30-42 million kids play organized sports each year. Some of those, like school related sports, may require a sports physical.
Did you take your child for a sports physical this year? If so, you’re not alone. There are approximately 7 million sports physicals performed each year. A sports physical will normally include:
- Medical history
- Eye exam (utilizing the eye chart)
- Listening to heart and lung sounds
- Looking in the nose, throat, and ears
- Flexibility check (usually in the form of a toe touch)
There are 3.5 million injuries in youth sports according to John Hopkins. Overuse injuries are responsible for over half of all sports injuries in middle and high school. The CDC suggests that more than half of those injuries could be preventable. Other sources note that it’s not just overuse but an increase in participation, increase in intensity of sport, and lack of recovery.
Do you ever wonder if your child is at risk for injury playing his/her sport? Of course you give them a mouth guard, shin guards, a helmet, or pads, but have you considered are they hardy enough to play their sport? Do they have the appropriate mobility to play? Do they have the core stability to withstand or endure their sport?
We actually have a screen for all those things! The Functional Movement Screen helps us objectively evaluate how your child moves. Did you know the number two predictor for future injury is a left/right asymmetry? The Functional Movement Screen helps us find those asymmetries.
The Functional Movement Screen is composed of seven basic movements, graded on a scale from 3 (great movement)-0 (painful movement) that helps us know if we could be at risk for injury. Similar to a screen for heart disease where we look at cholesterol levels and blood pressure and have a cut point for risk, we have cut points for the Functional Movement Screen.
Your child deserves to play the sport he/she loves. You deserve to have the peace of mind that your child is musculoskeletally fit enough to play. We want to help, give us a call to schedule your child’s Functional Movement Screen 770-438-8990.
