How Do You Diagnose Growth Plate Injuries?
Growth plates, or the growing areas at either end of a child’s bone, are prone to injury when joints are placed under stress. Causes may be sudden falls or long-term sports practice. Growth plates close during adolescence, when bones mature, so growth plate injuries usually occur in children 16 and under. Find out how to diagnose whether the pain in your child’s joints is a growth plate fracture. Distinguish between a head and body injury. If it is a body injury, encourage your child to move and test for pain. Assess your child’s symptoms. Ask whether it is too painful to move the injured area. Note if the child doesn’t walk or move. Consider an injury caused by an activity. Ask whether your child fell while running or from a height, such as from playground equipment. Consider external causes. Find out whether your child was hit by a baseball bat or another solid object. Assume that a painful bone or joint trauma suffered under such circumstances is a growth plate fracture and get medi
