As most of the people who read my articles presumably know, I am a high school athlete. Currently, I am in the middle of football season. In the winter, I wrestle and in the spring I run track. This means that I am constantly seeing fellow athletes get hurt and often getting hurt myself. Just this weekend, two kids from my team twisted their ankles and one kid from my team hurt his knee. So, I thought I would share my insight on how parents should handle their high school athlete’s injuries.
- Do not immediately go to the doctor. I know this defies a lot of common sense, but there is a good reason for it. Most high schools, such as my own, keep an athletic trainer on staff. If there is one, the coaches will instruct the athlete to visit him first, not the doctor. If you visit a doctor first, he will fix the injury, but will also prevent the athlete from playing for a set period of time. If you visit the trainer instead, he will assess the injury and fix it or redirect you to a doctor. Last winter, I sprained my wrist. I went to the doctor because my coaches instructed me to. I was only sent there because I needed X-Rays because it appeared broken. Visit the doctor only if the trainer or coaches instruct the athlete to, or if there is no other option.
- Don’t overreact. I know this is simple and shouldn’t be necessary, but it has to be said. There are athletes I know who have parents who overreact. They freak out at the the first sign of an injury and try to get them to take a day or two off or go to a doctor. Stay calm, because teenagers are like bouncy balls. We recover really quickly. Also, don’t baby injuries or over-sympathize. It’s one thing to feel bad for your child, it’s another to treat them like they are dying and freak out.
- Keep certain items around the house. It is important to have certain simple things in order to treat injuries. You should keep: a lot of ice cubes or ice packs, hot packs, medical tape, gauze, bags for the ice, and pain medicine. It would also be helpful to have a sling, wrist brace, and ankle brace around, but not necessary. All of these can help in simple, at-home injury treatment.
If your teen is a high school athlete, he/she will probably get injured at least once in their high school career. So, when they get hurt, feel free to keep these tips in mind.