Indoor Winter Sports Season: Soreness vs. Injury in Young Athletes

In New Jersey, the winter sports season for young athletes in basketball, wrestling, swimming, indoor track and other sports typically gets underway in late November and early December, and most aches that show up in those first weeks are ordinary practice soreness that settles within a day or two. The exceptions are worth knowing, because catching an overuse injury early usually means less time on the sideline.

The season runs through the winter, with practices, games and travel most weeks, and that volume of jumping, cutting, throwing and grappling is a lot for growing bodies. Soreness after a hard practice is normal and usually fades within 24 to 48 hours. What is not normal is pain that changes how a young athlete moves.

In basketball, ankle sprains from landing and cutting, and knee strain around the kneecap, are common. Osgood-Schlatter, irritation at the growth plate below the kneecap, and Sever's disease at the heel show up in growing athletes across several sports. Wrestlers get a lot of shoulder strain and neck and upper back tension from grappling, while swimmers and indoor track athletes deal with their own patterns of shoulder and impact-related aches.

Signs worth having evaluated include pain that lasts more than a few days, pain that worsens with continued play, limping or a change in how the athlete runs and jumps, swelling, tenderness directly over a bone or growth plate, or pain severe enough to stop activity. Those are the points where early evaluation is usually the least disruptive path, and often the difference between resting for a week and missing a month.

Dr. Gregory Martin has cared for active patients since 1996 and has served as the official chiropractor of Parisi's Speed School of Morris Plains, so he is used to the demands of speed and strength training in young athletes. His care for kids is conservative and collaborative: he talks with parents, evaluates how the spine and joints move, and says honestly whether chiropractic care fits or whether another provider should see the athlete first.

If your young athlete is guarding a joint, limping through practices, or still hurting two days after a game, an evaluation is worth the time. Dr. Greg sees patients at Gregory Martin Chiropractic at 283 Sparta Avenue in Sparta and at Speedwell Family Chiropractic at 520 Speedwell Avenue in Morris Plains. Call or text (973) 699-4100 to schedule.