What’s wrong with the youth?
Discussion
One of my lads is 14 and very athletic. He competes at quite a high level at a number of sports.
But he is in constant pain.
From his Achilles’ tendons to quads to hip flexors, lumbar area, back, shoulders and neck he complains of tightness and pain. A couple of nights ago he was in tears at the dinner table with the pain.
I put him through a stretching routine and stretch his hip flexors before football, which gets him through it. But afterwards the tightness and pain returns.
One observation is that some of his joints are hyper mobile. His fingers and elbows will do things that look just plain weird.
The medics don’t seem to know what is wrong. He has been referred to a physio and the spinal unit, but no results as yet.
Has anyone else encountered anything similar?
But he is in constant pain.
From his Achilles’ tendons to quads to hip flexors, lumbar area, back, shoulders and neck he complains of tightness and pain. A couple of nights ago he was in tears at the dinner table with the pain.
I put him through a stretching routine and stretch his hip flexors before football, which gets him through it. But afterwards the tightness and pain returns.
One observation is that some of his joints are hyper mobile. His fingers and elbows will do things that look just plain weird.
The medics don’t seem to know what is wrong. He has been referred to a physio and the spinal unit, but no results as yet.
Has anyone else encountered anything similar?
Sounds very much like he’s over training. You say he does a number of sports. Are his coaches in each sport aware of the other sports? As a running coach I’ve encountered problems where kids or parents don’t tell me about other sports they’re doing. So I out together a plan based on just doing running and they end up over training because they’re doing the others as well.
Multiple sports requires a holistic view to ensure each compliments and benefits the others. Although some sports actively harm performance in other sports, and then you need to decide which is most important.
Multiple sports requires a holistic view to ensure each compliments and benefits the others. Although some sports actively harm performance in other sports, and then you need to decide which is most important.
My PhD was about joint hypermobiliy. It's really common in children and in the vast, vast, majority of cases is nothing to worry about.
Unfortunately could be a lot of things... Overtraining? Growing pains (has he had a growth spurt recently?) Etc.
My advice would be to get referred to a physio. Long wait times at the moment (or at least there are in this area) so worth getting the ball in motion asap.
Unfortunately could be a lot of things... Overtraining? Growing pains (has he had a growth spurt recently?) Etc.
My advice would be to get referred to a physio. Long wait times at the moment (or at least there are in this area) so worth getting the ball in motion asap.
ILikeCake said:
My PhD was about joint hypermobiliy. It's really common in children and in the vast, vast, majority of cases is nothing to worry about.
Unfortunately could be a lot of things... Overtraining? Growing pains (has he had a growth spurt recently?) Etc.
My advice would be to get referred to a physio. Long wait times at the moment (or at least there are in this area) so worth getting the ball in motion asap.
Thanks.Unfortunately could be a lot of things... Overtraining? Growing pains (has he had a growth spurt recently?) Etc.
My advice would be to get referred to a physio. Long wait times at the moment (or at least there are in this area) so worth getting the ball in motion asap.
We took him to an osteopath who was quite concerned about the way it was affecting his jaw.
Is he over training? Whilst I am not an expert I am going to say no.
I am prepared to believe that it is a growth issue.
The first physio that saw him said that he is unusually asymmetrical.
Louis Balfour said:
Is he over training? Whilst I am not an expert I am going to say no.
Can you give us an overview of his weekly training, both scheduled and unscheduled, as well as his recovery and what his diet looks like?I always like to know unscheduled, because kids fall into the trap of “more is better”. I’ll tell them to do a 3 mile run, they’ll do 4.
Recovery is also particularly important. The amount of times I need to tell a kid that recovery is sleep, not playing Xbox till 1am…
Edited by CheesecakeRunner on Wednesday 22 December 14:23
You need to keep badgering and hassling until you see a specialist.
When I was a teenager I unknowingly broke my ankle and it healed with a bone spur rubbing on my Achilles, x-rays didn't show anything, I got fobbed with growing pain s
t for almost a year until I got a referral to a surgeon, he was the first one that listened to what I was saying. A week later (private health insurance), he had a look inside, found the bone spur and did the business with his Dremel.
