Playground Injuries

Exercise is a must for everyone including kids as well as adults for physical fitness and overall health. Playing various sports such as soccer, baseball, skating, hiking or bicycling is a good form of exercise and fun activity. For kids, playground is a place, full of fun and excitement. It’s a great place to express their skills and performance, as well as to make new friends. Children grow, develop strength and fitness as well as develop their communication skills on the playground. During vacations, you will see most children spending entire day on the playground. But it’s a fact that playground offers many health benefits as well as it is a source of a number serious injuries. Every year, thousands of children get badly injured on the playground. Some of the playground injuries can be so serious that the children have to face its long-term consequences.

Causes of Playground Injuries

Falls are one of the main causes of playground injuries. Kids tend to fall due to slipping, losing their balance, losing the grip, or while playing on swings, monkey bars, seesaws, slides and merry-go-rounds. Majority of fall injuries are due to monkey bars, leading to fractures. Some children get injured due to being struck by the playing equipments. Approximately 75% of nonfatal injuries are associated with playground equipments. Such types of injuries are more common at daycare centers and schools. Children between the age of 5 and 9 are at higher risk of getting inured.

Types of Playground Injuries

About 45% of playground injuries are quite severe, including fractures, injuries to internal organs, dislocations, concussions and amputations. Fracture is the most common type of playground injury. Some other common playground injuries include cuts, falls, blows from different equipments such as swing, ball or bat, lacerations, sprains and strains, or abrasions and contusions. Broken bones, trauma and spinal injuries are the serious injuries that need immediate medical care and hospitalization. Head injury is the most serious form of playground injury.

Prevention of Playground Injuries

Prevention is always better than cure. It is better to adopt some preventive measures while playing on the ground, rather than treating the injuries. You should always wear the rubber-soled shoes in order to protect your feet. Make sure that the surface beneath the playground is made from shock-absorbent materials such as wood chips, pea gravel, sand, or similar material. Don’t use the metal slides that are exposed to the sun. Such slides may become hot and burn the skin. The landing surface should be smooth and soft, particularly around the monkey bars. You should be very careful about the playground design, playground surface, installation and maintenance of playground equipments. Adult supervision is essential while the kids are playing on the ground. Keep a watchful eye while the younger children are playing. Be sure that children are wearing the clothes that are not too loose to get caught in the playing equipments. Whenever your child comes from the playground, do check for any injuries or wounds, so that to seek immediate treatment.

Playground is truly a good place for the all-round development of children. What it needs is just simple care and careful attention.