Tag: san diego orthopedic surgery

Be Careful: Injuries are Prevalent During Summer

After being cooped up indoors during the winter months, children are now taking advantage of the fine weather by doing a lot of playing and exploration. As a result, there’s usually a spike of ER visits among children during these hot summer months, based on my experience. Most of these kids suffer from injuries that happened in the playground, baseball parks, swimming pools, and bicycles.

Unfortunately, if you and your child are not being careful, doing physical activities over the summer can result to injury. Children jump right into the full swing of activities after being inactive in the last couple of months, making them prone to injury. These four injuries are the most common among children:

Sprains and Strains

A sprain is an injury to the ligament, while a strain is an injury to a muscle.

Growth Plate Injury

The growth plate is a tissue area at the end of a long bone that is still developing. Growth plate injuries are called fractures, and they happen to children and young people.

Repetitive Motion Injury

If an activity is repeated often enough, it could cause stress on a child’s muscles and tendons, resulting to acute traumatic injuries or chronic overuse injuries.

Preventing Summer Injuries

Injuries can and will happen. But don’t let these prevent your children from having the best summer of their lives. Instead of banning your children indoors, you can encourage them to take part in organized sports through clubs and communities that are being maintained by professionals.

Also get them proper equipment. Make sure they’re using a shoe that’s appropriate for their sports and playing surface. And as always, keep them hydrated. Make warm-ups and cool-downs a permanent part of their routine.

Treatment of Summer Injuries

If your child suffers from injury this summer, the first thing to remember is to implement RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation). Get professional help if the injury is severe. If the pain does not subside after a while, or if a shoulder or a knee bends the wrong way, consult with a San Diego pediatric orthopedic doctor right away.

How to Choose the Right Sports for Your Child

Summer is the perfect time for you to encourage your child to go outside, soak in the sunshine, and try out new things, like organized sports. Doing so will not only make them physically active, but will also teach them how to work with their peers and figures of authority.

Participating in sports over the summer will also teach them the values of competition and cooperation, as well as improve their confidence and body image.

If you’re still at a loss as to what type of sports to engage your child in, check out the following tips and suggestions:

Start the child with easier activities.

Start the child with activities that aren’t hard to master, such as playing catch or kicking ball. Once the child gets better at it and grows older, you can introduce the idea of team sports or competitive sports.

Involve the child in the decision process.

Expose the child to a variety of sports and watch out for signs of enthusiasm to determine which particular activity he or she likes the most. Or, you can simply ask what type of sports your kid wants to play. If children are part of the decision process, they are more likely to be engaged with the activity.

Consider the child’s physical traits and personality.  

Consider the strengths, weaknesses, and personality of your child. Some body types are more suited to a certain type of sports than others. Is the child stocky enough to play football, or tall enough to play basketball? Is the kid more inclined towards team sports, or individual sports?

Prevent Injury by Choosing the Right Sports

Unfortunately, summer is also the time when injuries among young athletes are high. If your child has a chronic health condition or a disability, you may want to consult with a San Diego pediatric orthopedic first for a pre-sports checkup and ask what activity would be best suited for your child.

Finding the right sports activity from the get go may be next to impossible, and it can take a series of trial and error before your kid gets it right. Still, the process of finding the right sports to play for the summer is important in order to prevent sports injury. And even if a sport is not a good fit, it can still be a great learning experience for your child.

Sprain vs. Strain: What’s the Difference?

As a parent of a sprightly 3- or 5-year-old, you’ve definitely had your share of scary moments whenever you see your child fall down after running around the field or goofing around with friends.

No parent ever wants to see their child doubled over in pain because of an injured knee. However, at this stage, knee injuries are commonplace for children who are physically active.

The knee is a very complex joint with lots of moving parts, which is why there are plenty of injuries that can happen. The most common causes of knee injuries are from repetitive action while playing sports, sudden stops or twists, and direct trauma to the knee.

It is therefore important to know the difference between a sprain and a strain so that you can treat your child’s injury correctly.

