If you are the parent of a teen who participates in teen wrestling at school, then you should have concerns about your child’s safety. Today, there are safety devices for all types of sports to prevent temporary or permanent injuries. Here are some of the things that you can buy or do to protect your son while he is wrestling.
It is essential to protect your child’s teeth and gums while he is wrestling. A dentist or an orthodontist can collect X-rays or molds of your son’s teeth and mouth to create customized mouth guards. Your son should wear the mouth guards during his practices and competitions to avoid an injury to the gums or teeth. It is important to remember that the mouth guards can degrade, or alternatively, the size of your son’s mouth can change, requiring a new mouth guard to protect his teeth.
Your teenage child must wear a helmet designed for wrestling. These helmets are made in different sizes, but an expert will help you choose one that fits correctly to protect the skull from a concussion. Many of these helmets are made with extra protection with padded sides that cover the ears, chin, and jaw to protect the face from an injury. These helmets strap on securely onto the head so that the items don’t move around during a wrestling event.
It is a good idea to protect a wrestler’s elbows and knees from any damage while wrestling. While buying a helmet for your son, look for pads for the knees and elbows. The pads should fit properly to protect the bones and cartilage of the joints. As your son grows, you will need to replace these devices occasionally to protect your son from an injury.
If your son is practicing his wrestling techniques at home, then you should buy a padded wrestling mat. While practicing at home or at school, your son should only wrestle on a mat rather than a carpeted or bare floor. You can find practice mats that will roll up into a cylinder for proper storage in a garage or a basement.
Athletes require more calories to avoid losing too much weight. In addition, a teenage male is growing rapidly and will have a high metabolism rate, requiring more food than for an adult. It is a good idea to follow a special dietary plan for a wrestler to ensure that he is consuming enough low-fat protein along with calcium-rich foods. Your child also requires high levels of vegetables or fruits to consume enough minerals and vitamins. Due to the competitive nature of the sport and emphasis on weight, many teens fall in traps and unhealthy relationships with food and exercise. If you fear your child’s habits are inter-fearing with their daily life or bringing them anxiety in everyday situations such as socializing and mealtime then meet with a mental health professional to rule out or plan treatment options for eating disorders. This is not always a conscious outcome of unhealthy habits and not only surfaces with girls.
Before joining a wrestling team, your son should have a physical examination to determine if he has any health problems. If your son feels hurt after a practice or a competition, then he should have another examination right away from a physician.