POSTURAL EVALUATION IN YOUNG ATHLETES

Is important to evaluate young athletes by postural testing since their very first years of sport activity? Yes, it is. From a side is true that growing up bones and joints and muscular and tendon structures evolve and strengthen in a natural way, but if there is a balanced basis it can maximize this process and  allow young athletes to get ideal wellness and functionality of their body for the future. That is very important also because very often the growth is characterized by phases of sudden structural increase, with temporary loss of balance.

The postural evaluation must be the starting point for the trainer to plan a good physical workout.

The word “posture” comes from Latin and it means “position”; so it is the result of the coordinated work of the body segments in the activation of every movement or position. During the first training sessions with me, the new boy or girl face a group of exercises and tests built up year by year (and always under construction) that help me to evaluate their mobility, balance, stability and strength.

In special cases, for example an ambitious sport project or some young with structure or functionality found unbalanced, it is a good thing to be helped by a specialized professional to develop a better and more effective training plan.

In Italy there is the chance to get a master in “posturology”, that is open for doctors in Science of the Movement, physiotherapist and other figures with sanitary education; these masters specialize and give the chance to the students to build a career in this very important and essential subject.

Osteopathy is another branch that evaluate the posture, and “it is part of the complementary medicine studies, an instrument of evaluation and manual treatment that considers body at 360°; that means it cares not only for pathologies but also for wellness. These words are said by Andrea Civardi, physiotherapist and osteopath that has written a very interesting article for me. I know many physiotherapists, kinesiologists, osteopaths e posturologists that are very competent but I am pleased to share this article by Andrea because he is a professional with large experience, with whom I successfully collaborate some years ago and who is an enthusiastic of his job, of life.

The title of the article is “The importance of the evaluation and osteopathic treatment for kids since pre-scholar age” and it underlines all the advantages that kids can reach being followed during their growth by professionals that are able to care about their structure.

I take my kids to an osteopath in this very first phase of their life. During the first year of birth I brought them two times, then if it is all ok once per year is enough to drive them at best. Andrea Civardi’s lines are also about the importance to check the newborn already after birth, during which he suffers a real physical shock. In England, for example, the figure of osteopath is already active in the hospital and the baby is visited also by him before discharge.

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE EVALUATION AND OSTEOPATHIC TREATMENT FOR KIDS SINCE PRE-SCHOLAR AGE

The evaluation and osteopathic treatment have their best efficacy in the prevention and manipulation in pediatric age.

Usually people believe that the newborn and kids, cause they are young and flexible, are not involved in body stress suffering. Reality is instead very different, since the moment of birth represents already the first and biggest life trauma.

The Osteopathic evaluation drives kids from their birth, during the different phases of growth till the adult age; it is made up of a general evaluation of physical conditions that considers the muscular-skeletal system, the neurological and the cognitive system.

Since the evaluation and therapy are free of collateral effects and are not invasive [1], the osteopathic treatment is well tolerated by young patients that seem to accept it with pleasure. For these motivations, it can be practiced to suckling babies in order to relieve pain and disorders.

During the pre-scholar age and so during the start of a pre-agonistic sport activity, the goal of the evaluation is about [2,3,4,5]:

• Traumas
• Agonistic activity
• Bad dental occlusion
• Screening for scoliosis
• Difects of plantar footing
• Limbs asymmetry
• Asthma and bronchitis
• Headache
• Visual disorders
• Hyperactivity and attention disorders

Moreover, the evaluation represents a method of prevention about what was just listed.

After an accurate evaluation about all systems of the body, the osteopath can apply whenever is necessary different manipulative technics with the goal to release the areas in which can be found a mechanical stress, restoring balance between all systems.

In conclusion it is objective that more and more families consider common to get an osteopathic check, as it is the sanitarian.

The task of a Doctor is to cure illness, the one of an Osteopath is to reach wellness.

Bibliography

[1] Hayes NM, Bezilla TA. Incidence of Iatrogenesis Associated With Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment of pediatric patients. JAOA 2006;106(10):605-608.

[2] Philippi H, Faldum A, Schleupen A, Pabst B, Jung T, Bergmann H, Bieber I, Kaemmerer C, Dijs P, Reitter B. Infantile postural asymmetry and osteopathic treatment: a randomized therapeutic trial. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2006 Jan;48(1):5-9; discussion 4.
[3] Guiney PA, Chou R, Vianna A, Lovenheim J. Effects of osteopathic manipulative treatment on pediatric patients with asthma: a randomized controlled trial. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2005 Jan;105(1):7-12.
[4] Monaco A, Cozzolino V, Cattaneo R, Cutilli T, Spadaro A. Osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT) effects on mandibular kinetics: kinesiographic study. Eur J Paediatr Dent. 2008 Mar;9(1):37-42.

[5] Anderson RE, Seniscal C. A comparison of selected osteopathic treatment and relaxation for tension-type headaches Headache. 2006 Sep;46(8):1273-80.

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