How to Tell One from the Other

A knee sprain involves the tearing of a ligament, while a knee strain involves the tearing of a muscle. In both instances, pain, swelling, limited flexibility, and difficulty doing a full range of motion may be experienced. As you can see, both conditions display similar signs, which is why most people mistake one for the other.

The main difference between the two is that sprain causes bruising in the knee. It is caused by a direct hit to the joint, and your child will feel a popping or snapping sound when it happens. On the other hand, a strain causes cramping, muscle spasms, and muscle weakness.

Overexertion, accidents, awkward positions while sitting or standing, and prolonged repetitive motion are often the main reasons why sprains and strains happen.

If your child’s knee injury is severe that he or she cannot walk, or if there are still prevailing issues with the knee two weeks after the accident, you may need to visit a San Diego pediatric orthopedist to have your child’s knee treated professionally.

Treating Shoulder Bursitis

Is your child always complaining of tenderness or pain in the shoulder? He or she may be suffering from shoulder bursitis.

What is Bursitis?

The bursa is a sac filled with lubricating fluid that acts as a gliding surface for the tendons. It helps decrease the friction whenever the tendons rub off against other body parts such as bones, ligaments, and skin.

Currently, there are 160 bursae found all over the body, with the major ones located on the shoulders, elbows, hips, and knees.

Bursitis occurs whenever the bursa becomes swollen or gets irritated from increased pressure. Once the bursa gets inflamed, the tendon does not glide smoothly over it, making any form of movement painful.

Causes of Bursitis

Shoulder bursitis have many causes, the most common of which is repetitive motion. Athletes are prone to develop shoulder bursitis whenever they perform a repetitive action, such as throwing, pitching, or swimming. This medical condition can happen gradually or suddenly.

Other causes of shoulder bursitis are direct trauma to the shoulder, incorrect posture, calcium deposits, bone overgrowth, infection, or autoimmune diseases.

Symptoms of Bursitis

The hallmark symptom of bursitis is localized swelling. A visible bump on the shoulder will appear. Pain can be felt either on the outer side or tip of the shoulder whenever there is movement, such as lying on the affected shoulder, rotating the arm, or simply pushing or pulling open a door.

Treatment of Bursitis

Home remedies such as over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medication and cold compress can be used to treat bursitis. It is also important for the child to take a complete rest, and to avoid doing the motion that originally caused the shoulder pain.

When to See a Doctor

If the pain continues to persist in the next couple of weeks, your child may need to see a San Diego pediatric orthopedist to achieve complete recovery and to regain his or her complete range of motion.

What to Do If Your Child is Afraid to Go to the Doctor

Injuries can and will happen, especially if your child spends a lot of time in the playground or plays competitive sports. A routine visit already raises a lot of anxieties among children, but more so if the visit is due to an excruciating pain caused by an injury. Thoughts of needles, x-rays, and lab tests can terrorize even the bravest of preschoolers and toddlers. They may cry or throw tantrums, making the visit even more traumatic for them.

As a parent or guardian, here’s how you can turn a doctor’s visit into a more pleasurable experience for your child.

Do a role play.

Before going to a Los Angeles orthodontist or pediatrician, you can buy a toy doctor kit and do a pretend checkup role play so that your child will learn what a doctor’s role is, and know what to expect from a doctor’s visit.

Make physical contact.

The doctor’s clinic is a strange and unfamiliar environment to the child. Consider having him or her sit on your lap to provide comfort and reassurance.

Kids can also sense what their parents feel at the moment. If you feel at ease, your child will pick up on it and will feel a lot better about the visit.

Give something to look forward to.

You can promise to give a reward or an incentive, like a movie date or more playground time, after the visit. Don’t use the treat as a condition of good behavior at the doctor—this will only make the kid feel bad if he or she will not be able to control the anxiety.

Be honest.

If there is going to be blood work and the child is going to get a shot, don’t lie and say that it won’t hurt. Be honest and say matter-of-factly that it is going to hurt—but don’t dwell on it. If you act like it is no big deal, your child will act like that as well.

Provide positive feedback.

