The Persistent Injuries We Commonly See in Kids

Outside of a big fall, break, knock, or any other specific one time injury cause, the reason for kids presenting to physio is for persisting issues with no one specific cause. We've all heard of bony stress injuries, tendinopathies, and growing pains, which are prevalent, but there are some other types of persistent, non-traumatic injuries that we commonly see.

Starting with the things we know.

1. Bony stress injuries. A significant increase in your child's sporting loads that coincides with a gradual increase in bony tenderness and pain in a specific region. Looking out for really bad pain even when resting and pain at night are the big questions your physio will ask to check, if suspicious we will refer for an MRI to check for bony bruising. This type of injury involves a period of absolute rest followed by a slow re-introduction of activity that aligns with a timeline for bone healing.
2. Tendinopathies: less common in kids but certainly not out of the questions, specific pain along a tendon that is worse with higher force activities, your physio might ask you to jump, hop or sprint to assess for pain at the tendon. This involves a period of relative rest (a small amount of activity is great still) and a return to sport as pain allows.

Things that are less commonly known.

1. ‍Traction apophysitis: this occurs when kids go through growth spurts, specifically when they are applying sport and their tendons pull on growth plates which causes pain. Your physio will press on very specific areas where the growth plates are to assess for tenderness and ask questions about pain that is there at the start of sport, goes away in the middle, then comes back at the end and after sport has finished. This condition stops on its own once the growth plates fuse together and your child will be able to still play, but rest is recommended if the pain becomes too much.
2. Juvenile arthritis: This is a tricky one because often there is no apparent cause and can be hard to diagnose. Your physio will check for this if there are any particular signs and symptoms that flag it (like bilateral joint inflammation, rashes, significant pain in the morning or second half of the night). This usually involves being sent to your GP who will help screen for systemic issues and will help decide if your child needs to be referred to specialists that deal with these kinds of issues.

The most important thing to remember.

The Australian Institute of Sport's research indicates that if kids play more hours of sport than how old they are in years (e.g. if your child is 8 and does 10 hours of sports a week) they are at an increased risk of injury.

Most of the time, your physio will recommend a period of rest. Sometimes they will ask you to stop everything, other times they will work with you to figure out how to keep your child active while letting their body recover and heal. Kids are super healers and will get better if you give them the chance to.

Our physios work with young athletes every day and understand how to keep kids moving safely while their bodies recover. Whether you've got a hunch something isn't right or you're after some reassurance, we're here to help. Book in with the TSIC Physio team today, and let's get your child back to doing what they love.

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