Sports injuries/ growing pains/ confidence - teen boys

[Cherrymix]

My DS (15) is very sporty but over the last year it has all gone wrong for him. He has had a few minor injuries and also has had a lot of problems which we think are growing related - back pains/ hip pains/ headaches. Somehow his body doesn't seem to be working the way it used to.

We have seen a sports physio and he has been doing the excercises with varying degrees of committment. There has been a bit of improvement but now his back has got worse again and he can hardly manage to play half a game of football.

We are seeing the GP to check its nothing more serious but my gut feeling is that he just needs to get through the growing phase (which he has been doing very slowly ).

So all of this has really knocked his confidence and now he has stopped wanting to go to training - partly because his back hurts but also I think because he doesn't like not being able to do it easily any more. He was really fed up about it this evening and I think its getting him down.

I'd really like him to keep up with sport because when things do go right he gets a real buzz out of it and he enjoys the social side of it.

Can anyone share their experience of this? Did your DS go through something like this and what happened? I don't think its uncommon but I'd like some ideas about how to get him through it.

Hi I have a sporty DS and he has gone through similar albeit at a younger age.

He was diagnosed with mild osgood schlatter which gave him hip and knee pain, he grew out of this in about 9 months having grown about 7 inches in that time. Currently he has back pain which is a disc injury. Although it is an injury its root cause is a weak core due mainly to speed of growth which may be similar for your DS. I have a few suggestions for you

Does he like his physio? We work with an excellent physio used to working with young athletes and gymnasts, and she has a wonderful way with her that he really responds to. If you can afford it a session once a month will demonstrate his progress and encourage him, and give him fresh exercises to do to relieve the boredom

He must do his core exercises as these are what will protect him when he goes back to sport fully. Sports like football are notorious for building up strength on one side at the detriment of the other.

When my DS is lazy about his exercises I do them with him. So for example we will through a ball to each other balancing on one leg. He should do his exercises before he goes on his xbox etc (I am not very successful at this bit!).

When he goes back to school he will be back doing different sports again rather than just his usual sport so may still be able to do something even if he is not playing football.

My DS gave up football in the end as he was having too many problems and couldn’t finish a game like your son. He plays bball and the coaches do cut him slack when he has these fitness problems and play him on and off and release him early from training. Could you speak to the coaches, even if they only play him for a quarter of the game he can still then participate and socialise. They can also reassure him that as long as he does his exercises it should only be a matter of months then he will be back playing properly again.

ilove thanks for your reply and helpful advice. Respect to you for doing physio excercises with your DS.

Mine has been seeing a physio for ages and did get quite a lot better but then got worse again. I think it was a change of activities and maybe more growing that did it.

So he is really disheartened because he feels like he's done all the stuff he was meant to do and there was no point.

His coaches have been generally understanding and have always said come along, do what you can at training and let him play part games but he doesn't want to do this any more - I think he just feels like he's not really part of the team. Its hard when you haven't got an obvious injury.

I'm finding it very hard to be helpful because what used to be a pleasure for him has now become a bit of a chore and I am constantly having to nag him to do his exercises.

I know what you mean about having to nag. There is another thread on here where the poor mum is having to nag about teeth cleaning with her 15 yo DS so we have to look on the positive side, at least we are not having to do that

Has he seen the physio recently as if you think it is likely to be a growth spurt the physio might have some new ideas and certainly more stretches he could be doing to help things along.

My DS started with his knee/hip problems in the January and was back playing in the October and largely OK by then. These growth spurts only seem to last 6-9 months then with a period inbetween before the next one. It might be your son's last spurt then he will be OK.

I know what you mean with the "no obvious injury" remark but you could reassure him that the coaches will see this regularly as it is part and parcel of training teenage boys with their inconvenient growing patterns.

One other thing I do with DS when he is not training is take him to the gym with me and he does a bit of rowing or cycling for fitness then some weights. I know rowing might not be suitable but could you do something similar to keep up his fitness and help his mood

I hope he is able to go back to his football soon