Kids' Injuries Having too much fun Ehrlich explains overuse injuries by comparing a child's growing body to a tent. You have ropes going from the canvas to a stick secured in the ground. The wind can put pressure on the canvas, which pulls on the ropes and the stick out of the ground. Growth plates at the ends of children's long bones are often weaker than the ligaments connecting bones.
Stress can pull bone away from the growth plate, ripping the bone.
The stress that causes such injuries is repetition of a single motion. In pick-up games, when children get tired or hurt, they stop. In organized sports, children go beyond their comfort level. As a result, orthopedists' offices are filling up with children with swimmer's shoulder, shin splints from running, vertebral cracks caused by gymnastics and Little League elbow, which Ehrlich says, is a common and permanent injury. By using this website, you accept the terms of our user agreement .