Football, soccer, baseball, and more: These popular youth sports provide healthy exercise and community-centered fun for our young ones. However, accidents do happen. Balls fly in unexpected directions; children collide with blunt objects (or each other); muscles get over-used, and bones shatter.
Some injuries associated with youth sports, such as traumatic brain injuries, can have permanently damaging effects on your child’s quality of life. If that’s the case, you’ll need resources to help provide strategic and lasting care.
Here’s what you need to know.
How often do serious injuries occur while children participate in youth sports?
The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National SAFE KIDS Campaign recently released the following information:
• Over 3.5 million children (those under 14 years of age) receive injuries every year while participating in sporting or recreational events.
• Of these children, over 775,000 require treatment in a hospital emergency room for a sports-related injury.
• Young children account for approximately 40% of injuries related to sports that require hospital treatment.
• Over the last twenty years, the number of severe joint injuries in young softball and baseball players has increased fivefold.
Clearly, this is a prevalent issue. We need to prepare for the worst that can happen when our children are active in youth sports.
What are the most common types of injuries that can occur for young athletes?
While a child could experience any of a vast number of injuries while participating in youth sporting activities, the following seem to happen the most often:
• Ankle sprains: This painful twisting injury occurs when a child rolls or turns their ankle. In many cases, these can heal relatively naturally with immobilization and rest.
• Knee pain: Any type of joint pain that involves the knee can reflect muscle imbalances, overly-high activity levels, a pressure overload, or simple overuse. In some more specific cases, knee pain can exhibit as ‘patellofemoral syndrome’ or ‘Osgood-Schlatter’ disease (a type of traction injury). Rest, physical therapy, and external supports will help heal these types of injuries.
• ACL tears: This common injury occurs when a child twists their knee and tears their anterior cruciate ligament—or ACL. Unfortunately, this injury does tend to require surgery, as well as several months of rest from sports and consistent physical activity.
• Overuse injuries: As opposed to injuries that occur in one significant or uncontrolled roll or twist, overuse injuries happen over long periods of time. When children overuse the same joints, tendons, and ligaments for weeks, seasons, or even years, they can end up with subtly-serious injuries that can put them out of commission for months.
• Traumatic brain injuries: Any physical sports that involve tackles, collisions, or large flying objects can put children at risk of head trauma and resultant brain injuries. These can affect a child’s health on a permanent basis.
What compensation can you pursue after a child’s sport injury?
The specific nature of the compensation you can pursue will depend upon the nature of your child’s injury. However, if a child’s recovery requires hospital care, physical therapy, prescription medications, or frequent checkups, it may be possible to recover those expenses and more when you work with an empathetic personal injury attorney. To support any potential claims you file, make sure that you keep a record of your child’s experiences relating to their injury—including their pain and suffering and the types of care your child’s doctor recommends.
Our Chicagoland Legal Team Will Help You Protect Your Future
When you signed your child up for youth sports, you were expecting fun weekend games, a heightened sense of community, and a healthy outlet for physical activity for your loved one. Now, you’re watching your child suffer through procedures, recovery, and physical therapy. You’re watching the hospital bills stack up.
At the Cullotta Bravo Group, we’re ready to help you protect your child’s health and your family’s future by representing you as you pursue compensation. As you work to receive the resources you need, we’ll be by your side, every step of the way—and we’ll handle your case on a contingent fee basis.
Contact us today at 630-898-7800 to schedule your free initial consultation.