Adolescent and youth athletes
Specialist sport and exercise medicine for young athletes. Growth-related injuries, training load through adolescence, and the conditions that look different in growing bodies (apophysitis, slipped capital femoral epiphysis, osteochondritis dissecans) deserve specialist attention.
Young athletes are not small adults. Their growth plates, their developing skeletons, and their evolving cognitive and emotional load tolerance all matter for how injuries present, how they recover, and how training should be structured.
Growth and injury
During growth spurts, bone lengthens before muscle and tendon catch up. The result is reduced flexibility, altered biomechanics, and conditions specific to the growth plate that do not occur in adults. Conditions like Osgood-Schlatter, Sever's, Sinding-Larsen-Johansson, and Little League shoulder are growth-related and respond well to load management once correctly recognised.
Common youth athlete injuries
- Apophysitis at the heel (Sever's), tibial tuberosity (Osgood-Schlatter), or elsewhere
- Pars bone stress injury (stress fracture of a part of the vertebra) in adolescent athletes with persistent low back pain, particularly in extension-heavy sports
- Slipped capital femoral epiphysis (SCFE) in pre-adolescent and adolescent boys with hip or knee pain
- Osteochondritis dissecans (knee, ankle, elbow) in young athletes with localised joint pain
- Acute fractures and growth plate injuries after high-impact activity
- Concussion in collision-sport adolescents, where recovery patterns differ from adults
Several of these conditions are time-critical if missed, particularly SCFE, where delay can affect the hip. They are recognisable on appropriate assessment, so persistent symptoms in a young athlete are worth checking.
Training load in young athletes
Adolescents tolerate increasing training load when it is progressed sensibly and matched to their growth and life stage. Too much load too fast, particularly during peak height velocity, increases injury risk. Too little development of resilience leaves athletes underprepared for senior demands.
The principles are well-studied: progressive load, sensible weekly variability, attention to sleep and nutrition, and avoiding extended periods of single-sport overload during peak growth.
Early specialisation
Sustained early single-sport specialisation is associated with higher rates of overuse injury and burnout. Multi-sport participation through the early teenage years generally supports broader athletic development and reduces injury risk. The conversation about when specialisation is appropriate is worth having.
Common questions
Will my child grow out of this pain?
Many growth-related conditions resolve with skeletal maturity. The work in the meantime is to manage symptoms, modify load sensibly, and identify any underlying contributors that need direct attention.
Should I let my child train through pain?
It depends on the pain and the cause. Persistent pain in a young athlete deserves an explanation rather than a workaround. The clinical assessment can usually clarify what is safe.
Should I push my child harder or pull back?
The honest answer is "it depends, and it is worth a conversation". Both extremes have downsides. Specialist input adds the medical context to a decision that is otherwise quite individual.
