COVID-19 Advisory
If you or your child has COVID-19 symptoms (fever, cough or shortness of breath) or other COVID-19 concerns, call your child’s doctor or visit Children’s Online Urgent Care.
If you or your child has COVID-19 symptoms (fever, cough or shortness of breath) or other COVID-19 concerns, call your child’s doctor or visit Children’s Online Urgent Care.
In the first agreement of its kind, Children’s Wisconsin has signed a partnership with the Waukesha school district to provide licensed athletic training and care for the Waukesha North, South and West high schools’ athletic teams.
What we know about how COVID-19 is effecting children with medically complex health conditions.
Hopefully your child has made it through an active summer without too many bumps and bruises. The past few months have been a busy time for us as pediatric orthopedic specialists, treating kids who have rolled an ankle, sprained a ligament or (in most cases) broken a bone. And now, going into the fall sports season, more young athletes are probably going to be in need of our services.
When seeking treatment for your child, it’s important to remember that kids aren’t just little adults. Their bodies are still growing and changing, so they should be seen by a specialist with the advanced training and expertise necessary to help them heal the right way.
For instance, many people aren’t aware that up until age 16, kids and teens have what are known as growth plates that sit at the ends of their bones throughout the body. What might be a pulled muscle or sprained ligament in an adult could actually result in a fracture or other serious injury in a child whose bones are still growing.
It’s possible that a medical provider who doesn’t often work with kids might not be looking for growth plate injuries, which could mean they won’t heal properly. If this happens, then what should be a temporary condition could turn into a long-term problem. The bone can either begin to grow too fast or have its growth stopped too soon. Unfortunately, I have seen instances where a child has a deformed joint that was caused by improper treatment.
Fractures that involve growth plates can be the result of a single event, such as a fall, or from repetitive stress on the bone. These types of overuse injuries are happening more and more often with young athletes as they become more specialized and play longer seasons.
Here are some facts about growth-plate injuries from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons:
Sometimes a fracture is detectable visibly through a misshapen or crooked appearance of a limb, but here are some other symptoms to watch for:
Whenever there is an injury, and it’s not an emergency situation, help treat it through the RICE method.
Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation
Do this for at least the first day or two, and if you notice swelling, discoloration, or a limp, have the injury evaluated. Most injuries will heal just fine, but sometimes extra attention is needed. And with growth plates, getting the right care can make sure your young athlete can stay in the game.
The common causes and treatments for diaper rash.
When your child is sick or injured after your pediatrician’s office closes, should you go to urgent care or ER?
Tips from a child and family therapist to help navigate conversations about race with kids and help explain the events they’re seeing in our communities and on the news.
Guidance from our pediatric experts about returning to summer camp and other summer activities during COVID-19.
Most parents have heard of pink eye but they may not know that they're are many different types and treatment for each is different.
A team of sports medicine and infection prevention experts at Children’s Wisconsin and UW Health teamed up to develop guidelines for kids returning to sports in Wisconsin.
As we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, our e-learning health education programming are now available for all Wisconsin families.
