Speaker 0 00:00:00 From Riverside Health System. This is the Healthy You Podcast where we talk about a range of health related topics focused on improving your physical and mental health. We chat with our providers, team members, patients and caregivers to learn more about how to maintain a healthy lifestyle and improve overall physical and mental health. So let's dive into learn more about becoming a healthier you all righty. I am really excited today to have with me, uh, on the Healthy u is John LaRue. He is the director of Sports Physical Therapy and performance at Riverside. John, what does that mean?
Speaker 2 00:00:39 Yeah, so my role is, uh, is a newer role at Riverside. I came on about a year and a half ago, and, um, one of my biggest jobs is really being a liaison between our team in the medical group and our physicians in orthopedics and sports medicine, as well as our team in Lifelong Health. So that's a lot of our physical therapists, our athletic trainers, so sort of bridging the gaps between the divisions and, um, working on a lot of initiatives and outreach with a lot of our, uh, high schools that we work with. So, um, that's my primary role as well as just overseeing sports, physical therapy and sports medicine in general. Okay.
Speaker 0 00:01:13 Wow, that's a big job. <laugh>. That is a big job. Do our athletic trainers roll up in there somewhere, or? No. Are they're in a different section.
Speaker 2 00:01:22 So we have a, a couple different types of athletic trainers. We have, uh, hybrid athletic trainers that work in our clinics with our physicians Okay. In the office as well as spending time at the school sort of in a hybrid role. Right. Okay. Um, and then one of our, our newer things is that we're working with a lot of high schools and having new partnerships with, um, Newport News Public Schools, York County Public Schools. And, um, we employ those athletic trainers on a full-time basis to be at the schools. So those ones that fall, that are not in the clinic at all Right. Fall up under Lifelong Health and in sports physical therapy and, um, we work with them directly.
Speaker 0 00:01:53 Okay, great. I, I read something recently that we did something in the high schools, put AEDs.
Speaker 2 00:01:58 That's
Speaker 0 00:01:59 Right. Tell, tell me a little bit about that and what was the impetus for, um, that that great gift,
Speaker 2 00:02:05 Um,
Speaker 0 00:02:05 Yeah. And, and donation, uh, by Riverside.
Speaker 2 00:02:07 Yeah. So I mean, I think certainly in, in, in the media with, um, the incident with DeMar Hamlin with the Buffalo Bills and this past year, I think a lot of us that work in sports medicine understand the risks that happen. Absolutely. Um, that, that are really, um, tragic in a lot of cases. And of course, being on an NFL field is, um, a very lucky place to be Right. With an incident that happens like that. So I think for us, because we're really expanding into a lot more high schools in the last year and a half that we're, we didn't want to be in a situation where we couldn't say that we're providing the best care possible and that, um, you know, God forbid something ever happened that we're not prepared, so. Right. Um, it was an initiative with our, our cardiopulmonary team and, and Dr.
Speaker 2 00:02:46 Dacy and, and what's called the Heart Safe Initiative. And it's something that we, we invested in and, and we've purchased, uh, 22 AEDs, um, that are gonna be at every single sports medicine event that Riverside covers. Um, so if riverside's there at, at the high school, or sometimes we cover tournaments on the side as well, we will have an a e d present for every event. And that's really important to us because it is, I think it's that peace of mind more than anything. And so, um, we're really excited to have, um, uh, that gift. Absolutely. And, uh, I think it, as we expand further and further, um, emergency management and having those, those tools that we have are gonna be just really critical for us.
Speaker 0 00:03:23 Absolutely. Awesome. Awesome. Um, talk to me a little bit about how you came into this career path.
