The article, Sports-Related Injuries in the Young Female Athlete, examines those sports that are most popular with young girls, and the most common injuries suffered by them. Sports such as soccer, gymnastics, volleyball, dance, and cheerleading are becoming more and more popular among adolescent and preadolescent girls. At these ages, the epiphyseal plates are still growing and spongy until they close and are replaced by solid bone sometime in late adolescence. While they are still growing, they remain open and are at increased risk for injury. Some of the injuries that can occur while participating in sports at this young age are sprains, strains, and anterior cruciate ligament tears in soccer players; stress fractures, triangular fibrocartilage complex tears, herniated discs, spondylolysis, and spondylolisthesis in gymnasts; and patellar tendonitis, ankle sprains, and shoulder injuries in volleyball players. Dancers may suffer from sprains and tendonitis, as well as arthritis, stress fractures, and many foot injuries and disorders. These can include tears of the flexor halluces longus, tarsal and anterior tarsal tunnel syndrome, and compression neuropathy. Cheerleading, unfortunately, results in more catastrophic injuries than other sports. Some of these injuries are head injuries, skull fractures, cervical spine injuries, and hyponatremia. Some of these injuries are relatively minor to treat, but others may cause lifelong issues. As health care professionals, the implications of these injuries are that prevention needs to be the real focus. Identifying which patients are at risk for these injuries and teaching them
