Wellness

[hoosieroriginal]

My local news did an investigative report on trampoline use by young children.  There were over 24,000 injuries last year in young children and of that over 10,000 broken bones.  Many of the mothers say their children were barely jumping on it and their legs snapped. Some children  have damaged their growth plates in their injuries, which is serious when it comes to recovery.  One young child had to re-learn how to crawl and walk. 

[Annabellethecat66]

Both sets of my grandchildren have those enclosed trampolines.  They have a lot of fun on them.  The younger one's aren't allowed on it unless their parents are near.

I videotaped my grandson (3 1//2) jumping and having fun on the thing.  Mainly he walked back and forth on it and I praised him.  I found it to be good exercise for him.  

I think it's like most things in life.  If it's done in moderation, supervised (if need be) it can be fun and envigorating for people (in my family, the adults play on their's).

[scotnovel]

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@hoosieroriginal wrote:

My local news did an investigative report on trampoline use by young children.  There were over 24,000 injuries last year in young children and of that over 10,000 broken bones.  Many of the mothers say their children were barely jumping on it and their legs snapped. Some children  have damaged their growth plates in their injuries, which is serious when it comes to recovery.  One young child had to re-learn how to crawl and walk. 

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I've seen some similar reports & parents should be concerned and take proper precautions.  However, it seems to me that if a child's legs snap while barely jumping on it that at least some of them must have underlying medical issues related to bone density.  A child's bones should not be that brittle. 

[granddi]

Thank goodness for guardian angels! My children grew up with an old fashion trampoline and had hours and hours of fun. Our son would ride up to it on his trike and stand on the seat to then climb on the mat. 

But then those were the days of minimal or no car seats, using bumper pads in the baby crib and riding bikes without helmets.

[hckynutjohn]

My guess is there might be underlying, undiagnosed structural issues with some children that break leg bones when using a GOOD trampoline PROPERLY, unless it was some type of trauma accident.

hckynut(john)

[LexPex]

Interesting.  I was at my Grandson's 7th birthday party on Saturday and it was at a venue that had approimately. a dozen trampolines.  He had 34 boys and girls at his party and within the first half hour there were two injuries...minor.  By the time the party ended we had another three boo boos.  Going back about 20 years, my DD was using a friends free standing large trampoline and broke her thumb.  I think they are an accident waiting to happen....but fun.  I wouldn't purchase one.

[CatsyCline]

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@granddi wrote:

Thank goodness for guardian angels! My children grew up with an old fashion trampoline and had hours and hours of fun. Our son would ride up to it on his trike and stand on the seat to then climb on the mat. 

But then those were the days of minimal or no car seats, using bumper pads in the baby crib and riding bikes without helmets.

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we used to go to a trampoline park where the owner rigged up wire grids covered with canvas.  the grids were 14 x 20 ft and anchored by heavy duty springs.  there was sand about 2ft under the canvas.  i wonder if anyone cracked their head open because there was concrete all around the edges.!  

my mother would drop  us all off and we would play for hours

there were gas-powered go-karts there too!   no helmets. 

i know the homeowners is higher if you have a trampoline or a pool (in my state)

[Tantallum]

When my sister was in 8th grade (she is 31 now), she was jumping on a backyard trampoline in her friends yard.  She came down wrong somehow and seriously injured her knee.   She was taken to a community hospital ER and they just stabilized it and referred her to a specialist the next day.  when she saw the specialist the next day, it turned out that she had torn a blood vessel in her knee in addition to dislocating it.  She needed emergency surgery to save her leg.  They had to take a blood vessel from her thigh area to repair the one in her knee.  She was in a wheelchair for months.  She still has knee problems to this day. 

I would never let my kids on one.  Not worth it, there are plenty of other activities that do not have such a risk. 

ETA she was not horsing around or doing anything crazy on it other than just jumping on it and she certainly didn't have any underlying knee problems up to this point as has been suggested.  They were also being supervised by her friend's parents.  Sure, there are plenty of people that jump on it and don't get injured, but again, not worth the risk to me.   I'd rather stick to other activites that are less risky or where the risk can be mitigated. 

[newziesuzie]

 @scotnovel @hckynutjohn @Annabellethecat66

Actually it's a problem for ALL children,
and their broken bones are worse
because they can affect growth plates.
This articles long so I'll post a portion
but you can go to the link.

http://www.wthr.com/story/31170636/trampoline-trauma-toddlers-at-higher-risk-for-bounce-injuries

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::

"Pediatric bone is different than adult bone," explained Dr. Randall Loder, an orthopedic surgeon at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis and chairman of the Indiana University Department of Orthopaedic Surgery.

"The younger child's bone, it's softer. It's more compressible. It's spongy.

Pediatric bone can fail relatively easily. If the forces are just right, it can snap."

It happens more frequently than many parents realize.

13 Investigates analyzed nationwide injury data from the Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System.

For 2014 (the most recent year for which data is available), hospital records show an estimated 104,691 people suffered trampoline injuries serious enough to visit an emergency room.

The vast majority (85%) involve children – many of them very young.

CPSC data reveals children ages 2 to 5 accounted for 24,318 trampoline-related ER visits in 2014.

A whopping 42% of those injuries among toddlers and pre-schoolers were for bone fractures.

And to put the trampoline fracture rate in perspective,

government data shows emergency rooms across the United States treated

seven times the number of broken bones for 4 to 6 years olds injured on trampolines

compared to 4 to 6 years olds injured by playing soccer."

::

::

"One of those breaks (2-year-old son Cooper) went through the growth plate," Susan said.

"That's a problem," said Loder, who diagnosed the injury.

"That's not a small injury."

A growth plate is an area of soft cartilage tissue near the end of children's bones. As kids get older, that thin band of cartilage produces new cells that harden and make the bone longer.

It's a natural process that explains how children get taller. But if a growth plate gets cracked or badly injured, it means the bone's ability to grow in that area stops – and the real trouble begins."

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"..............the American Academy of Pediatrics. The organization's official position recommends pediatricians should advise parents to keep their kids off recreational trampolines – like those found at trampoline parks and those sold for backyard use.

Among the findings of AAP's own study:

• Many injuries occur even with reported adult supervision.
• Multiple jumpers increase injury risk, particularly to the smallest participants.
• Individuals 5 years and younger appear to be at increased risk of fractures and dislocations from trampoline-related injuries.

"Pediatricians need to

actively discourage recreational trampoline use,"

wrote an author of the AAP's most

recent policy statement."

[Moonchilde]

The trampoline injuries thing is not new. There were plenty of serious injuries and probably deaths during the craze of the 60s & 70s.  That's one reason they disappeared. Liability insurance, both business and private, went through the roof for these. The public places now at least cover the springs, but home ones still usually don't.

I don't know if they're required in the public venues, but IMO helmets should be mandatory.  Too many injuries, both minor and major, waiting to happen.