Common Club Soccer Injuries and How To Help Your Youth Player Stay F.I.T.
We are fortunate to live in Orange County – one of the few year-round weather constants where the sun shines consistently. The conditions here are perfect for an explosive youth club sports scene, where kids literally play sports for as many as 48 of the 52 weeks. Perhaps you have a child who is playing club baseball, basketball, soccer, lacrosse, or hockey. We developed the Stay F.I.T. program to help kids with some of the common and frequent injuries. Today the Next Level Wellness team wants to highlight patellar tendonitis – a common knee injury – experienced by our Orange County club and recreational soccer players.
Patellar tendonitis develops over time from repeatedly extending and flexing the knee. Orange County club soccer players, at clubs like West Coast, OC Surf, Slammers, Pateadores, So Cal Blues, LA Galaxy OC, or any other high-level club who are practicing 2-4 times per week and are playing 1-2 games per weekend can experience a lot of wear and tear in the knees. Over the course of a single practice or a game, a player can extend their leg hundreds of times. This injury actually is common in a lot of sports, including basketball, where we refer to it as jumper’s knee.
Here are a couple of stretches you can do to help:
If you have a foam roller, position your lower body on the roller, and cross your leg over. Place that leg firmly on the floor and rock it back and forth. You’ll want to roll through the hamstring and the knee.
Another stretch that helps the knee is one that focuses on the quad muscles. In the photo above you see our patient using the flat surface to hold their right foot. This could be a table or a sofa at home. Once in position, you will want to slightly bend your left knee to feel that stretch. You can move forward or arch your back if need be.
If your child finds that the pain isn’t subsiding, you may want to see one of our specialists. We offer our $79 student-athlete Stay F.I.T. special, featuring our Fascial Integrative Treatment, or F.I.T. F.I.T. is an innovative and advanced soft-tissue system that treats problems with muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia, nerves, and joints. It is a manual hands-on therapy that corrects the dysfunctions that these soft-tissues can undergo. We work with youth athletes from all ages from 5-year-olds to college and professional players. Some of our patients are athletes from UCI, the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Our chiropractic team of wellness doctors – chiropractors and sports medicine specialists, Vasili Gatsinaris, DC, QME, James Kim, DC, Adam Abulghualya, DC, BS, ART and Caprice Leonard, MA, ATC specialize in chiropractic and health and wellness care. Our Irvine chiropractic office is located near John Wayne Airport, convenient for people living in Newport Beach, Costa Mesa, Tustin, Santa Ana and other surrounding Orange County communities. To learn more about our variety of services or to schedule an appointment, take advantage of our Stay F.I.T. special and contact us or call 949-263-9003 today.