With more options available than ever before, many children are excited to get involved in sporting teams. However, if your child doesn’t pass the sports physical that medically clears them to play, it can be a disappointing setback.
Although not passing their sports physical means your child isn’t immediately cleared to play a specific sport, pediatricians Rainilda Valencia, MD, and Deepika Saini, MD, FAAP, at Valencia Pediatrics in Victorville, California, reassure your family that most children who don’t initially pass the sports physical can play sports with additional measures in place.
Keep reading to learn what’s next after your child doesn’t pass their sports physical.
When our team assesses your child through a sports physical, we determine whether they’re physically and mentally ready to participate in a given sport. This assessment is different from the overall health evaluations we do at well-child exams.
Not passing a sports physical means that when we perform the physical, we can’t medically clear your child to play their specific sport in the upcoming season. It doesn’t reflect your child's athletic ability, general health, or past or future ability to pass a sports physical.
Not passing a sports physical on the day of the exam can be disappointing for your child, but it isn’t the end of the road. The vast majority of children can play sports after additional measures are put in place.
The next steps our team advises depend on why your child didn’t pass their sports physical. Possible recommendations include:
Sometimes, our team needs more information about your child’s medical history or conditions before we clear them to play sports. We might need to access previous medical records, talk to past professionals who treated your child, or refer your child to a specialist for evaluation.
Once we have the necessary information, we can often clear your child to play their sport immediately. Other times, we use the information to create a plan that makes sports safer for your child.
Many children with medical conditions can be cleared to play once we’ve created a safety plan for practices and games. For example, if your child has a severe allergy or asthma that could be aggravated while playing their sport, their plan often requires a trusted adult or your child to carry an EpiPen® or inhaler during practices and games.
The nominated adult and your child need to be aware of the condition and how to use the medical device if there’s an emergency. Our team can clear your child to play once everyone has agreed to the safety plan.
If your child has an acute or chronic condition that gets in the way of playing sports, undergoing treatment or changing treatment protocol can prepare them to play. For acute problems, like a fracture or concussion, your child can usually go back to their sport after making a full recovery.
Chronic conditions, including medical problems like a heart murmur, diabetes, and asthma, need to be well-controlled for your child to be cleared to play sports. Sometimes, it just takes a simple change to your child’s treatment, such as switching medications.
When your child’s sport isn’t safe for them to play, our team works to help them find a medically safe sport. This can include changing to a sport played in a different physical environment that doesn’t involve direct physical contact with other players or requires less sustained cardiovascular effort.
Our team is committed to helping your child stay active by safely playing the sports they love. Contact us today to schedule your child’s sports physical for the season.
