In the highly competitive world of teen sport, summer is a time, when everyone goes into over drive and the competition becomes even fiercer. Summer break is a time when young athletes train harder and increase their susceptibility to injury.
It is what health doctors and physical therapists are calling the “Epidemic of Overuse” which sees an increase in the amount of training and a consequent increase in the number of injuries. Muscle tears, fractures and worn down joints are reported due to younger kids working at higher intensities.
Whereas we earlier saw knee, elbow, shoulder and hip injuries only among adults, we now see them in kids as young as their preteens and moreover the kind of injuries that need surgery.
The worry is how well the bodies of these kids will perform 20 years from now, even if they can be repaired and brought back into action right now.
There is also the apprehension that these injuries predispose these kids to arthritis later. This is because bones that are still in the stages of development and growth are still vulnerable as is the soft cartilage tissue.
It could even be that growth becomes uneven and a child can end up with one leg being shorter than the other.
