Newswise — Forget "No pain, no gain." As youngsters return to the rigorous sports activities that can define the beginning of the school year, precautionary measures should be taken to reduce the risk of injury and make the experience more enjoyable, according to a University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) expert.
Young athletes should warm up before playing and cool down when the game or practice is over to help avoid injuries. "Usually, when the activity or game is done, everyone just leaves. Now the recommendation is to cool them down with some formal exercise," said Mary Kamienski, Ph.D., R.N., an expert in emergency nursing and assistant dean at the UMDNJ-School of Nursing. Running laps, doing directed calisthenics, or performing an activity with a specific number of repetitions over a specific amount of time, such as 30 minutes on the treadmill, are some ways student athletes can warm up or cool down, she added.
Joint injuries to the ankle, knee, elbow and shoulder as well as cuts and bruises are the most common sports-related problems seen by healthcare professionals. "If children are in good shape and they warm up before and cool down after a game, they can decrease stress to their joints and avoid injuring them," said Kamienski.
She advises young athletes to follow the guidance of their coaches when preparing for strenuous activities. "'No pain, no gain' is a myth," said Kamienski. "Young athletes should not experience pain. They should gradually work out and pace themselves just as adults should."
UMDNJ is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,700 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health, on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits to UMDNJ facilities and faculty at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/ Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a statewide mental health and addiction services network.
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