Parents Your child's pedatrician

[cbifoja]

Do you take your child to a regular pediatrician or to a pediatrician who specializes in sports medicine? I'm talking about your regular, annual check ups rather than seeing a physician for injuries. I realize that the answer will be different for different levels and i'm mostly looking for responses from parents who have kids that train 15+ hours a week. However, I welcome all responses/thoughts.

 

[skschlag]

Our answer would be neither. D actually sees a family doc that sees the whole family. In the practice, one doctor has a child that does gymnastics and one doctor did gymnastics, but that is purely coincidental. We have been with these doctors since before the kids were born (one actually delivered both boys).

 

[emorymom]

Well, if you add up swimming, dance and gym you have DD going 15 hours a week. No we go to a normal family prac for things like checkups and illnesses.

Why would you go to sports medicine for normal care?

I go to sports medicine for injuries because I want to know how the sports are impacted. I suppose if there was an illness that had some specific nexus with some aspect of training or competition, I might use the sports medicine doctor.

 

[Gymmom495]

My kids all see a regular pediatrician, my daughter is the only one who trains over the amount of hours. If she had an actual injury that needed treatment she would be referred to a orthopedic doctor who also deals with sports medicine injuries.


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[cbifoja]

Thank you for the responses. One of the mom's of one of our old L6s was saying that she was starting to take her DD to a sports pediatrician because they were better equipped to treat "high level athletes" and be on the look out for overuse injuries that a "plain pediatrician" wouldn't even know to look for.

I was confused because I just assumed that everyone took their kid to a regular doctor and saved the sports docs for injuries. But this lady said she was being pre-emptive and proactive. I didn't know if that was just her thing since she seems to be someone who has more money than sense (to quote my grandma).

I take mine to a regular pediatrician but he knows that she is a gymnast and has talked to me about what to watch out for when it comes to overtraining and her body. I felt that was sufficient but you know how it is when another mother says something and you begin to question your decision.... LOL

 

[sglemon]

We don't have sports Peds in our area. My kids go to the same Peds practice they have went to since they were born. Unfortunately we had to switch doctors, since our original one retired. I don't understand seeing a specialist for regular visits, they generally charge more, and we would have a higher copay. If there is a issue, like a swollen hand for a BHS injury, we can walk right into the Peds first thing in the morning for their sick clinic, sent next door for X-rays and have an answer, and the child back in school by 8:30 am. They would then get us in with the ortho if needed. These are the same doctors who have been treating my kids their whole lives, they know their personalities, my personality, their history, etc... We see them once a year for annual physicals, very rare sick visits and flu shots. I guess if I had a child constantly injured from a sports activity, I would probably be looking for another sport before a sports Ped.

 

[my4buffaloes]

We see a pediatrician that is known in his practice as the "sports med doc". This is purely by chance as when we started there we were seeing another ped for ADHD/Aspberger's issues and he left and they switched us to the doctor we see now who happens to be the sports med doc. It has come in handy numerous times between my 4 kids. That being said - I don't think I would seek one out. In fact this doctor actually tried to convince me to not let my dd increase her gym hours as he thought 12 was too much. Now though, he realizes how serious she is and supports her in it.

 

[gymgal]

We have a regular ped practice, but they only go for their well child visits. We rarely see them for anything else because the kids rarely get sick enough for a Dr visit. If the is an injury, we almost always go to the ortho first step because we have learned that the peds just send us there anyway.
I'm not sure how useful a sports ped would be unless you are visiting on a quarterly basis or more. I'd be curious what others think of this. Especially those who have one. What do you feel is different than using a regular ped?

 

[Granny Smith]

My dd is a level 10 & is 16 yrs old. She goes to a regular pediatrician. If we every have an immediate issues, I take her to Urgent Care then go to our Ortho/Sports Med dr from there, just calling our regular Ped for a referral. If there was anything overuse & I needed to see our Regular Ped for a referral, then I'd go that route. Her regular Ped does not play God & has no problems issuing referrals when needed. I tell them where I want to go & they just give me the referral. Guess you can figure out that I have a standard HMO. I don't think you need to change doctors, but it is good to know a sports med/Ortho in case the need arises.

 

[bookworm]

I've never heard of a "pediatrician who specializes in Sports Medicine" (and by pediatrician, I am generalizing to the doctor who sees your child from birth til about age 18 for their well and sick visits) but I have heard of a Pediatric Sports Medicine Doctor...but that person would not also be your primary care physician.....the "pediatrician who specializes in sports medicine' might have an interest in that area because there's no way insurances (in the US, at least) would reimburse a specialist (which is what that person would be classified as) for PCP care such as the well child visits....

