As the warm weather arrives, more and more youngsters will be venturing outside to engage in a variety of sports-related activities. Along with these activities comes the inherent danger of injuries.

What can be done to circumvent the prevalence of sports injury to our young people, and how can chiropractors become an important force in the community in helping kids achieve optimal health and maximum athletic performance?

According to the National Safe Kids Campaign, more than 30 million children participate in organized sports in the US. Even more kids participate in recreational activities such as bicycling, in-line skating, skateboarding and riding scooters. Approximately 775,000 children are treated in hospital emergency rooms for sports related injuries, and about 25 percent of those injuries are considered serious.

Children are more susceptible to injuries because they have slower reaction times than adults. They are less coordinated; they are still growing and developing. Many injuries result from overuse, such as Repetitive Use Syndrome, which comes from placing stress on the musculoskeletal system. It is caused by not using proper techniques or equipment (such as athletic shoes). This may adversely affect bone growth.

After injuries heal, vertebral subluxations can persist. These can impair functions, which go undetected because medical professionals are not trained to diagnose and correct vertebral subluxation — all the more reason for you to get involved in children’s athletics.

What you can do
Doctors of chiropractic must be leaders and an integral part of keeping children involved in community sports healthy. Children should be checked on a regular basis to make sure the spine, extremities and nerve system are functioning properly to enhance performance. This allows them to function at a higher level, prevents injury and removes any impediments to healing, should an injury take place.

You can do a number of things to educate parents on the importance of chiropractic care for children playing sports. For example:

• Address the topic in health talks. Discuss the significance of children getting checked prior to play.

• Display educational material. Provide office handouts, such as pamphlets, in your waiting and exam rooms. Put up posters on the walls depicting children, athletes, and sports themes, all underscoring a positive message for chiropractic.

• Use testimonials. Include in your pamphlets testimonials about children who have engaged in sports and benefited from chiropractic care. (Make sure you get written permission before publishing testimonials.)

• Educate the children. Tell them that if they fall in the playground, or topple from their bike, or hurt themselves in games and sports, they need to tell their parents, so they can get to a chiropractor for a check up.

• Strive for clinical excellence. All children should have a proper pediatric history taken. They need to have a comprehensive chiropractic examina-tion, including a check for subluxations; a check for

balance in the tone of the muscles and a normal range of motion; strength; flexibility; and symmetry from left side to right side. Each of these checks is very important when evaluating the stresses encountered in a child’s musculoskeletal system.

• Work with coaches. Coaches often refer children to medical doctors. An effective way to get a coach’s referral is by introducing yourself with a letter letting him (or her) know you take care of lots of children who play sports.

Tell the coach you understand the unique needs of the child in each sport and know how each sport affects the spine. Assure the coach you know what sports and activities make what parts of the body susceptible to injury, and how a chiropractor can enhance performance and prevent injury.

Did you know most professional sports teams and athletes have chiropractors at the ready to enhance their performance, give them an edge, reduce injuries and make injuries heal quicker? Remind your local coaches of this.

Keep in touch with them on a regular basis. If you see athletes in newspapers or magazines who benefit from chiropractic care, make photocopies and send them to coaches, teams and schools — even dance and karate studios, bicycle shops and skateboard shops in your area. Help them see if it’s good for the pros, it must be good for their kids. Show them all what a great resource you are for information on sports, health and wellness for children.

• Hold a sports chiropractic clinic. Invite all the coaches and trainers at different schools for education on the role of the chiropractor and the expertise we offer in making sure children’s musculoskeletal systems are functioning properly.

Let them know how children benefit from chiropractic in terms of increased coordination, depth perception, reaction time and alertness.

Exercise is essential in a young person’s overall health regimen, but just as important is taking steps to avoid injury. Contact sports are often fraught with risk, and even non-contact activities such as dance can expose one to harm.

The key for every chiropractor is working with kids and their coaches by closely monitoring the hazards associated with each activity and doing all one you to avoid them. Education and regular chiropractic check-ups need to be a staple in a child’s exercise and health routine. Being there as a health leader builds a chiropractor’s practice, and develops credibility, professionalism and visibility in the community.

Drs. Theresa and Stuart Warner focus their practice on children and pregnant women, They extended their interest in pediatric chiropractic by founding Kids Day America/International, from which over two million children have benefited and the World Children's Wellness Foundation. They can be reached through their Web site at www.chiropediatrics.com and or by e-mail, drswarner@chiropediatrics.com.

(Editor’s note: For research supporting this article that you can use in your health talks to parents and coaches, go to www.chiroeco.chttp://www.chiroeco.com/article/2003/issue8/bonus.php)