Speaker 2 00:03:31 Yeah. So when I was in high school, I was not interested in healthcare at all. I was interested in business and accounting Right. And finance. And, um, and, and while I was maybe okay at it and good at it, it, it wasn't a passion of mine. And, um, when I was in high school, my senior year, I volunteered with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, um, the mda and I, and I worked their summer camp staying in the cabins with the kids. Right. And, um, I think having that close experience one-on-one with a lot of them summer after summer, raising money for them, that I just felt that I wanted to do something to help people. And growing up an athlete myself, I, I, I naturally, you know, as I went through PT school, drifted towards working with, um, athletes and, and high level athletes. And, um, luckily after I did my residency and my fellowship, I, I, I worked, um, uh, with the Los Angeles Angels Oh, okay.
Speaker 2 00:04:17 In baseball and, um, eventually, uh, worked with, uh, in a, in a private facility with professional athletes Wow. Before coming to Riverside. And it was something that, um, it, it, I think growing up as an athlete and having a dream of being an athlete Right. And being on the field, of course, absolutely. Um, you know, it's a, it's a nice consolation to, to work with a lot of high level athletes. And now at Riverside we, you know, we have the privilege of working with a lot of really great high school athletes and college athletes. Absolutely. Absolutely. And, um, you know, being able to provide the best care kind of possible for them and, uh, focusing a lot on, on quality and best practice. And, um, that's something we're really proud of, but that's sort of the, the transition from business to healthcare, healthcare and eventually kind of settling sports medicine and orthopedics.
Speaker 0 00:05:01 Yeah. Well, thank you so much for your leadership and your commitment. Yeah. Um, do you have a favorite team
Speaker 2 00:05:07 In, in, uh, both,
Speaker 0 00:05:08 Both professional, um, college? Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:05:12 I mean, grow, I mean, probably the close growing up in, in upstate New York. I grew up born and raised in Syracuse, so Okay. Um, Syracuse College sports. I, I, I did my residency at Duke, just sort of a arrival in basketball with Syracuse. Yes. So it was sort of a, an awkward time, but I, uh, uh, yeah, Syracuse Sports is sort of the, the one that I'm really kind of near and dear.
Speaker 0 00:05:31 Okay. Yeah, that's a, that's a good one. That's a good one. Um, what exactly is early sports specialization?
Speaker 2 00:05:39 Yeah, so early sports specialization is, I think, you know, the definition of it is really this intense training in practice at, uh, one particular sport over, um, you know, some research and, and you know, when you read through it, we'll say, you know, between eight or nine months out of the year they're focusing on a singular sport. And, uh, whether that be training or practicing in that sport or actually competing, um, in a game, um, in that's, in that given sport, um, I is early sports specialization and Okay. Um, definitely a phenomenon that we're seeing more and more and more Okay. Over the last decade or so. Okay.
Speaker 0 00:06:10 Okay. Thank you. Uh, do you have any concerns around early sports specialization?
Speaker 2 00:06:19 Yeah, I mean, I think, like I said, over the last five to 10 years, we're seeing it more and more where I feel like I'm getting younger and younger clinic, uh, athletes in my clinic. Yes. I still treat as a clinician and work with a lot of, uh, high school athletes and, you know, seeing 12, 13, 14 year olds with elbow injuries Yes. Um, from baseball or, or young track athlete, you know, in, in high school that are freshmen in high school with really, uh, acute Achilles injuries that, um, and it's just one of those things that we're, we're seeing more and more. And I think, um, one of the problems that I, that I have with, with it is that, um, when you're doing the same activity for 8, 9, 10 months Yeah. Or the whole year without that repetition, without exactly, you're having that, that overuse that takes place.