When I was a teenager I unknowingly broke my ankle and it healed with a bone spur rubbing on my Achilles, x-rays didn't show anything, I got fobbed with growing pain s
t for almost a year until I got a referral to a surgeon, he was the first one that listened to what I was saying. A week later (private health insurance), he had a look inside, found the bone spur and did the business with his Dremel.All through my teenage years i complained of aches and pains in various joints of my body, it was always put down to growing pains and that i would grow out of it.
I'm now early 40s and have been through numerous operations due to damage to my joints caused by rheumatoid arthritis which my consultant says i have had for approx 30 years so do not accept them saying it is growing pains without ruling out other possible issues.
I'm now early 40s and have been through numerous operations due to damage to my joints caused by rheumatoid arthritis which my consultant says i have had for approx 30 years so do not accept them saying it is growing pains without ruling out other possible issues.
CheesecakeRunner said:
Louis Balfour said:
Is he over training? Whilst I am not an expert I am going to say no.
Can you give us an overview of his weekly training, both scheduled and unscheduled, as well as his recovery and what his diet looks like?I always like to know unscheduled, because kids fall into the trap of “more is better”. I’ll tell them to do a 3 mile run, they’ll do 4.
Recovery is also particularly important. The amount of times I need to tell a kid that recovery is sleep, not playing Xbox till 1am…
Edited by CheesecakeRunner on Wednesday 22 December 14:23
Sunday morning - football match.
Monday - 1.25 hrs hockey training daytime.
Monday 7-8 football training.
Tuesday - Hockey training 5.30-8pm
Wednesday - day off.
Thursday - hockey training 2-4pm.
Thursday - assisting with football coaching 4-5pm.
Friday - 1hr school PE. Varies between swimming, weights, badminton.
Saturday - 1 or 2 hockey matches.
Louis Balfour said:
Currently:
Sunday morning - football match.
Monday - 1.25 hrs hockey training daytime.
Monday 7-8 football training.
Tuesday - Hockey training 5.30-8pm
Wednesday - day off.
Thursday - hockey training 2-4pm.
Thursday - assisting with football coaching 4-5pm.
Friday - 1hr school PE. Varies between swimming, weights, badminton.
Saturday - 1 or 2 hockey matches.
What’s his sleep like? Good 8-9 hours or up late on the Xbox?Sunday morning - football match.
Monday - 1.25 hrs hockey training daytime.
Monday 7-8 football training.
Tuesday - Hockey training 5.30-8pm
Wednesday - day off.
Thursday - hockey training 2-4pm.
Thursday - assisting with football coaching 4-5pm.
Friday - 1hr school PE. Varies between swimming, weights, badminton.
Saturday - 1 or 2 hockey matches.
My gut feel is he’s doing too much. Particularly Saturday through Monday. The matches on the weekend are going to be high intensity which he won’t be recovering from before a double day on Monday.
Both hockey and football will be hitting the same physiological systems, so there’s a chance he’s doubling up on a lot of the training load there. Obviously the training sessions for both sports are needed for skill but the cardio work in both will be very similar.
If he’s not willing to drop a sport, the the focus really needs to be on recovery. Excellent sleep every day, good food, stretching, massage, ice baths and sauna. Wednesday would be a good opportunity for the latter.
CheesecakeRunner said:
Louis Balfour said:
Currently:
Sunday morning - football match.
Monday - 1.25 hrs hockey training daytime.
Monday 7-8 football training.
Tuesday - Hockey training 5.30-8pm
Wednesday - day off.
Thursday - hockey training 2-4pm.
Thursday - assisting with football coaching 4-5pm.
Friday - 1hr school PE. Varies between swimming, weights, badminton.
Saturday - 1 or 2 hockey matches.
What’s his sleep like? Good 8-9 hours or up late on the Xbox?Sunday morning - football match.
Monday - 1.25 hrs hockey training daytime.
Monday 7-8 football training.
Tuesday - Hockey training 5.30-8pm
Wednesday - day off.
Thursday - hockey training 2-4pm.
Thursday - assisting with football coaching 4-5pm.
Friday - 1hr school PE. Varies between swimming, weights, badminton.
Saturday - 1 or 2 hockey matches.
My gut feel is he’s doing too much. Particularly Saturday through Monday. The matches on the weekend are going to be high intensity which he won’t be recovering from before a double day on Monday.
Both hockey and football will be hitting the same physiological systems, so there’s a chance he’s doubling up on a lot of the training load there. Obviously the training sessions for both sports are needed for skill but the cardio work in both will be very similar.
