Sports Medicine

At the sidelines of track meets, road races, and ball games, the most common accident isn’t a fracture. It’s someone collapsing. And the first question to ask on the scene isn’t “Are they dehydrated?” but “When did they collapse?" The answer to this question splits the situation into two different worlds: collapsing during the race, and collapsing after crossing the finish line. Collapsing during the race: Treat as the worst-case scenario first If a person suddenly falls to the ground while running, playing, or competing, and wasn’t hit by anything, the correct response is to first treat it as cardiac arrest: call for help, call an ambulance, grab an AED, and start CPR. ...

Let’s start with the most counterintuitive thing: when a kid collapses during hot weather exercise and their mental status is off, the right order is to cool them down on site first, then send them to the hospital. Not call an ambulance and figure it out on the way. The international consensus is blunt—cool first, transport second. Because what determines whether they suffer permanent damage isn’t how fast they get to the ER, but how long their body temperature stays above 40°C. ...

Bottom line up front: If your child has a painful bump just below the kneecap, it’s not growing pains. It has a name: Osgood-Schlatter, also known as tibial tubercle apophysitis. And contrary to what many people have heard—it doesn’t “completely go away when you grow up." I’m writing this for parents who have 10- to 15-year-olds currently running and jumping in sports. How to tell if it’s growing pains Growing pains usually happen in both legs, ache in the evening or middle of the night, and have no clear point of tenderness. By the next morning, it’s like nothing happened. ...

Let’s start with the most important thing: depression in older adults often doesn’t look like “depression." They might not cry or say they’re sad. Instead, it turns into aches and pains all over, poor appetite, bad sleep, and a lack of energy for everything. And so it’s very easy for the whole family (sometimes even physicians) to write it off as “that’s just what happens when you get old,” and quietly miss it. ...