Speaker 2 00:07:02 And obviously, um, there's that balance between I want to do it enough to be good at it. Right. Um, but I want to be able to be healthy and available as well. And I think one of the issues we see a lot is this, this idea of deliberate practice versus deliberate, you know, game. Right. Which basically where we're having somebody, you know, when you're deliberately practicing, you're trying to be good at a skill. Right. When you're deliberate, when you're deliberately playing or, or, or playing in a game, it's hopefully because you love it. And I think sometimes we, we find that these athletes just get exhausted over time. And so outside of the physical issue there, there's definitely probably a psychological piece as well that Yes, often as providers on the front line, we're often encountering that almost as much as the physical issues. Right. Especially when an athlete, you know, plays a sport 12 months outta the year, and now they're hurt. You know, that's, that's their identity Absolutely. Of who they are as people. Absolutely. Um, a big concern that I have, certainly Yes,
Speaker 0 00:07:52 Yes. As a, a mom of a son who played football for, since he was like seven flag and Yeah. And then migrated. Um, it, to your point, I think a lot of, he put a lot of pressure on his self, even outside of his normal training as very taxing. Um, and he had some injuries very early. And then I'm a former athlete, and what I've found is now that I'm getting older right. I'm feeling the impact of those early years of track and cross country Yeah. On my knees and my back.
Speaker 2 00:08:24 Yeah. And I think, and certainly with, with the younger population, as you mentioned, you know, one of the issues we see a lot are these injuries called apophysis injuries, and they're basically injuries that take place at the growth plates. Okay. Um, obviously when, when kids are younger, growth plates are open. Yes. And obviously as we physically skeletal mature, they close and Right. The issues that when they're open far more, um, damage and overuse is far, it's far more sensitive to that. Right. Right. And, um, you know, OSH slaughter is sort of a, an a anterior knee Right. Pain, that's, that's a form of a hypophysitis, a lot of Achilles discomfort or Okay. Little league elbow, little league shoulder. These, these kind of phrases that we hear right. Are all sort of the same thing, where it's just these tendons are just overusing, overusing and they're chipping away at that, that bone that they're attached to. And, um, we just see these in so many different athletes who, you know, they never drop the ball. They're always playing all year round. Okay.
Speaker 0 00:09:17 Okay. Great. Great. What is multi-sport, uh, participation? I, I know what it sounds like, or sports diversification. Um, and why is that important? Um, as it relates to, to our youth Yeah. And development.
Speaker 2 00:09:35 Yeah. I think, I think there's that, once again, there's this balance between skill acquisition. So when you're participating in a sport, especially a sport like gymnastics or track or swimming or golf, where you're right. You're, you're, you're by yourself out there. You're working on a, on a given skill. Um, that's great. And I think there's, but there's a lot of sports that are, are team based and, um, that by playing multiple sports, you're actually probably complimenting maybe your primary sport a whole lot better. It's, it's the, it's the, the, you know, the, the basketball player that does CrossCountry in spring
Speaker 0 00:10:05 Indoor outdoor
Speaker 2 00:10:06 Track. Right. You're doing, you're, you're, it's different skillset all seasoned. Right. Exactly. Right. And it's, it's different skill sets that you're doing and Right. Um, when you start to, I think, become more of an athlete than a a basketball player or a football player, and you become someone that's more well-rounded in terms of strength and conditioning and not doing the exact same body movement. Right. 12 months out of the year, you're probably gonna be, become a better athlete for it. Right. Right. And while doing that, also, you know, not maybe have as much injury. And, and we see this at the high school to college level that a lot of college coaches now are only, are wanting to only recruit athletes that are multi-sport athletes. Right. Because they see what happens to these athletes once they get to college and they've been playing this one sport since they were 10 years old, um, and their body starts to break, break
Speaker 0 00:10:52 Down, wear tear.
Speaker 2 00:10:52 Right. You know? Yes. So it's, it's, it's something that, um, I think by playing multiple sports, you're, you're probably not only protecting yourself, but you're probably becoming a better athlete. Right. Um, for it as well.