If he’s not willing to drop a sport, the the focus really needs to be on recovery. Excellent sleep every day, good food, stretching, massage, ice baths and sauna. Wednesday would be a good opportunity for the latter.
He doesn't have access to regular massage, ice baths or sauna.
Some bodies are just more prone to the aches and pains of life (or sport) I think. There's plenty of really high level athletes that have constant nagging injuries so it can definitely happen to us civilians too. His best bet is just trying to stay in the best shape possible - I think the stretching is a good idea - since that's what prevents injury.
Adding that up he’s doing around 13 hours of exercise a week. At a similar age I was playing hockey for the county and rugby for the school but I suspect I didn’t do the same volume each week.
It’s a fair amount of similar sport types, especially hockey which has wrecked my knees for adult life. I expect in that weekly cycle there probably isn’t enough recovery time for his muscles and joints.
However, I don’t remember aching as you have described - even when I played 9 full hockey matches in 7 days once….
I would therefore definitely push the medics to investigate and assess. But in the meantime it might be worth seeing if some lighter sessions (and skipping the odd one) has any benefit.
By way of example: my 11 yo daughter spends around 20 hours a week in a dance studio and also does 2 hours of school PE a week. She has two days a week where she does no exercise (Fri + Sun). On Sunday we’re happy for her to sleep in, stay in her pyjamas all day and just do her homework.
It’s a fair amount of similar sport types, especially hockey which has wrecked my knees for adult life. I expect in that weekly cycle there probably isn’t enough recovery time for his muscles and joints.
However, I don’t remember aching as you have described - even when I played 9 full hockey matches in 7 days once….
I would therefore definitely push the medics to investigate and assess. But in the meantime it might be worth seeing if some lighter sessions (and skipping the odd one) has any benefit.
By way of example: my 11 yo daughter spends around 20 hours a week in a dance studio and also does 2 hours of school PE a week. She has two days a week where she does no exercise (Fri + Sun). On Sunday we’re happy for her to sleep in, stay in her pyjamas all day and just do her homework.
Edited by OMITN on Thursday 23 December 01:09
OMITN said:
Adding that up he’s doing around 13 hours of exercise a week. At a similar age I was playing hockey for the county and rugby for the school but I suspect I didn’t do the same volume each week.
It’s a fair amount of similar sport types, especially hockey which has wrecked my knees for adult life. I expect in that weekly cycle there probably isn’t enough recovery time for his muscles and joints.
However, I don’t remember aching as you have described - even when I played 9 full hockey matches in 7 days once….
I would therefore definitely push the medics to investigate and assess. But in the meantime it might be worth seeing if some lighter sessions (and skipping the odd one) has any benefit.
By way of example: my 11 yo daughter spends around 20 hours a week in a dance studio and also does 2 hours of school PE a week. She has two days a week where she does no exercise (Fri + Sun). On Sunday we’re happy for her to sleep in, stay in her pyjamas all day and just do her homework.
I agree that he is probably at the upper end of what I'd want him to do, but he is a youth. I would expect him to be able to handle it, without suffering the pain that he does.It’s a fair amount of similar sport types, especially hockey which has wrecked my knees for adult life. I expect in that weekly cycle there probably isn’t enough recovery time for his muscles and joints.
However, I don’t remember aching as you have described - even when I played 9 full hockey matches in 7 days once….
I would therefore definitely push the medics to investigate and assess. But in the meantime it might be worth seeing if some lighter sessions (and skipping the odd one) has any benefit.
By way of example: my 11 yo daughter spends around 20 hours a week in a dance studio and also does 2 hours of school PE a week. She has two days a week where she does no exercise (Fri + Sun). On Sunday we’re happy for her to sleep in, stay in her pyjamas all day and just do her homework.
Edited by OMITN on Thursday 23 December 01:09
Agree - I’d also expect that a strong 14 year old lad should be ok without the level pain you have described.
Definitely push the medics. You’ll have to keep badgering them and hopefully will find someone who’s prepared to investigate and see if there is anything else going on. Hopefully not and it’s just a combination of development and training volume.
Hope he feels better soon.
Definitely push the medics. You’ll have to keep badgering them and hopefully will find someone who’s prepared to investigate and see if there is anything else going on. Hopefully not and it’s just a combination of development and training volume.
Hope he feels better soon.
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