Positive verbal reinforcement can make a huge difference. Words such as “You were very brave” will give confidence to the child so that he or she will be less anxious on future clinic visits.

Don’t want your child to make a scene while in a doctor’s waiting room? Doing any of these things will prevent your child from dreading a visit to the doctor.

Dealing with Little League Elbow Syndrome

In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of organized sports for children, resulting to an increase in sports-related pediatric injuries. Other factors that contribute to the increased number of injuries include single-sport specialization and longer competitive seasons.

One of these injuries is called Little League elbow syndrome, a type of medial elbow injury caused by repetitive throwing motions when playing baseball. This injury is also associated with other sports that involve plenty of throwing.

When making a throwing motion, a lot of stress is placed on the elbow’s growth plate located on the inside of the elbow. This repeated motion results in an overuse injury that frequently happens to little pitchers, catchers, infielders, and outfielders. The medical term for Little League elbow is medial epicondylar apophysis.

Why Children and Adolescents Get Little League Elbow

The growth plates in the elbows of children and adolescents who frequently play the sport have not yet reached full skeletal maturity. Excessive and repeated stress on the growth plates will cause them to crack or tear from the humerus bone. This can negatively impact bone growth, and even cause deformity in the elbow.

Watch Out for the Symptoms

Little League elbow typically happens to an adolescent baseball pitcher aged 9 to 14. Injured baseball players often complain of pains on the insides of their elbow. They also complain of being unable to move their elbow because it feels like it gets stuck or is locked.

A San Diego pediatric orthodontist will be able to diagnose if your kid has Little League elbow or not. Aside from a physical exam, an x-ray or an MRI scan can be conducted to determine the extent of the injury.

To prevent the occurrence of this elbow injury, the USA Baseball Medical and Safety Advisory Committee recommends that pitch count limits should be strictly monitored and regulated, and that pitchers should play no more than nine months to give the body enough time to heal and recover.

What to Do with a ‘Nursemaid’s Elbow’

When walking with children, our tendency is to grab their small hands or wrists, and swing their arms back and forth. But did you know that this sweeping motion can be too dangerous if we put on a lot of pressure?

This can cause an injury called a “nursemaid’s elbow,” a condition in which a ligament has slipped out of place and is caught between the bones of the elbow joint. With nursemaid’s elbow, even a small amount of pressure is enough to cause an injury.

This condition happens to children between 1 to 4 years old. It is more prevalent to girls than boys, and frequently happens more to the left arm than the right.  At this early stage, children’s ligaments are still loose, fragile, and yet to develop, which makes their elbows easy to fall out of place. Instances such as pulling a child up by the hands, jerking an arm too forcefully, or swinging a child’s arms can lead to injury.

Signs and Symptoms of Nursemaid’s Elbow

A nursemaid’s elbow injury is not so obvious because there are no signs of bruising or swelling from the outside. But you can tell your child has one if he or she does not use an arm and keeps it in a straight position.

Although it can be painful, a nursemaid’s elbow is a temporary condition without permanent damage to a child’s body. Severe pain means there could be a broken bone involved, in which case a San Diego pediatric orthodontist will need to be consulted. A doctor will prescribe a pain reliever and will do a “reduction” maneuver to put the elbow back into place. An x-ray only becomes necessary if the doctor suspects fracture.

To prevent a nursemaid’s elbow injury in the future, you should be more gentle and careful with your child, and advice other caregivers to do the same.

Treatment and Prevention of ACL Injuries

So many parents are extremely proud when their children get into sports. But that feeling of accomplishment can easily be replaced by a sense of dread once they see their children get injured while out on the playing field.

If you have a kid who likes to play a lot of sports, then you need to become familiar with the most common injuries that children get while playing. One such thing is the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury. The ACL injury is a serious injury because it involves the ligament that gives the knee its stability, and will need to be looked at by a San Diego orthopedic doctor.

