely and preventing basic sports injuries.
Should there be an injury whether on the playground or during a team sport, Dr. Bowman says if there is an obvious physical deformity the child should immediately be taken for treatment. For minor injuries he points to RICE -- Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation.