YEAR-ROUND SPORT
Previous studies have shown that adolescents participating in sport year-round found a 42% increase risk of sports injury compared with single-season athletes.1,2
AGE
Age also plays a factor in sports injuries. As the pediatric and adolescent athletes increase in age, so does the likelihood of sporting injuries. With increasing age in school, there are obviously greater demands of mental and physical abilities through sports participation and increasing levels of competition.1,3,4 Furthermore, older athletes are more likely to accumulate more training time and the potential for overuse injury. Adequate recovery becomes even more important when the body is put under these mental and physical stress.
SLEEP
One of the best influences of recovery is sleep. Athletic performance in college-age athletes has been shown to be influenced by sleeping habits, whether the athletes slept longer or shorter hours. A study published in the Journal of Sleep found that college-age basketball players who slept at least 10 hours per night had the ability to accelerated faster, had the accuracy in shooting, and a positive subjective view into their mental well-being.5 While, a study subjected cyclist with partial sleep deprivation of 3 hours in the middle of the night, and found that cardiovascular performance (peak oxygen consumption) was negatively influenced.6
“Sleep deprivation is known to dampen reaction times and affect mood and cognitive functions, which could increase the risk of injury in adolescent athletes.” 7,8
A study published in the Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics reported that student athletes from the age of 12 to 18 years can also get affected by sleep deprivation:
“Athletes who slept on average <8 hours per night had 1.7 times greater risk of being injured than those who slept ≥8 hours.”9
Additionally,
For each increase of age in school, the risk of injury increased by 1.4 times.9
What they also found was that sports injury was not associated with any particular gender, whether the pediatric and adolescent played more than one sport, or was exposed to additional private coaching.
“The estimated injury rate for the athletes who participated in this study was approximately 1.7 injuries per 1000 hours of participation.” 9
In Conclusion
“Sleep deprivation and increasing grade in school appear to be associated with injuries in an adolescent athletic population. Encouraging young athletes to get optimal amounts of sleep may help protect them against athletic injuries.” 9
U-Shaped pillow
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Travel Pillow
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Most of you will be traveling via various modes of transportations, whether it be a car, plane or limo?!
Memory Foam Pillow
There is no one pillow that will feel comfortable for EVERYONE, however, this is a popular design to help support both your head AND neck while you sleep.