Speaker 0 00:11:02 That makes total sense. Yeah. As a parent, what are some of the things, uh, they should consider, um, as it relates to their youth entering sports, um, and how to encourage that sports diversification? I know my son was all about football. He did do other activities. Indoor outdoor track. He didn't, wasn't a real basketball fan. Um, but he, he was all about football and wanted to really do that off season, like through some of the AE AAU and other type camps. Um,
Speaker 2 00:11:36 Yeah. Yeah. I think, I think, yeah, a couple things there. I think in terms of introducing an athlete to sport, I think we find that parents are often the ones that are maybe introducing or initiating, um, their child to a sport, a given sport. Whether the child says they wanna play it or the parent thinks it's a good idea for, for them to try it. Right. However, we often find that coaches are the ones that are really taking them from participating to that intensive training to get them. And sometimes it's athlete led, as you mentioned, kind of with your son. Maybe they're, they're, they're intrinsically motivated to be the best that they can be. But we find that coaches play a major role in, in identifying someone that's talented and intense training to get to them, you know, have them be the best that they can be.
Speaker 2 00:12:19 And I think having a little bit more monitoring from the parents to check in with them, ask the athlete how they're doing, I think, you know, psychologically, like we mentioned before, just that burnout, exhaustion, um, from doing the same thing all the time and having that pressure to succeed. Right. And I think the other piece you mentioned with AAU and travel that were, were so much of this, this stuff, um, outside of maybe the normal season of play, right. Where you're having these travel teams of six year olds, seven year olds. Yes. And that scares me because we're, we're, once again, I think we cross, there's a fine line between, you know, playing and having fun and exercising Right. And doing something all year round at six, seven, and eight years old, um, when they should probably prioritize on, you know, um, being a student having fun. Absolutely. You know, playing on the playground, doing stuff
Speaker 0 00:13:06 That youth do at those age.
Speaker 2 00:13:08 Yes. Yeah. I think, um, we've, we've begin to lower that age more and more and more where, um, people, parents are trying to, you know, get their kids into sports right. Year round. And, um, I think explaining to parents that, you know, the likelihood of that child attaining a scholarship or, or going professional is just so low. And I think our expectations should always be tempered where we want them to have fun and succeed and have the, the benefits of, of sports. Cause there's so many of them Absolutely. From a, from a team building and, you know, social skills. And I think that's the, that's the importance of sports. I think it's, it's not to attain this certain goal, but rather
Speaker 0 00:13:45 The other life skills you gain.
Speaker 2 00:13:46 Exactly. Absolutely. And I think sometimes, and most parents probably have that, but there's some that they really want their child to succeed beyond maybe some realistic expectations, and sometimes that leads to this consistent year round playing to achieve that in their mind.
Speaker 0 00:14:01 Absolutely. Absolutely. Is there a certain age that is recommended or advised for contact sports? Um, I know when my son was playing, uh, football as a youth, some would say nine, 10, you know, there, there were all kind of ages thrown out there around when the transition from flag to actual contact.
Speaker 2 00:14:23 Yeah. I, I, I don't think there's necessarily a threshold in particular, but I think when the thing that it, it pertains to football and contact sports is that, um, yes, there's some wear and tear by having more and more of that. However, I often find too that athletes that maybe start football later in life, maybe at 15 or 14, um, maybe lack some of the fundamental skills Oh, yeah. Of, of tackling and whatnot. Right. And it actually ends up maybe injuring them. Injuring them, right. Because they don't have that skillset. Right. Um, they didn't develop it at a young age. So I'm comfortable with younger athletes participating. I think there's just a moderation of participating and, you know, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and it's a good rule of thumb. I think it's just an easy one to remember that, um, you know, children should be participating in a given sport, whether it's games or practice or, or just on their own independently, um, about one hour per age that they are okay or less. Okay. I think, you know, if you're a 10 year old, I think 10 hours a week of, of okay. Sport participation, good guy is sort of, is sort of a good place to start. And I think that sometimes you think about they have practice on Monday nights and Thursday nights Right. And games on Saturday, and all of a sudden you do that year after year after year. Um, it's, it's gonna lead maybe down a little bit. Right. And, um, I think just something to keep in mind.
