By Dave Malaska
SmartHealthToday
When you think of high school sports with a high injury rate, chances are you think of football. Soccer, wrestling and a handful of others would probably come to mind next. Way down the list, however, would probably be cheerleading.
If that’s what you thought, you’d be wrong. With year-round competition, intricate gymnastic moves that require more athleticism as well as risk, cheerleading has become one of the most perilous sports in the high school ranks. In fact, for the 400,000 high school cheerleaders across the U.S., the chance of catastrophic injury is disproportionately higher than traditional contact sports like football are for their male counterparts.
Why is it so dangerous?
According to a 2012 study proffered by the American Academy of Pediatrics — one of the few scholarly looks at cheerleading injuries performed as the sport booms — cheerleading accounted for 65 percent of all severe injuries to female athletes at the high school level and 70.8 percent of injuries at the college level.
The study tracked mostly severe injuries, which peaked in 2007 when spinal cord injuries and concussions, sprains and fractures resulted in nearly 30,000 trips to emergency rooms. From 1982 to 2011, the study found, high school cheerleaders had 83 severe or disabling, including two fatal ones.
While safety has increased since 2007 (and the number of injuries decreased), but the sport is still rife with risk, according to sports medicine experts like Fredrick Mueller, the head of the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research. Recently, he estimated there are 2.7 catastrophic injuries for every 100,000 high school cheerleaders.
“The stats tell you that cheerleading is still dangerous, even more dangerous than football when you consider participation rates,” Muller said recently.
Common injuries
With the increase use of gymnastics and high-flying maneuvers, concussions are a growing concern in cheerleading circles but strains and sprains still account for more than half of the sports’ maladies.
Back injuries are becoming more common, as well, as teammates lift each other over their heads, or perform twisting, tumbling moves. Mistimed or awkward landings are also often cited when a cheerleader lands in the ER with a broken bone.
Cheerleading administrators and coaching associations say many injuries can be prevented with attention to safety precautions and strength training by participants. Cheerleading organizations like the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors and the National Council for Spirit Safety and Education have also spearheaded efforts to reduce injuries in the sport. The efforts range from limiting skills that can be performed in competition to education efforts for athletes, parents and coaches.
The AACCA has resources for parents, including checklists to complete before participating and emergency action plans for practice areas.
SmartHealthToday is a service of St. Elizabeth Healthcare.