Reducing Sports Injuries in High School

Reducing Sports Injuries in High School
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Reducing Sports Injuries in High School
Introduction
The majority of students that are attending high school are in their adolescent years. At this age, most of the teenagers have great agility and are full of energy and adventure. Sports tend to be more appealing to the students than classes. Due to the excitement and the adrenaline rush that comes with participating in sports, people find it a crucial way of life, and some others make it their favorite hobby. High school students attend sporting activities with a lot of enthusiasm. While some of the students may attend sporting event for the sheer excitement of cheering and showing support for their teams and favorite players, most of the high school students are involved directly. Even with the high level of excitement, some of the students train had to make sure that they stand a chance of getting a scholarship and securing their careers in sports (Rechel, Yard & Comstock, 2008). There is a variety of injuries that are common in high school and ways of reducing these injuries to a bare minimum and making sure that the students are safe.
Of all the students who are taking their studies at the high school level, more than 7 million of them are involved in sports (Comstock, Knox, Yard & Gilchrist, 2006). It is astonishing to note that about 1.4 million students end up with injuries ranging from mild to fairly serious and sometime fatal injuries during their sporting activities annually (Comstock, Knox, Yard & Gilchrist, 2006). As such, although sports have a myriad of benefits to the students spanning from self esteem, strength, weight management, cardiovascular health, flexibility, agility among others, the injuries show a different set of statistics. This is a fairly large figure compared to the total students that are taking part in sports. This also justifies the need to make sure that there are sustainable interventions implemented to reduce the rate of injuries and ensure that the students are safe as they enjoy themselves
Thesis statement: the number of high school injuries can be brought down to ensure safety to the students.
Background
Some of the most common and generally liked sports in high school include soccer, American football, wrestling, basketball, and baseball. Most of the full-contact sports have the tendency to develop injuries in the student given the amount agility and physical contact inputs. According to a study carried out in 100 schools for 9 sports, football came out on top with the highest number of injuries to the students (Rechel, Yard & Comstock, 2008). This study evaluated the level of injuries sustained during practice and during the actual games events. While there are differences in the number of injuries that can develop in the student during the training sessions and the actual play, the difference is quite minimal and the industry types are mostly similar, spreading from mild to fatal injuries (Rechel, Yard & Comstock, 2008).
Injuries
All the sports injuries that high school students develop during sports, which are also common among the other athletes fall into two main categories. One of the categories is referred to as the acute injuries category while the other is called the overuse injuries. The acute sports injuries are the most common ones that affect those in sports and sometimes will even affect other people on their daily routines such as during walking, hiking and jogging (Emery, 2005). These are commonly caused by sudden trauma to the related parts of the body. Sometimes when players collide, the trauma involved with the sudden change pace, force and pressure may lead to injuries. Full contact sports such as football and soccer tend to have quite a number of high school students making visits to the physicians. Some of the major injuries under this category include, sprains which is basically a tear on the ligaments or a completely torn off ligament. Contusions are also common where the students almost all the sports may develop bruises on different parts of the body, especially where they may fall on the ground. All these are injuries that can be avoided. Sometimes, given the intensity of the trauma and the body part involved, the students may tear off bits of their muscles leading to what is commonly referred to as strains. Where the trauma supersedes the torsion capabilities of the bones, they fracture (Comstock, Knox, Yard & Gilchrist, 2006).
The other category which is quite common is the overuse injuries. These are injuries that develop over time. Unlike the acute injuries which take place in the instance of contact, the overuse injuries tend to take time, where a certain body part is subjected to continuous but gradual trauma, be it collision, twisting, and fall among others. During the different trauma events, the body part that is injured does not have enough time to heal before it is subjected to more traumas. Basically the most common body parts that are impacted by these kinds of injuries include bones, muscles, ligaments, tendons and growth plates. In baseball for example, when the students pitch overhead they tend to injure their elbows. Shoulder injuries are also very common in swimming, while cheerleaders and gymnasts tend to injure their elbows and wrists. Where an athlete breaks their old bones much faster that they let the newer bone formations to develop, their bones tend to be weaker over time and may break under stress. This type of injury is most common among soccer and football players. It is important that practice and the number of reps are reduced. This can reduce the number of injuries and the severity of the same.
Most Fundamental/Catastrophic Injuries in High School Sports
There are some injuries that are rated as being catastrophic or fatal given the severity they cause to the students. Among the most common sports that develop fatal injuries include gymnastics, soccer, football, pole vaulting, cheer leading, ice hockey and wrestling. Some of the most common fatal injuries include Traumatic Brain Injury, neck injuries, and spinal cord injuries. As indicated these are injuries that either affects the head, neck, spine or the brain (Harvey, 2013). The reason for the classification is the fact that they can lead to life threatening scenarios or chronic paralysis. To avoid some of these injuries, it is important that coaches regulate the students especially with refer...