Evaluating Football Injuries
November 25th, 2011 
Carol 
Football injuries can be scary for both players and parents. So how do you know if an injury is more than just a bump or a bruise? In today’s world, children as young as four and five years old are playing tackle football, with all the bells and whistles (helmets, refs, scoreboards, stadiums, etc.). Here are some tips on how to evaluate your child with certain types of injuries.
Injured Arms and Legs:
For the younger kids (under the age of ten), unless you see some obvious deformity in the arms or legs, it will be rare your child has a serious injury, even with lots of crying and thrashing around. Gently take the child off the field and put ice on the injured area for 15 minutes (always place a cloth between the skin and the ice pack as putting ice directly on the skin can cause injury). If your child’s injury needs further attention, give a dose of acetaminophen (Tylenol®) and wait at least another hour or two before seeking medical attention. This approach will save a lot of unnecessary trips to the doctor.
If things are improving, but there is still a sore area, continue ice treatment for 15 minutes every two hours (again, through a cloth so you don’t freeze the skin), acetaminophen as needed, and instruct your child not to use the area until it is pain-free. Your child should not go back into a game or back to practice until there is no pain or limping without the use of pain medicine. Some extra padding to the area that was injured (usually bruised) will make things more comfortable for your little player.
You may visit the doctor to check out continuing pain sometime within the first 48 hours. Even if it is determined that there is a broken bone, waiting the extra time to see if the symptoms resolve will not delay healing.
If there is a visibly deformed bone, call 911 so fire rescue can splint the limb and transport your child for medical attention.
Head and Neck Injuries:
Head and neck injuries are treated more cautiously since the potential consequences of an injury can be serious. The good news is that it is rare to have significant head or neck injuries before 14-15 years old. The culprit in most of these injuries is head/helmet tackling, so do what you can to make sure your child doesn’t do this and that his coaches don’t teach or encourage it.
If your child is complaining of either head or neck pain, he should stop any further play until cleared by a doctor. If he is lying on the field complaining of either of these, call 911 so he can be moved in a safe manner.
Head injuries can lead to concussions and brain damage that gets worse with repeated exposure. If your child is complaining of headaches related to football, he should stop play and see his doctor.
Dr. Ted Kaplan is a board certified pediatrician at After Hours Pediatrics Urgent Care www.afterhourspediatrics.com.
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