One day you come to school untouched and then the next you walk in with bumps and bruises. Injuries are never a fun thing when you’re a young athlete. They interrupt with your daily lifestyle in some way. Millions of teens take part in high schools sports each year. For a high school athlete, an injury can be a great inconvenience for him or her,  and the trainers.

“I got a black eye under the cheekbone and twisted my deltoid muscle during cheer practice as a girl was coming down from a stunt. I had an icepack pressed on my face for half of the day and had difficulty writing since I injured my dominant arm. Yeah it was not fun,” said senior Lauren Tyson.

Teen athletes get injured around the same percentage as skilled athletes, but injuries affect young athletes in a different way than adult athletes. It’s unfortunate when developing an injury as it postpones you from attending practices and activities. Some athletes make their symptoms seem less of a major deal to keep on playing. A student’s injury should be fully healed before he or she can come back to sports activity.

“In cheer practice, a girl was coming down from a liberty stunt and kicked me in the left eye. My head starts hurting when I hear a lot of noise and at times it’s hard for me to focus. It got me out of cheer practice for a little bit but it’s all okay,” said junior Alexia Mendez.

Sophomore Denise Mercado’s situation is an example of what downplaying your symptoms can lead you to.

“I slid on the concrete stairs outside the athletic entrance and badly injured my left kneecap. I made it seem like I was fine so I wouldn’t be taken out of practice. My knee has been hurting ever since and it still does to this day. Now I take very good precaution in order to not make my condition worse.”

It’s important for parents, trainers, and athletes to know that the participant can’t come back to play at the same level of effort as other athletes, regardless of how much his or her injury has healed. A lot of high school sports injuries can be avoided over appropriate equipment, conditioning, and training. Research says doctors do recommend parents and trainers to limit the sports their athlete is participating year-round to prevent worn out injuries. Remember safety is gainful, accident is painful.