{"id":10210,"date":"2020-07-11T10:00:57","date_gmt":"2020-07-11T15:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/?p=10210"},"modified":"2023-07-21T14:10:28","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T19:10:28","slug":"tips-for-a-safer-return-to-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/tips-for-a-safer-return-to-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Returning to sports after COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Even if the school year just ended, it\u2019s not too early to start thinking about getting your child ready for the next school year. This includes scheduling a sports physical now, so you can beat the rush and make sure you can get an appointment with your child\u2019s primary care provider.<\/p>\n<p>If your child recently had COVID-19, there are some additional safety precautions to consider before scheduling that sports physical. Those precautions apply to your child\u2019s return to sports after COVID-19 year round.<\/p>\n<p>If your child tested positive for COVID-19 within the last four weeks, they may need further evaluation that requires them to see their primary care provider.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom COVID-19, you can get myocarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart. You can have minimal symptoms from that and still have a sudden cardiac event, such as cardiac arrest,\u201d said Marc Knepp, MD, pediatric cardiologist with OSF HealthCare Children\u2019s Hospital of Illinois.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe evaluation is necessary so we can prevent kids from sudden death or having a cardiac event after going back to playing sports.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Guidelines for playing after COVID-19<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-10262 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/sports_basketball-300x226.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"226\" srcset=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/sports_basketball-300x226.png 300w, https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/sports_basketball-710x534.png 710w, https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/sports_basketball-768x578.png 768w, https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/sports_basketball-500x376.png 500w, https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/sports_basketball-400x301.png 400w, https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/sports_basketball.png 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Cardiology recommend that any person with a COVID-19 diagnosis not play sports until a doctor has screened them for heart symptoms. Those include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Chest pain<\/li>\n<li>Fainting<\/li>\n<li>Fatigue<\/li>\n<li>Irregular heartbeat<\/li>\n<li>Shortness of breath<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This screening should happen either before your child returns to playing sports or within two to four weeks of a positive COVID test, according to AAP recommendations.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s all about keeping kids safe,\u201d Dr. Knepp said. \u201cTake COVID-19 out of the picture for a minute. When we do the annual pre-participation screening exams, we\u2019re looking for the exact same things. The number of kids who might have a cardiac event is really, really small, but we can identify a good percentage of them and keep them safe. It\u2019s the exact same thing here. The principles are the same.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Mild or no symptoms<\/h2>\n<p>For children who experienced only mild symptoms, or no symptoms at all, a video visit or phone call with their PCP is sufficient. Mild symptoms include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fever greater than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit for less than four days<\/li>\n<li>Muscle aches, chills or lethargy for less than one week<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Moderate symptoms<\/h2>\n<p>If your child experienced moderate symptoms, an in-person screening from the child\u2019s PCP is recommended. Moderate symptoms include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Fever greater than 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit for four or more days<\/li>\n<li>Muscle aches, chills or lethargy for one week or longer, or a non-ICU hospital stay with no evidence of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/mis\/about\/index.html\">multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children<\/a> (MIS-C)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Severe symptoms<\/h2>\n<p>If your child required an ICU stay for treatment, needed to be intubated for help breathing or shows signs of MIS-C, they should not exercise for a minimum of three to six months. They will need to be cleared by a cardiologist before returning to training or competition.<\/p>\n<h2>Extra testing if necessary<\/h2>\n<p>Other viruses besides the one that causes COVID-19 can cause myocarditis. This includes viruses that cause regular colds or influenza.<\/p>\n<p>But the risk of heart problems after a COVID-19 infection is higher, so these guidelines were put in place.<\/p>\n<p>If irregularities are found, additional tests will be performed to determine the extent and severity of the problem. It\u2019s possible your child will be sidelined from sports participation for a while. How long depends on what the tests reveal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe hate doing that. We know how much they want to play, and we want to get them back on the field or the court as quickly as possible. We\u2019re going to do everything we can to make that happen,\u201d Dr. Knepp said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMost of these kids will be just fine. They\u2019ll get cleared and go right back to sports. But they need this evaluation to make sure, so they can go back and be safe.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>See your primary care provider<\/h2>\n<p>At OSF HealthCare, only primary care providers \u2013 your child&#8217;s pediatrician or family medicine provider \u2013 will perform sports physicals on kids who have had moderate to severe COVID-19 within the past six months.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour primary care provider knows your child\u2019s history much better than an urgent care provider,\u201d Dr. Knepp said. \u201cThey\u2019ll know if additional testing is needed after moderate to severe COVID-19.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The goal is to get your child back to the sports they love and to make sure they will not be facing a hidden risk.<\/p>\n<p>If your child is 6 or older and has had moderate to severe COVID-19 within the past six months and needs a sports physical, please schedule an appointment with your primary care provider. OSF OnCall Urgent Care and OSF PromptCare can perform sports physicals on children 6 and older who have not had moderate to severe COVID-19. If you don\u2019t have a PCP, you can find one in your area and schedule an appointment today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Planning to participate in sports during the pandemic? An OSF HealthCare physician recommends how best to limit your risk of exposure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":10256,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"no","footnotes":""},"categories":[129,116],"tags":[1137,826],"coauthors":[692],"class_list":["post-10210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-miscellaneous","category-pediatrics","tag-school-physical","tag-sports"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Returning to sports after COVID-19 | OSF HealthCare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Planning to participate in sports during the pandemic? An OSF HealthCare physician recommends how best to limit your risk of exposure.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/tips-for-a-safer-return-to-sports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tips for a safer return to sports\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Planning to participate in sports during the pandemic? An OSF HealthCare physician recommends how best to limit your risk of exposure.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/tips-for-a-safer-return-to-sports\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OSF HealthCare Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/osfhealthcare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-11T15:00:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-07-21T19:10:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/school-sports-ft.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ken Harris\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Tips for a safer return to sports\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Planning to participate in sports during the pandemic? 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