Trainers and therapists say most strains to muscles and sprains to joints that young athletes suffer during practice and games will heal with rest and rehabilitation.

“More than 80 percent of these injuries don't require surgery,” said Vicky English, clinical director of Panther Physical Therapy in Harmony.

Injuries that don't require surgery are treated in three progressive steps, English said.

First is controlling pain and inflammation, second is restoring loss of motion and third is gradually returning to full activity, she said.

The first medical professional most student athletes see following an injury is the team trainer.

John Geist and Jackie Jenkins, UPMC athletic trainers who work for the South Butler School District, said they cover practices and games, but they can't be at all the practices taking place at the same time.

The coach calls one of them when a student is hurt during practice.

“Our first thing is to get a history. What happened?” said Geist, who covers the Knights girls volleyball team that won the state championship this year. His wife is the coach.

He said it is imperative to find out how the injury occurred before evaluating and treating the injury.

“We get a picture before we even lay a hand on them,” Geist said.

Then they feel the injury to assess it.

“We start using our hands to find any injuries to bone or muscle,” Geist said.

After the injury is located and evaluated, ice is applied to reduce pain and swelling. The injury might have to be immobilized, he said.

After pain and inflammation are under control, he manipulates the injury and works with the athlete to restore range of motion and rebuild strength.

“We follow the PRICE model — protect, rest, ice,” Geist said.

Protection involves using braces, crutches or compression wraps to prevent further injury. Rest may be required before the student can begin rehabilitation, he said.

Regular ice is best for reducing inflammation. Artificial ice packs can get too cold and cause skin damage, he said.

Applying ice and elevating the injured limb above the heart reduces inflammation, he said.

“It's always ice right after an injury. No heat for 24 to 48 hours,” Geist said.

Hip flexor injuries have been pretty common on the middle school, junior varsity and varsity boys and girls soccer teams this year, Jenkins said.

Without enough rest before resuming activities, hip flexor injuries can turn into long-term problems, she said.

“It's hard to give adequate rest during the season,” Jenkins said.

Some teams play three games a week, she said. Withholding a student with a non-debilitating injury from practicing between games can provide enough rest to allow the injury to heal, she said.

More severe injuries are handled differently.

Parents or an ambulance will be called to take a student to a hospital if the pain from an injury is severe enough to prevent the student from sleeping that night, Geist said.

If the student can sleep, he or she will be directed to see a doctor or orthopedic specialist the next day, he said.

Teenagers recover quickly. Swelling that could last weeks in an adult subsides in days in student athletes, Geist said.

Athletes are tested to see if they are ready to rejoin their teams. Basketball players will be asked to run, jump and make quick turns like they would in a game.

“If they pass, they go back to practice. If not, we stop them,” Geist said. “Youth have an amazing healing process. They heal up so much quicker.”

Injured muscles and ligaments require some rest, but rehabilitation leads to proper healing.

“Complete rest is the wrong thing. Getting soft tissue moving is key. Compete rest is contraindicated in these injuries,” English said.

Students need extra attention when returning from an injury, she said.

“Heat before practice, extra stretching, ice after all activities. Heat before activity and ice after activity to get through the season with a nagging injury,” English said.