In the United States, at least thirty million children and adolescents participate in organized sports, and countless numbers of teenagers participate in unorganized sports.  At least three million injuries occur annually with more of these occurring in unorganized sports.  Within a specific sport, the injury rate for males and females are equal although anterior cruciate ligament injuries of the knee are more common in females.  Most injuries are muscle strains, sprained ligaments, fractures, contusions and overuse syndromes.  One of the strategies to reduce injury rates is to recommend or require the use of proper athletic equipment.

Teens who participate in roller-skating, skateboarding or in-line skating are at higher risk for wrist and forearm fractures since there are more injuries from falls onto outstretched arms.  Using the arms and wrists of cadavers in an experimental design, a group at the Washington University Medical Center demonstrated the protective effect of wrist guards against wrist fractures.  Any fracture sustained by a cadaveric arm was judged to be less serious when a wrist guard was utilized compared to lack of wrist guard use.  The authors suggested the use of wrist guards for teens who participate in roller-skating, skate boarding and in-line skating.

Elaborate studies to prove effectiveness of athletic equipment are usually not done since there are major ethical issues involved in the experimental design.  To prevent dental injuries, football players usually wear mouth guards.  However, most other participants in contact or collision sports do not utilize mouth guards.  Authors recommend that adolescents who engage in the following contact sports wear mouth guards constructed by a dentist or purchased at a sporting goods store:

• Basketball
• Diving
• Field hockey
• Football
• Ice hockey
• Lacrosse
• Martial arts
• Rodeo
• Rugby
• Ski jumping
• Soccer
• Team handball
• Water polo
• Wrestling

Football players use cups to protect testicles from injury during play.  For other collision or contact sports, boys should consider using a cup if there is an absent or undescended testicle.

The following sports have recommendations for specific athletic equipment:

• Gymnastics:  use of ulnar variance brace to prevent wrist injury
• Baseball:  use of helmet during at bat
• Football:  pads, shoes with wide and short cleats, helmet, cup
• Hockey:  helmets with face masks
• Running:  good quality running shoes matched to the teen’s foot type
• Skiing:  proper fitting boots, bindings, poles, polarized sunglasses
• Canoeing, kayaking, sailing:  personal flotation device approved by the United States Coast Guard
• Riflery:  ear protection

Sports are classified by contact, and injuries are more likely in the contact/collision sports compared to those where there is limited or no contact.  In bicycling and fencing, limited contact sports, helmets are required during organized competition.  In bicycling, head injuries are more common, while in fencing, eye injuries could occur.

Participants in sports where there are hard projectiles, a stick, racket or body contact can be at high risk for eye injuries.  These sports include baseball, basketball, bicycling, fencing, field hockey, football, ice hockey, lacrosse, paintball, racket sports, soccer, street hockey and water polo.  For each of these sports the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has recommended standards for eye safety.  Teens who participate in one of these sports should speak with their coaches or parents to review the equipment needed for safe participation.

Common sense should dictate athletic equipment in certain circumstances.  Sensible clothing appropriate to temperature and humidity is important in preventing heat injury including heat stroke.  Shorts and T-shirts are appropriate for soccer on a hot and humid day.  Having the adolescent use polarized sunglasses during mountain climbing or skiing may prevent snow blindness.

There are teenagers who are disabled or have a missing or severely impaired organ such as one testicle or an eye that has no sight.  In order to participate in certain sports, special athletic equipment may be necessary.  An athletic cup would be necessary for the teen with one functioning testicle in order to participate in a collision or contact sport.  For the adolescent athletes who are functionally one-eyed, these teens would suffer a very significant disability if the better eye were seriously injured.  In these situations, use of eye guards that are approved by the American Society for Testing Materials and other protective equipment may allow participation of these teens in many sports.  Disabled athletes may need special equipment depending on the nature of their disability.

In sports that are not organized, there probably is little enforcement of the rules or recommendations in regard to athletic equipment.  Common sense and instruction is necessary to motivate youth to use appropriate athletic equipment in these circumstances.

Most sports injuries in adolescents are sprains and strains.  Some may be prevented or at least reduced in frequency by the use of appropriate athletic equipment.   Serious injuries may be reduced by appropriate equipment.

This is not a complete review of the athletic equipment needed to prevent sports related injuries.  The adolescent athlete and those who organize a sport activity need to review the particular sport, the environment and situation and the individual athlete to come to a recommendation in regard to appropriate equipment.