Speaker 0 00:15:40 Okay. Okay. Great information. If, uh, for our listeners that are, um, joining us, uh, today, how do they get in contact with your services? Um, if, if, if they, you know, may have a youth or even an adult that's dealing with some potential injuries and realiz, they need some long-term support? Um,
Speaker 2 00:16:03 Yeah. So, um, a couple different places. I'm, um, uh, sports physical therapy, um, where we have board certified sports, physical therapy specialists, folks that, um, that's PR only thing they do all day every day. Uh, we're located in, in Hampton, Newport News and Williamsburg Okay. On the peninsula. And, um, you know, finding more
[email protected] slash uh, sports pt, all one word. Okay. Uh, we'll have, um, videos and photos of our facilities and of course, physical therapy is one of those things here, especially here in the state of Virginia where, uh, we have what's called direct access where Okay. Um, somebody can make an appointment for physical therapy without necessarily needing a physician referral to do so. Okay. Um, that's up to 60 days now in the state of Virginia where that's good. It
Speaker 0 00:16:46 Saves that extra
Speaker 2 00:16:47 Step. It'll, it allows them to maybe, you know, if it takes a little bit to get in the physician office, and certainly something that we always, you know, if something were, we're fearful of something maybe being injured significantly, please, we wanna seek that out with a physician. Absolutely. Um, but sometimes we see these overuse injuries that can be nipped pretty quickly. Right. And just, let's shut down the athlete, let's work on some strength and range of motion and, and a return to throwing program, or something along those lines. Right. Right. That's what a sports physical therapist can do. And I think, um, super valuable to have that education and somebody a a third party if you will come in and say, let's change the way we're doing things Absolutely. For the, for the long termly.
Speaker 0 00:17:21 Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, it has been a pleasure talking with you today. Anything that you think would be instrumental beneficial for our viewers today as it relates to, uh, sports physical therapy and performance?
Speaker 2 00:17:36 Yeah, I think especially this time of the year in, in the, in the summertime as, as the weather's getting nicer, I think a lot more folks are, um, going outside and exercising and their kids are outside. I their kids are outside exercising. I think, um, with early sports specialization, one of those things where I think checking in with your, checking in with your child, checking in with the athlete and being able to, um, see how they're doing. Are they still enjoying playing sports? Do they want to try something else? And I think sometimes the athlete, some feel pressured at times to maybe, well, I, I, I kind of, I'm good at this. Right. We want to expose 'em to different things. And I think, um, enjoying being a kid is really important and, um, I think that's probably the most valuable thing that a parent can, can learn.
Speaker 0 00:18:18 Yes. Good. Good. I have to ask you this, I remember when he was playing sports, they always kept mustard on the field. Yeah. Um, if they had any cramps Yeah. Or anything like that. And I know it's important that they stay hydrated. Sure. Especially recently, it's so hot and humid mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and, and keeping your electrolytes in balance, is that true that the mustard helps with
Speaker 2 00:18:38 <laugh>? Yes. With,
Speaker 0 00:18:40 Uh, uh, cramps?
Speaker 2 00:18:41 Yes. It's, it's, um, some of the high schools that I've spent time at where maybe they don't have the resources, the funds to have, you know, big Gatorade Yes. You know, machines or whatnot or Right. You know, you know, stuff with their athletes. I'll, I'll, if I'm covering that event, I'll go to the concession stand, grab a packet of the mustard. Okay. Okay. Just in case, just in case a a kid crass up, we'll, we'll make 'em, you know, take a couple packets to the mouth and it's something that it's just so salty. Right. Um, that helps 'em retain water a little bit better. We always have them educate them to hydrate Right. Beforehand. Right. But sometimes kids are not the best at doing that where,
Speaker 0 00:19:14 Or if they're overly exerting themselves,
Speaker 2 00:19:16 Of course playing. Yeah. Right. And it's, uh, the mustard won't, you know, end it completely, but I think it will take a little bit of that edge off and hopefully allow them to just participate. So, okay. Yes. Uh, yes. That is a, not a myth.
