Ways To Damage a Growth Plate In Young Athlete

622 Words3 Pages
Ways to damage a growth plate in young athlete Abstract A growth plate is an area of developing tissues near the ends of long bones. The growth plate determines the length and shape of the bone. Since this bone is still developing in young athletes, damage to a growth plate can be detrimental to the athlete’s physical growth. Many physicians carefully monitor growth plate injuries due to the consequences that could occur if not taken care of properly. Different activities will put pressure on an athlete’s growth plate and will allow certain circumstances to occur (Arnheim, 2005). One third of all growth plate injuries occur in very contact, physical sports such as football, basketball, and gymnastics. While only twenty percent of injuries occur from recreational sports such as bicycling, skiing, or snowboarding. As young athletes grow, their bones grow with them, which then allows for more injuries to the growth plate. As opposed to young female athletes, young male athletes are more susceptible to growth plate fractures (Arnheim, 2005). According to the Institute of Children’s Health, ten percent of all young athletes’ injuries are attributed to an injury to the growth plate (Maffulli, 1990). There are several causes to how the growth plate can get injured. Overuse plays a large role in growth plate injuries. One example of a common cause of a fracture is athletes being out of shape for their designated sport. In more rigorous activities such as football or basketball, a lot of running is involved. If an athlete is not in shape for practice, stress to the growth plate is multiplied ever more. The growth plate will continue to be stressed upon until the athlete reaches a stage of being in shape (Aadalen, 1978). However, even the most in shape athletes have growth plate fractures; this is due to overuse. For example, young athletes that are involved

More about Ways To Damage a Growth Plate In Young Athlete

Open Document