SmartTeams Talk Short: Sports Specialization Strongly Linked With Much Greater Risk Of Serious Overuse Injury

Neeru Jayanthi, M.D., Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation, Medical Director, Primary Care Sports Medicine, Loyola University Chicago, Stritch School of Medicine, says research shows that there is a significant association between sport specialization and substantially increased risk of serious overuse injury, such as stress fractures, that keep an athlete out of sports for a month or longer.  Jayanthi says, "We need to pay attention to this data. Not paying attention is a gamble. We don't need any more data to tell youth athletes that [sport specialization] is a bad idea."