And as you can surmise from the above, we go to a regular pediatrician for well child care and pediatric sports medicine for the unfortunate injuries...

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Its interesting that you guys "over there" have pediatricains at all. Over here you see your regular GP for everything, then if required you are refered to a specialist.

Mind you after about 2 there are no regular checkups for anyone, which makes it odd for me to hear of annual trips to the doctors.

I suppose thats the difference between Free at Point of source, and pay as you go.

 

[OzZee]

Same in Australia as the UK.
I think my kids have collectively gone to the GP about 5 times.
Oh and after a horrible experience with my eldest at 8 weeks with the health visitor (uk) I never went back, lol.

 

[my4buffaloes]

I've never heard of a "pediatrician who specializes in Sports Medicine" (and by pediatrician, I am generalizing to the doctor who sees your child from birth til about age 18 for their well and sick visits) but I have heard of a Pediatric Sports Medicine Doctor...but that person would not also be your primary care physician.....the "pediatrician who specializes in sports medicine' might have an interest in that area because there's no way insurances (in the US, at least) would reimburse a specialist (which is what that person would be classified as) for PCP care such as the well child visits....

And as you can surmise from the above, we go to a regular pediatrician for well child care and pediatric sports medicine for the unfortunate injuries...

This is more the situation for us. Our regular ped has taken a special interest in the sports side of things and has put his extra training towards that interest therefore he knows more about sports related injuries than another doctor in the practice. But he is not a specialist by any means.

 

[cbifoja]

I've never heard of a "pediatrician who specializes in Sports Medicine" (and by pediatrician, I am generalizing to the doctor who sees your child from birth til about age 18 for their well and sick visits) but I have heard of a Pediatric Sports Medicine Doctor.

I hadn't either. That's why I came here to see if this was a thing or if this was just something that this mother has sought out.

I assumed you only went to a sports doc for injury, not for anything preventive. And it sounds like most people follow this idea. But this Mom does have one of those darling princesses we hear about from time to time.

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[gymmomtoo]

She sees a regular family practice doctor now, saw a pediatrician when she was younger (she's 15). Both doctors have never had an issue with gymnastics--told us to quit, etc., and all have had good advice on injuries. We go to them first and they've referred us, when necessary, or consulted, when appropriate.

 

[shelovestoflip]

I've never heard of a sports medicine pediatrician and we live in a major metropolitan area with top notch medical facilities (for both children and adults).

I have heard of a pediatric orthopedist and in fact my daughter sees one at our local orthpedic sports medicine facility.

Our pediatrician is terrific and she is happy to refer us anywhere as needed. It was she who recommended the pediatric orthopedist. That being said, I wouldn't have one over the other. Two entirely different doctors and service provided.

I've been happy to have this specialty care as they know sports and what impact gymnastics (and other sports) have on a child's body.

My daugher is 14 training Level 9.

Good Luck!

 

[Bajanswife]

I don't think we have any sports pediatricians. My kids do have a regular pediatrician, but to be honest we don't go to her anymore. I found that my GP's office hours and location were much easier to deal with since the kids started school, so we migrated there. This is only when needed though, which isn't often at all - we don't do annual visits. We have also used a private urgent care clinic once or twice for after hours injuries (not gymnastics related), and a free Government clinic for the later vaccines (the ones they get from age 8 - 11) that are needed to enter secondary school.

 

[Faith]

Same in Australia as the UK.
I think my kids have collectively gone to the GP about 5 times.
Oh and after a horrible experience with my eldest at 8 weeks with the health visitor (uk) I never went back, lol.

yep, no such thing as check ups here, you make an appointment if there's something wrong.

the only decent health visitor I came across emigrated to Australia! They tend to be pretty useless at best. So dd2 (now 5) last saw a doctor at 6 weeks old. She's been to the nurse for immunisations but that's it.

Dd1 I think last saw one at 8 months (when said hv left!) except for a trip to the ER to get a gymnastics injury checked out. And actually the ER doc took the gymnastics very seriously- x-rayed when they normally wouldn't so they could give a definate ok to return to training. That said, if she wasn't a gymnast I wouldn't have taken her as I'd just have left it rest until healed.

 

[bogwoppit]

In Canada kids have annual check ups from a pediatrician or family doctor. Not easy to get appointments, so people tend to book them months ahead. We have a health service much like the UK's. If my kid has a sports injury I try all different things, walk in clinic, osteopath or sports therapist. The last two I have to pay for. There are no sports pediatricians here that I have ever heard of.

 

[wandrewsjr]

In order to participate in school sports in the US, most school districts require an annual physical from a physician clearing the child for participation in sports. Though I think this speaks more to the litigiousness of our society than to our health care system. Everyone wants to cover their butts