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- September 27, 2020
IS YOUR CHILD READY TO RETURN TO PLAY? - THE PROCESS OF RECOVERING FROM A SPORTS INJURY
Is Your Child Ready To Return To Play? - The Process Of Recovering From A Sports Injury
With the school year now underway, many kids are getting back into their favourite sports and activities. While most kids are excited to get back on the court, field, or ice, as parents you might be concerned about injuries (old or new). You may be wondering what to do if they get hurt, who to take them to for help, what the process looks like for recovering from an injury, and ultimately, how to know when they are ready to return to play.
Let’s go through the process, from injury to return to play, to discuss the entire journey of recovering from a sports injury.
WHAT DO I DO IF MY CHILD GETS INJURED?
The first step is to stop the activity and make sure the area is safe to properly assess the injury (preferably by someone trained in first-aid care). This may seem like common sense, but often athletes will try and ‘walk it off’ or play through injuries, which leads to more damage and longer recovery times.
Next, we need to consider the severity of the injury. Do they need emergency care? Do they need to see their family physician to rule out a fracture or significant soft tissue damage (think torn ligament) or is it a minor injury? If your child has a minor muscular injury or a mild sprain or has been cleared for physiotherapy by their doctor, consider bringing them to a physio to make sure they are properly assessed and rehabilitated prior to returning to play.
IS THERE A “RIGHT” WAY TO RETURN TO SPORT BOTH QUICKLY AND SAFELY?
Yes, it is important to make sure that the proper steps are taken to return to play both safely and quickly. The main concern here is safety, as you don’t want re-injury once they return to play.
WHAT ARE THE MAIN STEPS WHEN RETURNING TO PLAY AFTER AN INJURY?
The first and hardest part for most athletes is to rest. You need to make sure you give your child’s body enough time to respond to the injury. The inflammatory stage of any injury typically lasts from 1-3 days. During this period, rest and ice will be helpful. After this, you want to start re-integrating movement and loading the tissues. It is important to be pain-free prior to increasing the amount of activity and eventually returning to play. Each step should be monitored by your physiotherapist and any increase in activity should be carefully monitored. A word of caution here – as the pain subsides after any injury, many athletes are tempted to jump right back into full practice or games. This is NOT recommended and often leads to re-injury and slows down recovery.
WHAT IF MY CHILD HAS A CONCUSSION?
Returning to sport following a concussion is a little more complicated than most injuries. After a concussion, it is important to first have an appropriate amount of rest. It is recommended that the athlete/student rests for 24-48 hours prior to beginning a return to sport program. With students, it is important that they are able to return to school symptom-free prior to beginning a return to sport program. A return to sport is done in stages. In each stage, new tasks and activities are introduced. To move to the next stage there must be no increase in symptoms. In the early stages, it begins with light activity and slowly works up to a full return to sport. There are 6 stages in total, if any increase in symptoms or new symptoms occurs during any stage, the athlete must return to the previous stage.
Return to play can look very different depending on the injury, the type of activity, and the personality of the young athlete. It is important to have injuries assessed so that a personalized return to play program can be developed and your child’s progress can be monitored as they begin to return to activity and eventually full play.
Make sure to have any injuries assessed by a trained professional before attempting a return to play.
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