Hip hip hooray for the return to school sports! From contact sports, such as football and soccer to non-contact sports, such as swimming and track, school-aged children of all ages and sizes are gearing up for a winning season.

Before your child can play, many schools require that children undergo a sports physical providing a medical release to play. As a parent or guardian, you may not think much of this physical, but according to WakeMed MyCare 365 provider, Sue Horlick, PA, these exams are critical and findings could be lifesaving.

Duration of the Sports Physical

Sports physicals in the Wake County, North Carolina area are good for 12 months. They can be used for a variety of sports. So, if a child wants to play a spring and fall sport during one academic year, that physical is good for the entire timeframe.

School Forms

School sports medical forms change. Parents and guardians should obtain the document from the child’s school since this will be the correct form with the appropriate deadline for submission. Parents and guardians should fill out these forms completely prior to the appointment. About two pages of the document ask questions about health history. This information from the point of view of the caregiver is vital for the provider.

The Importance of the Sports Physical

Numerous health issues could emerge during a sporting event if and when a child is injured, exhausted, dehydrated and more. If a child has an unknown, underlying medical condition, physical exertion could prove detrimental. Issues, such as heart disease, metabolic problems, eating disorders, joint problems, seizures, etc. could present during a sporting event resulting in a medical emergency.

If a student athlete is found to have any of these conditions, catching them during the sports physical could be lifesaving.

Sue says, “As a parent, myself, even if a team doesn’t require a physical, it is always a good idea to have preventative care for your student. If you opt not to do a sports physical, you should still schedule your child for the annual wellness check, so the primary care provider can perform a physical and monitor growth.”

The Annual Wellness Check

Ideally, a student athlete should receive both the annual wellness check as well as a sports physical. The annual wellness check includes blood work and immunizations. It is more comprehensive. The sports physical does not replace the annual wellness check. It augments it.

What’s Included in the Sports Physical

With that in mind, you may be wondering what is involved in a student athlete sports physical.

A sports physical will check the following:

• Fitness (abdomen, heart, lungs, nose, throat)
• Flexibility (range of motion)
• Hearing
• Joints (mobility, posture, strength)
• Psychological development (maturity, mood, eating disorders/addictions, family dynamics)
• Vision
• Vitals (blood pressure, height, weight, growth spurts, temperature)

Our providers at WakeMed MyCare 365 may also offer guidance to help your athlete build a healthier body as well as determine nutritional needs for optimal performance.

Hidden Mental Health Issues and Sports

One small component of the sports physical is the psychological assessment. While it is brief, it is also very important, especially if a child wants to play contact sports which increase the chance for a concussion.

Head trauma has been shown to affect psychological well-being and increase the likelihood of psychological problems over the course of a lifetime, so health care providers need to know beforehand if the athlete is in a healthy state of mind to play sports.

Also, the psychological assessment may reveal potential physical health concerns that could be missed otherwise. For example, a discussion of a student’s mental well-being may bring up an unhealthy relationship with food, which could be an eating disorder.

Sue says, “If a child is underweight, we may check the electrolytes. If there are a lot of electrolyte abnormalities because the child is making choices that limit how many electrolytes, such as sodium and potassium, the body is receiving, this could cause an arrhythmia during a sporting event.”

Hypothetically speaking, if a child has an eating disorder and is perhaps 5’5” tall but weighs just 80 lbs, the provider may not sign the release for the child to play sports because of concerns of further jeopardizing the child’s physical health while playing.

Height and Weight in the Sports Physical

The body mass index (BMI) is a measure of a person’s height and weight. Based on this combination, a child may be underweight, a normal weight, overweight or obese. If the child falls outside the range of a normal, healthy weight, there is cause for concern.

Yet, an underweight child who is naturally slim may be fine to play sports if the child has a consistent history of being on the lower part of the BMI curve. However, if a child suddenly lost a bunch of weight, then it could be dangerous for the child to play.

“This is why it is so important to go to the same provider year after year to see the medical trends,” explains Sue.

The Right Choice for Your Child’s Sports Physical

At WakeMed MyCare 365, we offer primary care services for children 12+ through adults. We want to be your first choice for all your primary and urgent care needs.

Our desire is to establish a long-term relationship with you and your family, and that holds true for the sports physical as well.

If you are bringing in your student athlete for a sports physical as a new patient, and we have no prior records or data on your athlete, then we will not be able to do a thorough job because we are missing the health history. It is best to get the sports physical done by the child’s primary care provider or pediatrician because this provider will have the long range history on the child.

If you would like to choose MyCare 365 as your provider of choice, we welcome you and ask that prior to the sports physical you consider transferring your child’s medical records, so we have the health history to offer the most thorough exam.

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About Sue Horlick, PA

A certified Physician Assistant, Sue Horlick, PA has clinical interests in women’s health, headache management, GI issues and nutrition. She completed her bachelor’s in clinical nutrition at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, and attended the physician assistant program at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. Sue brings over two decades of urgent care and family medicine experience to WakeMed and uses her extensive knowledge to provide expert care to her patients.

Having worked in both urgent care and family practice, Sue believes in treating patients more holistically because she sees acute and chronic issues. Sue focuses on forming close relationships with her patients to give them attentive, personalized care at every appointment. She sees patients at WakeMed MyCare 365 in Wake Forest on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

 

Disclaimer: The advice of individual medical providers serves as guidance from the specific provider and is not intended to establish standards of clinical practice or rules of law for WakeMed Health and Hospitals.