Children go through many adolescent changes that leave the body vulnerable to injury. These injuries have been termed ‘growing pains’ but we are now able to be more specific to these injuries, and the severity of these injuries cannot be understated.
We often hear…
“Just play through it”
“It’s only growing pains, don’t worry”
“You’ll grow out of it”
These pains should not be ignored and need to addressed in the same way any injury would be. Here are our top tips for beating growing pains:
1. DIAGNOSE
There are many types of growth-related pain, however, the two most common conditions are; Osgood Schlatter disease and Severs disease. It is vital that any growth-related injury is correctly diagnosed and an appropriate rehabilitation program put in place. Jon W Sports Injury has multiple years of experience diagnosing growth-related injuries. You can read more about Osgood Schlatter and Severs disease here.
2. UNDERSTANDING
Make sure your child understands their injury. This may sound obvious, but we treat many clients who have been diagnosed with a condition such as Osgood Schlatter, but when they are asked what this is they are unable to answer. For any child to heal it is crucial they understand their body. How can they fix it if they don’t understand what is broken?!
3. STRETCHING
The majority of growth-related injuries are caused by a lack of flexibility. It is vital that the culprit is stretched appropriately, remembering that static stretches should be held for thirty seconds.
4. ICE
The child will most likely complain of soreness in an area, e.g. knees or heels. This pain is being caused by inflammation of the area. Ice is a fantastic anti-inflammatory and pain killer.
5. REST
This word is never well-received in the clinic…! However, rest plays an important part in speeding up the recovery rate of a growth-related injury. Fortunately, we can now heal these injuries quicker than we used to, however, these are overuse injuries so it is vital we reduce activity levels in the early stages of rehabilitation.
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