Here are some tips for preventing and recognizing overuse injuries and overtraining.

• Overuse injuries range from stress fractures and broken bones to strained and torn ligaments, tendons and muscles. Overtraining is when athletes experience chronic fatigue and a noticeable decrease in performance.

• One can lead to the other. When an athlete is fatigued, his or her form and technique break down, which increases the risk of injury.

• Teenage girls who overtrain can experience female athlete triad: Menstruation stops, which can affect bone density, which can lead to stress fractures.

• Young athletes become susceptible to growth plate injuries when overdeveloped muscles start pulling on growth plates. This can cause permanent damage.

• Occasional soreness is common. But pain that sticks around two or more weeks and makes children limp or otherwise hurts their performance needs to be evaluated by a sports medicine specialist.

• Children should not play or practice a single sport more than five or six days a week. They should also take a full week or two off every three months to allow their bodies to rest and repair.

Sources: Dr. Mark Halstead, pediatric sports medicine specialist with St. Louis Children's Hospital and Washington University, and Dr. Steve Stahle, primary care sports medicine physician at U.S. Center for Sports Medicine in Kirkwood.