Spring sports are in full swing for many young athletes. Whether they’re participating in baseball, soccer, or another warm-weather activity, kids are at risk for injury. In the following Q & A, McLeod Orthopaedics sports medicine specialist Dr. Brandon McDonald shares valuable information on how to keep your athlete healthy and injury-free this season.

Q. What are the most common sports injuries seen in the spring?

In terms of spring sports, things we frequently see would be baseball- and soccer-related injuries. In baseball, we often see overuse conditions related to throwing and pitching. Patients also come to us suffering from little league shoulder or little league elbow, which are common terms you’ll hear as a sports parent. It’s not uncommon for us to treat tears of the shoulder. As for soccer-related injuries, we see patients with conditions you’re probably familiar with, like hamstring strains and calf strains. Then there are more significant injuries we see pretty regularly; those would be knee injuries, things such as meniscus or ACL tears.

Q. What kind of responsibilities do we have as parents to help prevent young athletes from having sports injuries?

As kids get a bit older and they’re starting to develop body definition, strength and conditioning programs can be very useful, especially preseason. The stronger an athlete’s muscles and tendons are, and the more flexible they are, the more resilient their body is to injury. So preseason strength and conditioning programs can be beneficial.

Teaching young athletes proper sports technique can be useful. For pitchers, the entire body is important in pitching mechanics. So making sure they have a strong core and proper technique is important to avoid excessive stress on the shoulder as they pitch; that can help them avoid those shoulder and elbow injuries.

There are some common sense things you can teach your young athlete, such as the gradual progression of physical activity, because that’s important to avoid injury. You don’t want to get off the couch and just start doing wind sprints and conditioning (which we see a lot). Kids tend to get injured if they go from zero to a hundred too quickly.

And then another key factor in staying injury-free would be getting appropriate rest. Some kids will play multiple sports, and they’ll be on multiple teams throughout the year. Many of these athletes never really get rest, and that can increase the prevalence of injury. So strength and conditioning, proper technique, gradual progression and relative rest periods are all important to avoid injury.

Q. Young athletes get bumps and bruises here and there. But at what point should someone seek medical care for what they perceive to be a more serious injury?

Times to seek medical care would include if there’s an inability to bear weight. If your child has a lower extremity injury and can’t put weight on it, that’s a pretty good indication they need to be seen by a sports medicine specialist. They can make sure your child gets an X-ray, determine whether there is a fracture, that type of thing. Swelling is common at the onset of many injuries, but if the swelling persists or certainly if the swelling is recurrent, meaning, if it keeps coming back over weeks, that needs to be evaluated. Weakness, tingling or numbness of an extremity are all symptoms to be evaluated. If your athlete hears a pop or has any significant bruising and any instability, get them checked out. And if they feel a joint or an extremity is giving out on them, those are all indications to see a doctor and get evaluated.

Q. Why is sports medicine care at McLeod Orthopaedics of Florence the best place to seek medical care for a sports injury?

At McLeod Orthopaedics, we have same-day care at our new orthopedic urgent care, where we see patients seven days a week. So access to care is one benefit. And then we have a full team of comprehensive providers who can triage the injury, determine the proper diagnosis, and facilitate imaging. The depth and breath of the treatments we have at our disposal is significant, including therapy, potential injections, and surgical treatment for more acute care. But most importantly, we care about your athlete. We’re very compassionate, and we offer a comprehensive selection of services. So McLeod Orthopaedics is a great option for anybody who needs medical care for sports injuries.

To learn more, speak with a sports medicine specialist near you.