By: Dr. Mark Walter

www.vsas.com

There has been a definite increase in overuse injuries in children. Repetitive-stress injuries (RSI) used to be a relatively rare problem for the young, or so it seemed. This has all changed.

Of course, you would see an occasional Osgood-Schlatter’s or epicondylitis, but with the emergence of organized sports and their emphasis on repetitive drills, as well as the more recent trend toward sports specialization in young athletes, RSI is now a relatively common problem. Chiropractors are experts at treating these types of injuries. If managed carefully, most adolescent athletes can recover completely from these injuries.

Let’s take a specific example of a RSI: spondylolysis (stress fracture of the vertebrae). It is estimated that 15 percent to 20 percent of gymnasts develop this type of stress fracture. However, it affects many young athletes who perform any activity that requires repetitive hyperextension of the lower back. Dancers, divers, gymnasts, high jumpers, offensive linemen, pole vaulters, weight lifters and wrestlers all demonstrate an increased incidence of spondylolysis.

One of the reasons for this problem is that the pars interarticularis, the area that the stress fracture occurs,  does not fully mature until about 25 years of age. Unfortunately, in many sports an athlete is actually considered “old” and past their prime at age 25. The accepted theory is that repetitive activity from the paravertebral muscles pulls on the relatively fragile facet joint, which eventually causes fatigue and micro- or stress fracture.

Early on, most of these stress fractures are not visible on plain films. SPECT bone scans and CT are great tools for diagnosing this type of fracture. The bone scan will identify whether there is a stress fracture. Bone scanning achieves almost 100 percent sensitivity in finding stress fractures in the pars interarticularis. Unfortunately, these lesions can remain positive or reactive for a long time. Therefore, to best evaluate anatomic healing, CT is generally the best modality.

The typical protocol for ruling out a spondylolysis is to obtain a SPECT bone scan to determine whether there is a stress fracture. If the bone scan demonstrates a spondylolysis, a CT is requested to evaluate the anatomic involvement of the fractured bone.

Typically, patients with this injury wear a brace for 12 weeks and discontinue their sporting activity. Isometric exercises to maintain and strengthen the trunk muscles are performed, and once pain has subsided, gradual mobilization and isotonic exercises of the trunk muscles are included. If the CT scan shows signs of union of the defects, the brace can be removed, but sporting activity cannot be started for three more months. If, however, there is no evidence of healing, then more aggressive treatment such a surgical pinning may be necessary. If the CT scan demonstrates confirmed union of the pars interarticularis, the patient can gradually return to training.

Other kinds of RSI injuries that adolescent athletes develop include bursitis, tendonitis, epicondylitis, Osgood-Schlatter’s disease, patellar femoral syndrome, shin splints and stress fractures other than spondylolysis. Again, chiropractors generally are very good at treating these types of injuries, except in the case of occult fractures through the growth plate, the epiphysis. In those cases, surgical intervention is necessary.

Using a bone scan to determine if there is indeed a stress fracture is very helpful. Once a stress fracture has been ruled out, the clinician can confidently determine a treatment schedule for a young, healthy patient. The patient can be allowed to test their recovery with prudence. In the case of a stress fracture, the recovery time will most likely require that the patient be off training and out for the season.

Photo courtesy of Virtual Sugar

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1. Osteoporosis – Not Just A Woman’s Problem
2. Should My Child Specialize in One Sport?
3. Can a Relationship Survive This Much Stress?

How do you feel about Michael Vick being released from prison and most likely playing in the NFL? To some, the mere mention of this brings disgust due to his abhorrent involvement in dog fighting.

I am not going to tell you how you should feel about Michael Vick, or your thoughts on dog fighting.

The bigger question?

How can we use this situation, and others like it, as one of those “teachable moments” between parents and their kids?

These situations provide a terrific opportunity to have a great discussion with your kids about current events, without sounding like a lecture.
 
How? Ask Questions.

• What do you think about dog fighting?

• What do you think about the person who gets involved in this activity?

• Would you want to be friends with someone who does this?

• Should Michael Vick be given a second chance now that he has served his time in prison?

• What do you think he could do to help people feel differently about him?

I’m sure you can think of many others, but you get the point.

Can you see how this would engage your child to think and discuss instead of tuning you out with another eye roll?

What is your take on this? Do you have better questions?  How do you handle these types of moments?

Related posts:

1. Why Michael Vick Should Get A Second Chance
2. Has Justice Been Served With Plaxico Burress?
3. Bottom 10 Moments and Top 10 Moments in Sports, 2008

I attended the finals of a high school girls basketball tournament last night. Now remember, this is a summer tournament, not  a high school event.

