By Dr. Bruce Mark, DC | Hollywood Laser Pain Center | Hollywood, Florida

Youth sports participation in Broward County is a year-round enterprise. From the travel baseball and soccer leagues in Pembroke Pines to the swim clubs of Hollywood, the competitive volleyball programs in Hallandale Beach, and the high school athletic programs across Fort Lauderdale, young athletes in this community train and compete with intensity that was once reserved for college athletes. When those young athletes get injured, the standard prescription of rest, ice, and time reflects a passive approach that can leave developing musculoskeletal tissue recovering incompletely, setting the stage for re-injury and chronic problems that follow athletes into adulthood. Active recovery options, including modalities like Class IV laser therapy and manual soft tissue work, are now part of how many sports medicine and chiropractic clinics approach pediatric and adolescent injuries.

Youth athletes are not small adults. Their musculoskeletal systems are actively developing, with growth plates open until the mid-to-late teenage years. Tissue that heals incompletely during this critical developmental window creates the chronic problems that show up in adult athletes years later. Thorough early care is an investment in long-term athletic longevity.

At Hollywood Laser Pain Center, I have treated pediatric and adolescent sports injuries throughout my 27-plus years of clinical practice in Hollywood, Florida. As a former collegiate football player at Wake Forest University, I understand what young athletes and their families need from clinical care, and I bring both the clinical tools and the athletic perspective to provide it.

What Are the Most Common Youth Sports Injuries in Broward County?

The most common youth sports injuries in Broward County’s athletic population include ankle sprains, ACL tears (rising dramatically in female youth athletes), shoulder labral and rotator cuff injuries in overhead sports, Osgood-Schlatter and Sever’s disease (growth plate apophysitis at the knee and heel), and stress fractures in high-mileage runners. Each of these has its own developmental considerations that make pediatric and adolescent care distinct from adult care.

Research in sports medicine and dance medicine literature consistently shows that competitive youth athletes face substantial injury rates across the course of a single season. For Broward County’s competitive youth sports families, this is a clinical reality, not a statistical abstraction.

What Is Class IV Laser Therapy in Youth Sports Injury Care?

Class IV near-infrared laser therapy, also referred to as photobiomodulation, is an FDA-cleared modality used in a range of musculoskeletal applications. In the broader sports medicine and chiropractic literature, this category of laser therapy is studied for its role in cellular processes related to tissue repair, including effects on fibroblast activity and collagen organization in tendon and ligament tissue, satellite cell activity in muscle, and inflammatory signaling at growth plate sites.

For conditions like Osgood-Schlatter and Sever’s disease, the growth plate apophysitis conditions most common in rapidly growing young athletes, photobiomodulation has been examined in the published literature as part of conservative care approaches. Research in journals such as Lasers in Medical Science has looked at its application across acute and chronic tendon presentations.

Application of Class IV laser therapy in pediatric and adolescent patients calls for specific parameter calibrations, and treatment over open growth plates requires careful clinical judgment. That is where 27-plus years of clinical experience in Hollywood comes in.

What Does Graston Technique Add for Young Athletes?

Young athletes accumulate soft tissue restrictions from the asymmetrical loading patterns and compensatory movements that early specialization in a single sport produces. Graston Technique is an instrument-assisted soft tissue mobilization approach used in many sports chiropractic and physical therapy settings to address these patterns. It is one of several tools that can be incorporated into a broader care plan, depending on the patient’s presentation and stage of recovery.

What Is the Female Youth Athlete ACL Issue?

Female youth athletes suffer ACL tears at rates two to eight times higher than male counterparts in the same sport. For the competitive youth volleyball, basketball, and soccer programs across Broward County, this disparity is clinically and practically significant. My evaluation of female youth athletes at risk includes assessment of the neuromuscular and biomechanical factors that the sports medicine literature has connected to ACL vulnerability, alongside discussion of preventive training approaches that families may want to explore with their broader care team.

Hollywood Laser Pain Center is located at 2607 Polk Street, Hollywood FL 33020, and can be reached at 954-925-7333. More information about the practice is available at reliefnowlaser.com/providers/hollywood/. Patient education content is available on the ReliefNow Nation YouTube channel.

About the Author

Dr. Bruce Mark, DC | Hollywood Laser Pain Center | 2607 Polk Street, Hollywood FL 33020 | 954-925-7333 | reliefnowlaser.com/providers/hollywood/

Dr. Mark earned his Doctor of Chiropractic from Logan College of Chiropractic with honors and has practiced for more than 27 years in Hollywood, Florida. A former collegiate football player at Wake Forest University, he holds certifications in Graston Technique and acupuncture and practices at Broward Medical and Rehab. He is a provider in the national ReliefNow® network.

DISCLAIMER: The information provided in this article is for general informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice. Effectiveness of treatments may vary depending on individual circumstances. Consult a qualified healthcare professional to discuss your specific medical needs and treatment options.