Ridecamp: Re: [RC] there is no way that young and small a body can ride astride a horse that many hours without damage

Here is my quick summary of the cites Joe mentioned.  I leave it to others
(the board of the AERC) to decide how much weight to give them.
http://home.iprimus.com.au/bill58/cumulative_trauma.htm

Australian overview paper best summed up by
"Cumulative Trauma Disorders are disorders which are more often than not
caused by excessive repetition and inadequate scheduling of work and rest
periods."

The article goes on to discuss "tennis elbow", little league elbow, muscle
imbalance and similar things.  I didn't know that in some instances, the
pitching arm can be longer than the other arm.  I did know that tennis
players a few years back often had massively dominant arms and under
developed passive arms (the one that throws the ball up), but I'm told by my
son who plays tennis that balance is what people aim for today and that the
total body needs conditioning not just the serving arm.

A lot of the article seems to be repeating that injuries while young, may
have an effect well into old age.

>    http://www.stege.com/topics/sports/children.htm

General warning that overuse can cause damage.  Information from a
podiatrist, and how he can help.  The article goes on to mention that
concentrating on one sport is bad, so a variety is better.

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/library/bl_growthplate.htm

Interesting article on growthplate injuries.  These are caused by overuse.

"While growth plate injuries can be caused by an acute event, such as a fall
or a blow to the body, they can also result from overuse. For example, a
gymnast who practices for hours on the uneven bars, a long-distance runner,
or a baseball pitcher perfecting his curve ball can all have growth plate
injuries."

"Most injuries to the growth plate are fractures. Growth plate fractures
comprise 15 to 30 percent of all childhood fractures. They occur twice as
often in boys as in girls, with the greatest incidence among 14-year-old
boys and 11- to 12-year-old girls. Older girls experience these fractures
less often because their bodies mature at an earlier age than boys'. As a
result, their bones finish growing sooner, and growth plates are replaced by
stronger, solid bone.
Growth plate fractures occur most often in the long bones of the fingers
(phalanges), followed by the outer bone of the forearm (radius) at the
wrist. These injuries also occur frequently in the lower bones of the leg:
the tibia and fibula. They can also occur in the upper leg bone (femur) or
in the ankle, foot, or hip bone. "

 http://www.connectingwithkids.com/old/archives/aug_02/delayspt.html


Best summed up by the title "Pushing One Sport May Harm Younger Children".
It goes on to point out that overemphasis and overtraining can cause
problem.  A very general article.

http://www.orthoseek.com/articles/sportinj.html


a.. Horseback Riding

The most serious injuries occur with falls involcing [sic] the head or neck.
Riding helmets are important.

a.. Falls on the shoulder can cause shoulder separation, or injuries to the
knee including fractures.



http://216.239.53.100/search?q=cache:yqErn79hd7wC:www.clevelandclinic.org/fh
c/newsletters/fall2001/indepFall2001.pdf+bone+harm+child+sport&hl=en&ie=UTF-
8


Kids can get hurt.  Make sure they are physically capable of doing the work,
don't overdo it and don't let them play hurt.



Charles

----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe Long" <jlong@xxxxxxxx>
To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: "Charles" <cdy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>; <FASTGraphic@xxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2002 8:31 PM
Subject: Re: [RC] there is no way that young and small a body can ride
astride a horse that many hours without damage


> >On Thu, 24 Oct 2002 16:27:43 -0400, "Charles" <cdy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> >wrote:
>
> >>I'll say it's burden of proof time:
>
> >>You have made the above claim several times.  From what I can see in
past
> >>messages, and from the Archives, young and small bodies have completed
rides
> >>without damage.
>
> OK, once I got home from work I did a quick Google search.  Here are a
> few cites I found in just a couple of minutes:
>
>    http://home.iprimus.com.au/bill58/cumulative_trauma.htm
>
>    http://www.stege.com/topics/sports/children.htm
>
>    http://sportsmedicine.about.com/library/bl_growthplate.htm
>
>    http://www.connectingwithkids.com/old/archives/aug_02/delayspt.html
>
>    http://www.orthoseek.com/articles/sportinj.html
>
>
>
http://216.239.53.100/search?q=cache:yqErn79hd7wC:www.clevelandclinic.org/fh
c/newsletters/fall2001/indepFall2001.pdf+bone+harm+child+sport&hl=en&ie=UTF-
8
>
>    (that is a long one, you need to enter it all on one line)
>
>    A snippet from that one:  "Coaches and parents should remember that
> children are not small adults. A child's bones, tendons, muscles and
> ligaments develop unevenly increasing the risk of injury."
>
>   The book "Little Girls in Pretty Boxes: The Making and Breaking of
> Elite Gymnasts and Figure Skaters," available on amazon.com
>
>
> http://kidshealth.org/parent/firstaid_safe/outdoor/sports_safety_p3.html
>
>    A snippet from that one:  "Overuse injuries occur from repetitive
> actions that put too much stress on the musculoskeletal system.
> Although these injuries can occur in adults as well as children, they
> are more problematic in a child athlete because of the effect they may
> have on your child's bone growth. Any child who plays sports can
> develop overuse injuries, although the more time your child spends on
> the sport, the more likely your child is to experience an overuse
> injury."
>
>    http://www.carolinaorthopedic.com/new/aikenbones/apr2002.asp
>
>    A snippet from that one:  "The American Academy of Pediatrics
> recommends team sports only for children six years of age and older.
> Why? First, mental and emotional ability: most children younger than
> six don't understand the concept and rules of team play, and may not
> have the emotional development and eagerness to play.
> Second, physical ability and age-appropriate skills: there are things
> a 14 year old can do (such as throwing a curve ball in baseball) that
> an 8 year old should not do because of differences in physical
> development and increased risk of injury. Your experience, intuition,
> and child's doctor can help you make these decisions. Push your child
> to play a sport to soon - physically or emotionally -- can increase
> risk of injury."
>
>
> If that's not enough, just do a Google search of your own -- there are
> plenty more.
>
>
> --
>
> Joe Long
> jlong@xxxxxxxx
> http://www.rnbw.com



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