Sports injury count grows
Sports injuries are increasing among younger students.
December 16, 2009 • Kelia Cowan
Filed under Sports
Colin Tseng, 16, has learned to live with the ordeals of a constantly injured body. In the past six months, Tseng, a junior, has had two ankle injuries during volleyball practice.
Tseng’s first injury occurred the week before high school volleyball state championships. He rolled his right ankle after landing on a teammate’s foot.
“It was so sore, I couldn’t even walk,” Tseng said. “Taylor Donovan just picked me up and carried me to the trainer.” However, after the injury, he failed to see a doctor for treatment.
He finally visited one a few weeks later, only to learn that he had torn all three ligaments in his lower ankle. For two months, he was forced to use crutches and wear an air-cast for sprained joints. Tseng got off crutches the day before the Freeman Trip to China, which is a trip sponsored by the Freeman Foundation for students to tour Asian countries and build friendly American relations. Unfortunately, his left ankle was sprained a few months later due to a similar fall.
Sports related injuries such as Tseng’s are more frequent amongst high school athletes than in previous years since every athlete must push himself or herself harder. While this may be good for faster records or closer games, medical experts say that young athletes’ bodies are suffering from the pressure.
Mr. Charley Gima, a trainer at ‘Iolani for 26 years, said that over the past ten years athletic injuries have steadily increased. Since more athletes are participating in multiple sports and outside leagues, the chance of injury has increased greatly.
“We see about five to ten injured athletes a day for treatment and therapy,” Mr. Gima said. He estimates that twenty to thirty athletes currently come in for icing and taping daily. The numbers grow during the winter athletic season because this season has the most sports. Additionally, the injured group has grown to include younger athletes.
“I’ve noticed an increase in kids anywhere from five to twelve years old,” Mr. Gima said. The increase is due to young athletes participating in athletics at a younger age and at a higher level.
“It boils down to a lack of muscular strength and overuse,” he said.
Muscular strength and conditioning are vital for injury prevention. Coach Dominic Ahuna’s training programs with athletes of all sports have greatly reduced the number of injuries that the trainers see.
In addition, Mrs. Shannon Yonamine, the school nurse, monitors many of the athletes after they have suffered a concussion for at least a week. She believes that more education about the long-term implications of sports-related injuries is necessary.
“A lot of kids don’t want to admit they’re injured so they don’t have to stop playing,” Mrs. Yonamine said. “They aren’t aware of the consequences.”
If injuries are not treated soon, their effects may be felt for much longer than they should, as junior Akari Hatanaka discovered.
Hatanaka has had pain in her shoulders from her swimming and water polo seasons since February, but she ignored the pain and pushed herself until the accumulated pain became more than she could handle.
“After summer water polo, my coach started me on a workout program since I wasn’t doing club swimming,” Hatanaka said. This program intensified her already aggravated pain so she asked the trainers for a diagnosis. Both of her shoulders due to overuse have tendonitis, which is the inflammation of tendons. The pain she frequently experiences restricts Hatanaka from swimming and playing the violin.
“If my arms hurt, I’m not supposed to play,” Hatanaka said. However, her pain is almost daily, and it worsens when she doesn’t have the time to go to therapy. Her practicing time suffers from this injury.
Senior Bailey Fischer’s injuries have ended her athletic career.
She was born with multidirectional instability, which means that she has weak joints, but this did not stop her from competing. She joined cheerleading three years ago and had been in gymnastics for ten years.
“I knew I wasn’t as strong with the cheers and dances as the other girls, so I wanted to be really strong in the tumbling section since my background is in gymnastics,” Fischer said. “I wanted to excel in it and push myself to be better than the varsity girls.” This competitive nature added to the weakness in her joints.
“It got to the point where I would be lifting my laundry basket and my shoulder would hurt,” she said. She had surgery on her right shoulder last November to stabilize it. Although the surgery helps steady her shoulder, it took her six months before she could hold her arms up straight.
Some days I feel like because of the surgery I’m limited in what I can do,” Fischer said. “But some days I’m thankful because what if in the future I drop my kid because my shoulder popped out?” Her point is true: athletic injuries affect athletes long after their career is over.
Tseng’s injuries follow him off the court as well. After his two ankle injuries, he must wear ankle braces every time he plays volleyball for the rest of his life.
In addition, he suffered a reoccurring back injury in 8th grade during volleyball practice. He is supposed to ice his back after he plays.
“That’s the only one that’s always there. I can’t get rid of it,” Tseng said of his back injury. He has tried multiple treatments for this injury, including a trip to a Chinese herb doctor and acupuncture. However, the best remedy for his pain is to not push himself too far.
“I’ve learned to stop when I start to hurt,” said Tseng.
Amidst all of his pain, he still found the bright side of things.
“I don’t need to do chores when I’m on crutches,” Tseng said with a bright smile.
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