It just amazes me to sit and listen to the comments being made. Parents yelling at the kids, or even worse other players on the team. Yelling at officials. SUMMER GAME!

Excuse me if this sounds bad, but so many times I look at the father screaming and shouting instructions the loudest and I would bet my last dollar this guy never played competitive basketball in his life!

In addition, the coaches for these two teams are the actual high school coaches for the prospective teams. They do not get paid a dime to coach these games. They use them to evaluate and develop players. It gives players the opportunity to practice during the off season and for new players, a chance to  show their stuff and get a feel for the philosophy and playing style of the coach.

Here is the funniest and most outrageous part of this story. With about 25 seconds left in the game, the team with possession of the  ball was winning by 3 points. This teams coach shouts out to his players, “They have to foul you”!  Pretty straight forward stuff.

Well, the all star parent, you know him. The guy I mentioned earlier. Living his non-athletic life through his athletic daughter, immediately yells out, “NO THEY DON’T!”  Everyone turns and looks at this guy like he is from Mars. Even the head coach who shouted the instructions just looked in his direction and just laughed.

Guess who probably felt the worst. His daughter.

End result?  The trailing team fouled to try and get the ball back.

Similar situations happen at so many youth sporting events. PARENTS, please honor the game. Parents, please honor the coaches and officials. Parents, please honor your kids and don’t embarrass them.

Your time is over (if you ever had a time). Support, encourage, but let the coaches do their job. If you think you can  do a better job, fill out an application when a position  becomes available.

Think the officials stink. Go to your local youth organization, ask to put on the stripes, and give it a go.  But could you do me a favor? Let me know when and where, so I can  get a front row seat to a crash and burn movie.

What do you think is the proper way to handle a parent like this? Do you confront him or just ignore?  How have yo handled similar situations?

I highly encourage anyone to purchase this book. It is very inexpensive ( in case you think I am getting wealthy by recommending) and worth every penny.  It will change your view. I promise!

Related posts:

1. Bottom 10 Moments and Top 10 Moments in Sports, 2008
2. Softball Team Shows it is More than Wins and Loses
3. Is Winning An Excuse For Yelling?

Update below: Youth Sports and it’s coaches, provide the perfect classroom for life lessons. This article about a girls softball team is a heartwarming example

Northampton Softball Team Making a Difference

Update:

At the softball teams dinner banquet, Gabby was invited to attend and was honored. She also provided small gifts to each of the players. She is still undergoing treatments and is battling leukemia like a true champion. She is doing fabulous. Gabby also attended a Miracle League game to become an Angel in the Outfield. This is one remarkable young girl. Her mother, father, and sister are just a wonderful, supportive and humble family.

Here is a picture of Gabby with  Alex – the teams record setting pitcher who will be attending Bucknell University in the fall on scholarship, and  with all the graduating seniors. The teams record was 18-6 and lost to the eventual State Champions in the District playoffs.  What an inspirational group of young women!

Related posts:

1. Bottom 10 Moments and Top 10 Moments in Sports, 2008
2. Miracle League Opening Day Pictures – Angels vs Marlins

Each week, Single Dad Life publish articles of interest about youth sports.

PCA annually releases this list of the worst and best behavior in sports from pee-wees to the pros to stimulate discussion among parents, coaches, players and educators. And, in an excerpt from his book, Positive Sports Parenting, PCA Founder and Executive Director Jim Thompson explains how coaches and parents can help youth and high school athletes process the life lessons contained in the Bottom 10 and Top 10 Moments.

Enjoy the Video of the Top Moment!

For a printable PDF of this feature, click here.

Bottom 10 Moments in Sports, 2008

10. Former Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs pitcher Mitch “Wild Thing” Williams lives up to his nickname by cursing officials at his daughter’s fifth-grade CYO basketball game, leading the director of officials to say that if Williams “enters the gym…we will stop officiating.”

9. Suburban Portland, OR sherriff’s deputies rush to a sixth-grade girls basketball game that nearly turns into a riot after a coach is ejected, slams his clipboard, cutting a player and threatens a 17-year-old referee.

8. A minor league baseball brawl between the Peoria Chiefs and Dayton Dragons is lowlighted by a player attempting to throw a ball into the opposing team’s dugout, instead striking a fan, who was taken to the hospital.

7. On the same court that hosted the infamous Pistons-Pacers brawl, the highest-profile women’s sports brawl in U.S. history breaks out between the WNBA’s Detroit Shock and Los Angeles Sparks.

