Beacon Ortho: Friday Night Lights, Back to Playing Safely

“Like all of us, young athletes have been frustrated by limits the coronavirus forced on us. They are ready to get back to competing.”

Dr. David Argo. Photo provided.

(undated) - As high school football games begin this week, young athletes are rightfully excited to take the field. As they do, it is important that they should also take appropriate training and preparation seriously. Hopefully, their excitement has not outweighed their conditioning, stretching and strengthening in the off-season.

Recently, the whole world has rightfully spent a lot of time talking about wearing masks, washing hands and social-distancing. And those steps are important to our entire community’s health and safety. However, in addition to those important safety precautions, young athletes must still take care to properly prepare and condition their bodies for this season. “Like all of us, young athletes have been frustrated by limits the coronavirus forced on us. They are ready to get back to competing,” said Dr. David Argo from Beacon Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine, “but that they still need to athletically prepare and care for themselves thoroughly in order to compete and stay healthy.”

Of course the situation is not ideal, but local high schools are making the most of it. In addition, to social distancing, washing hands frequently and wearing masks whenever possible, teams returned to purposeful and careful conditioning and practice weeks ago – with Beacon athletic trainers as part of that planning and prep. Coaches and trainers created plans that allowed athletes to condition and strengthen heading into this season. Even though that pre-season was shorter than usual, they created environments that are keeping students safe. Therefore striving to keep kids in the game.

As in years past, Beacon athletic training staff will be on the sidelines at many local high school football games. They will care for those student athletes quickly, effectively and safely guarding against injuries. However, if a student does get injured, the athletic trainer or sideline doctor is the first line of care for that student. And in this strange year, those professionals will also take special care to fight the spread of the virus. This season, their work may even include cleaning surfaces, temperature scans, disinfecting supplies, making sure athletes are wearing masks and/or physically distancing whenever possible. Beacon team members know that this work is important for all of us.

It is fact that these athletes didn’t have a usual pre-season. However, it is also fact that as the games begin, everyone wants to remain healthy and strong. “Playing sports is a great way for young people to stay active and fit,” Argo said. “And doing so during 2020 is no exception. We may just need to help students do that differently.”

Tips To Combat Coronavirus While Playing Sports (provided by the Centers for Disease Control)

• Reduce physical closeness between players when possible.
• Avoid high fives, handshakes, fist bumps or hugs.
• Keep space between players in the practice areas, on the sideline and bench.
• Wait in car or away from the playing area until just before the warm-up period or the beginning of the game.

Beyond the sidelines, all 13 Beacon locations are seeing patients including our offices in Lawrenceburg and Batesville. Striving to ensure patient and staff health, Beacon offers Telehealth Video Visits and when seeing patients in person, they are using all approved safety protocols, including temperature checks, masks and hand sanitizing.

Providing a safe environment to diagnose and recommend the next steps for any injury is always the right thing to do. If you need to talk with a medical professional about knee pain, please visit www.beaconortho.com or call 513-354-3700 to schedule an appointment.