How to Recognize and Treat Knee Injuries in Youth Soccer

Although soccer has one of the lowest injury rates of any youth sport, the knee can undergo tremendous amounts of stress. But with a little knowledge of safety and prevention, you can help your child reduce the likelihood of knee injuries.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Medical kit
• Anti-inflammatory medication

1. Beware of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries. The ACL is a ligament that provides stability to the knee. The most telltale sign of damage is instability in the knee, such as buckling while running or turning.

2. See an orthopedic surgeon for a torn knee. At the moment of this injury, the athlete will usually feel something tear within the knee.

3. Check out chondromalacia. This is a softening of the cartilage around the knee. The pain is often felt while running.

4. Use rest, anti-inflammatory medication, physical therapy and quadriceps (upper leg)-strengthening exercises to treat chondromalacia.

5. Be on the lookout for Osgood-Schlatter disease - a pulling away of the knee tendon from the growth area of the knee. This is growth-related and is very common in young athletes. It is not terribly serious and usually resolves itself with rest.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure a medical kit is kept on the sideline.

• Be aware of gender differences. For reasons unknown, there is a higher risk of ACL damage in female athletes than in male athletes. Osgood-Schlatter disease is common in 12- to 14-year-old boys, although girls often get it as well.

• Ask advice before allowing a child to continue play. With some conditions, such as Osgood-Schlatter's, players can resume soccer as long as the pain is not so severe that it hampers running form.

• Take preventive measures. Strengthen the leg muscles, especially the supportive upper-leg muscles, which you can do by lifting each leg up and down with the knee locked.