Muscles, Joints, Ligaments & Bones

The period between the end of physical therapy and the start of sports-specific conditioning is a critical time frame for young athletes after an an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear or rupture, reconstructive surgery, and months of rehabilitation.

ACL injury prevention programs for female athletes such as the Prevent Injury and Enhance Performance (PEP) program have value, despite lingering doubts about their effectiveness raised in a new study. While there is evidence that injury prevention programs may reduce the risk of some knee injuries, additional research in necessary, said the study author.

Nearly $30 million a year would be saved in hospital charges if early rather than delayed ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) reconstruction surgery was performed on pediatric patients, according to a study presented at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine's (AOSSM) 2010 Annual Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island.  Additionally, more than 7,300 tears to the meniscus and 7,800 cartilage tears in children could be avoided each year in the U.S. by early ACL surgery.

A lot has been written about the subject of stretching and flexibility in sports. Studies abound on the effects of flexibility on muscular strength, joint motion, and injury prevention, but the picture seems to become more muddled with every passing day, with even the conventional wisdom that static stretching improves flexibility over resistance training recently called into question. But the fact remains: stretching improves flexibility, a foundation for athletic success.

Inadequate warm-up is one often overlooked risk factor for youth baseball pitchers .  Research by the American Sports Medicine Institute shows that a pitcher needs to throw twenty-five fastballs before he achieves command and is fully warmed up. The problem is that a pitcher who comes to the mound from playing another position as a reliever only gets seven tosses before facing live batters.

Because the growth plates at the end of the major bones in a child's arms and legs are open, their muscles and bones are still developing, and because their hormone levels aren't the same as adults, intense strength or resistance training for youth athletes is inappropriate before skeletal maturity.

Ankle sprains are the most common injury in high school volleyball, and the most common acute injury. A new study, however, suggests that volleyball players who wear ankle braces can reduce the risk of first-time ankle sprains, with rigid or semi-rigid braces more effective for girls.

You've dusted off your bike and gone out with your kids for your first family ride of the season, but now your butt hurts.  I wish I could promise that, after you been riding a few more times, your butt will stop hurting,  but I can't.  I can promise, however, that it will get better, and that there are some things you can do for a sore butt and some of the other minor, but often painful, problems you may experience from recreational/fitness cycling.

The benefits of sports for adolescent boys and girls are well known. Less understood are the short- and long-term effects of sports injuries on a teen athlete's psychological and social life. A new study in the Journal of Athletic Training provides some clues and advocates a whole person approach to injury management.