6. A 7-on-7 summer exhibition football game between two of South Florida’s top high school teams, Pahokee and Miami’s Booker T. Washington, devolves into a brawl, resulting in the hospitalization of a coach.

5. A Georgia high school baseball catcher is caught on video ducking under a pitch so that it smacks the mask of the umpire with whom the catcher was arguing.

4. In a post-game handshake line, a St. Louis-area youth football coach is caught on video violently shoving the face mask of an 11-year-old opponent.

3. Angered by an official’s call in an Olympic-medal taekwando match, Angel Matos demonstrates his superior skill by kicking the official in the face.

2. In a dispute over playing time at a game for seven- and eight-year-olds, a Lubbock, TX soccer dad aims his gun at his daughter’s coach’s husband.

1. A Chicago high school volleyball coach is caught on video paddling players in practice for their on-court mistakes.
Top 10 Moments in Sports, 2008

Top 10 Moments in Sports, 2008

10. A little-known basketball player parlays the life lessons he learned while playing for PCA Trainer Chris McLachlin at Hawaii’s Punahou High School into a successful U.S. Presidential campaign.

9. With the USC football team facing an NCAA-mandated loss of a timeout for restoring the tradition of wearing home jerseys at the rivalry game with UCLA, UCLA Coach Rick Neuheisel volunteers to burn a timeout to even the playing field.

8. At the expense of a potential playoff berth, Kirtland Central (NM) High School girls soccer coach Danene Sherwood blows the whistle on her own team, which officials erroneously deemed victorious after granting Kirtland extra attempts in sudden-death penalty kicks.

7. Fans of the NHL’s Minnesota Wild flood the team with e-mails of protest after the team signs Chris Simon, suspended eight times in his career for such deeds as stepping with his skate upon the prone leg of an opponent, taking his stick to the head of another and uttering on-ice racial slurs against a third.

6. Olympic swimmer Dara Torres asks officials to delay the start of a 50-meter race to give a competing swimmer time to change out of a ripped swimsuit.

5. Myron Rolle, a starting safety for the Florida State University football team, earns a Rhodes Scholarship, choosing to attend a final interview for the honor even at the expense of missing the first half of a critical conference game against Maryland.

4. Green Hope (NC) High School cross country coach Michael Miragliuolo leads the state’s third-ranked boys team and second-ranked girls team, while keeping 205 runners in his program, including a hearing-impaired runner with cerebral palsy, who has cut five minutes off his time.

3. Tip-off of the NBA Finals between Phil Jackson’s Lakers and Doc Rivers’ Celtics, a championship series featuring teams coached by PCA National Advisory Board Members.

2. Despite his status as a starter on the Washington State University basketball team, Taylor Rochestie gives up his scholarship so the Cougars can award it to a needier player.

1. When Western Oregon softball player Sara Tucholsky is injured rounding the bases after her hit clears the fences, opponents from Central Washington University, Mallory Holtman and Liz Wallace, carry Tucholsky around the bases, to complete her home run at the possible expense of Central Washington’s playoff hopes.

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Capitalizing on “Teachable Moments” in Televised Sports

An excerpt from the new book, Positive Sports Parenting
by Jim Thompson, Founder and Executive Director, Positive Coaching Alliance

Case Study 8: Watching a game on television with your child, a player taunts an opponent after making a great play. The taunted player retaliates. As a Second-Goal Parent, what should you do?

Your objective here is to reinforce character traits and life lessons you’d like your child to embrace. Televised sporting events provide a wonderful source of “teachable moments.”

There are two ways to handle these conversations. One is for you to assert what you think of the situation. “I think both of the players blew it. Player A made a great play and then acted like a jerk. But Player B would have done better to have ignored Player A’s taunt rather than letting it take him out of his game.”

This is fine and is necessary sometimes, but an even more effective way would be to ask rather than tell. “What do you think about Player A’s behavior after he made that great play?” It is more powerful and lasting when a young person comes to a conclusion himself rather than simply nodding his head along with something his parent or coach said.

Starting the conversation with a question doesn’t mean you can’t add your thoughts later and even push back if your child says something that you disagree with. “I agree Player B may have been justified in retaliating, but I would have liked to have seen him control himself and Honor the Game. Even if Player A acted like a jerk, Player B could rise above it. I’d certainly like to see you rise above your opponent’s behavior if he dishonors the game.”

Of course, the other opportunity watching sports together on TV is to point out positive examples of players respecting their teammates, opponents, the officials, and the rules.

Related posts:

1. What is the Positive Coaching Alliance
2. Parents – Grab A Whistle and Give it a Try
3. Recommended Reading – Get Your Game Face On by Kathy Toon