Gymnastics is a fascinating sport, especially from an injury perspective. The nature of it involves phenomenal strength, flexibility and low body fat percentages which is why it is hugely popular amongst young people.
The physical demands of Gymnastics are substantial and as with most sports there is a high risk of injury, the issue here however is that treating children as opposed to adults is a completely different procedure.
At Newcastle Sports Injury Clinic, we frequently warn against the all-too-common phenomenon of treating young people as ‘mini-adults’ when, they are not. They have different physiological needs and a different approach must be taken.
WHY DO CHILDREN & ADOLESCENT BODIES DIFFER?
After the age of 10 and up until the age of 20, growth tends to occur in spurts. This makes adolescents particularly vulnerable to injury, due to sudden transient imbalances between bone mass and muscle strength, loss of coordination and increased energy expenditure.
Other factors that may predispose children and adolescents to injury include muscle tightness or imbalance, joint stiffness or hypermobility, low core stability and poor posture.
As well as these, external influences such as flaws in sporting technique, sudden increases in training load, early specialisation and returning to train too soon after injury also place excessive stress on a growing musculoskeletal system.
Common injuries that affect young people include:
- Stress fractures
- Shin splints
- Osgood Schlatter disease
- Patellofemoral dysfunction
- Sever’s disease
- Perthes disease
- Scheuermann’s disease
- Scoliosis
The most crucial factor, however, is to approach all children as individuals and to examine them carefully before making a diagnosis and before planning treatment.
At Newcastle Sports Injury Clinic our specialist therapists understand the way young people’s bodies work and always give tailored treatments to ensure the best, results in the shortest possible time.
You can read more in-depth information about our paediatric and adolescent services here.
Should you be interested in booking an appointment with Newcastle Sports Injury Clinic, it’s never been easier to do so. Either call us on 0191 233 0500 or through our BOOK ONLINE feature.