How an ACL Injury Happens

Most ACL injuries happen in sports that involve sudden movements and abrupt changes in direction. These include basketball, soccer, football, tennis, and volleyball. Once a child jumps and makes a hard landing, he or she may land stiff-legged and off-balance. If the weight is not evenly distributed on both legs and the quadricep muscles are not stable enough, the sudden movement will put a lot of pressure on the knee joint and will cause the ACL to tear up.

How to Prevent an ACL Injury

ACL injuries account for more than 50% of all knee-related injuries. Treatment usually requires surgery and long-term rehabilitation. To prevent an ACL injury, the parents and coach need to work together to ensure that the young athlete does not skip warm-ups and cool downs, drinks enough liquid, and uses the proper equipment.

Some children will insist on playing even when already injured, which is why you should instinctively know when your child is in pain, even if he or she is not telling you. Simple sports injuries that have been left untreated for too long may turn into major complications and lifelong problems.

If you suspect that your child has an ACL injury, then please visit us right away for immediate assistance.

Why Sports Specialization Should Not Be Implemented This Early

Some parents make the mistake of encouraging their children to take up a specific sport at such an early age. They send their child to various sports clinics and athletic development programs, and hire the best private coach to ensure their child’s success. Unfortunately, this practice may do more harm than good for the child.

An intense, laser-like focus on one sports can cause injury and put a lot of pressure on the child, causing him or her to lose interest early on. To prevent sports injury, burnout, and social isolation, make sure to do the following:

Encourage the child to diversify.

Even if the child is showing a lot of promise and is performing really well at one discipline, encourage him or her to play in other sports that do not utilize the same repetitive movement as their chosen sport.

If your kid is a member of the football or basketball team, encourage him or her to go swimming, hiking, or biking. The variety prevents them from losing interest quickly or dropping out entirely from sports. These activities provide plenty of opportunity for kids to just be kids and to goof around, instead of being serious and competitive all the time.

Think about your reasons.

Why do you want your child to specialize in sports? Is it for your child’s success in college? Is it for their sake, or for your sake? Considering the huge number of youth athletes, the odds of “making it” to college and professional sports are small, so be realistic and make sure you know where your kid’s potential stands.

This is the moment when you need to listen to your child. What is it that they want to do? What activity brings them the most joy?

Keep an eye out on your child’s health.

Sports specialization can lead to overuse injuries. When children participate in only one sport, they repeatedly stress the same group of muscles, tendons, joints, and bones. These injuries can lead to a consultation with a San Diego pediatric orthopedic surgeon.

It would be best for your child to undergo sports specialization during late adolescence. By that time, your child has realized their full potential and would know what it is they really want.

How to Deal with Kids’ Heel Pain

Is your child complaining of a sharp pain in the heels and a tightening of the calves? Do you see your child limping or walking in tip-toes? Most parents at the receiving end of this type of complaint will attribute them to overexertion, but is actually due to a growth spurt.

As a pediatric orthodontist, I have encountered the same problems before in other children. If the child experiencing heel pain plays a lot of sports that require a lot of running around in hard surfaces, this could be due to the growth of a heel that has been stretched too tight. This is called Sever’s disease, which is the inflammation at the back of the heel bone.

Why It Happens

Sever’s disease is the result of a heel bone that is still in the process of developing. A new bone is forming at the growth plate located at the back of the heel. Too much pressure on this body part triggers the pain and inflammation.

A child’s heel is not fully developed until he or she reaches 14 years of age, which is why Sever’s disease typically affects children aged 8 to 14. It often goes undiagnosed, and is more common among boys than in girls.

This usually goes away on its own within the next couple of weeks or months once the growth plate begins to close. For the meantime, you can give your child painkillers like ibuprofen to deal with the pain. Stretching exercises and massages on the heels, calves, and hamstring will help, as well as ice or cold compress. You can also buy the kid new shoes, preferably one with a well-cushioned sole that provides good arch support.

However, if the problem continues to persist in 3 to 4 months, this may indicate a more serious condition that needs to be looked at by a Los Angeles pediatric orthodontist. If this is the case, then please call or visit our clinic to have your child’s heels looked at by a medical professional.