Common Skin Conditions in Athletes – PediaCast 545
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Show Notes
Description
- Dr Reno Ravindran and Eric Leighton visit the studio as we consider common skin conditions in student athletes. Learn the cause, symptoms, treatment, prevention and return-to-play guidelines for ringworm, impetigo, MRSA, molluscum… and more!
Topics
- Skin Conditions in Student Athletes
- Ringworm
- Impetigo
- MRSA
- Molluscum Contagiosum
- Herpes Simplex
- Warts
Guests
Links
- Sports Medicine at Nationwide Children’s Hospital
- Wrestling and Skin Conditions – What Is THAT?
- Wrestling and Skin Conditions: Symptoms and Prevention
- Medical Release for Wrestler to Participate with Skin Lesion (Ohio)
Transcription
Announcer 1: This is PediaCast.
[Music]
Announcer 2: Welcome to PediaCast, a pediatric podcast for parents. And now, direct from the campus of Nationwide Children's, here is your host, Dr. Mike.
Dr. Mike Patrick:Hello everyone, and welcome once again to PediaCast. It is a pediatric podcast for moms and dads.
This is Dr. Mike coming to you from the campus of Nationwide Children's Hospital. We're in Columbus, Ohio.
It's Episode 545 for September 26, 2023. We're calling this one "Common Skin Conditions in Athletes". Want to welcome all of you to the program.
So, we have an important episode for you this week, especially if you or your child is a student athlete, and in particular those athletes who participate in sports with a high degree of skin-to-skin contact, such as wrestling, but others as well.
0:01:15
Certainly, there can be skin-to-skin contact as we think about basketball, swimming even. So, lots of sports, you certainly come into contact with other players. Football, although there, you're more covered than in other sports.
But if that describes you or your child participating in sports, then you already know that especially wrestlers are prone to sharing all sorts of skin conditions, such as ringworm, impetigo, herpes, sores, and warts among other things. But how do you tell these conditions apart? What causes them? What symptoms can you expect? How are they treated? And what rules apply regarding return to play?
All great questions, and we will hopefully have equally great answers for you today, as we explore common skin conditions in student athletes.
0:02:09
And to help us along the journey, we have two fabulous guests with us today. Dr. Reno Ravindran is a sports medicine physician at Nationwide Children's Hospital, and Eric Leighton is a certified athletic trainer also at Nationwide Children's.
Before we get to them, let's cover our usual quick reminders. Don't forget, you can find us wherever podcasts are found. We're in the Apple and Google podcast apps, iHeartRadio, Spotify, SoundCloud, Amazon Music and most other podcast apps for iOS and Android.
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0:03:18
Also, I want to remind you the information presented in every episode of our podcast is for general educational purposes only. We do not diagnose medical conditions or formulate treatment plans for specific individuals. If you have a concern about your child's health, be sure to call your healthcare provider.
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So, let's take a quick break. We'll get our expert guests settled into the studio, and then we will be back to talk about common skin conditions in student athletes. It's coming up right after this.
[Music]
0:04:23
Dr. Mike Patrick:Dr. Reno Ravindran is a sports medicine physician at Nationwide Children's Hospital and an associate professor of Pediatrics at the Ohio State University College of Medicine.
Eric Leighton is a certified athletic trainer and the functional rehabilitation leader for Sports Medicine at our hospital. Both have a passion for supporting student athletes and their families. And this includes the identification and treatment of common skin conditions in athletes.
That's what they're here to talk about, but before we get into the conversation, let's give a warm PediaCast welcome to our guests, Dr. Reno Ravindran and Eric Leighton. Thank you both so much for stopping by today.
Dr. Reno Ravindran: Thank you, Dr. Mike. Glad to be here.
Eric Leighton: Hey, excited to be here, Mike.
Dr. Mike Patrick:Really, really happy you guys were able to take time out of your busy schedules to join us.
0:05:05
So, there are a lot of skin conditions that student athletes need to be aware of and able to identify and get in to see someone and get it treated, especially those that are in sports where there's a lot of close contact. Wrestling for sure comes to mind. But there are others as well.
And so, we were just going to break down the various things that cause these skin conditions, sort of describe what they look like, how we treat them, when folks can return to play for each of these. And I thought we would just start out with some simple bacterial infections. We all know we have bacteria living on top of our skin, and sometimes, those can end up causing an infection.
So, Eric, we'll start with you. What sort of skin infections with bacteria do we have to worry about in our student athletes?
Eric Leighton: There's quite a few. As you mentioned, there's a ton of bacteria living on our skin. And with all of the sports, wrestling is the famous one. And of course, any other sports, like you mentioned, where there's a lot of close contact and a lot of heavy gear, even football. One of the first ones is impetigo or "im-puh-teh-go".
0:06:08
It's bacterial, it's usually caused by we've heard about the staph infection, staphylococcus or streptococcus. Usually, we find athletes that pop up with this wind up getting it in skin-to-skin contact from each other. Can usually be brought in through a cut in the skin or even a bug bite.
So, a newer bug bite or a bug bite that maybe someone has scratched, we all know someone who keeps scratching at their bug bites, if that edge is open, that'll get in there.
For impetigo, what will happen, the signs and symptoms? It starts off looking like a very thin-walled vesicle or kind of think of it like a small blister. When that ruptures, it exposes a raw surface and what's left is sort of this yellowish brown or you kind of think of it as a honey-colored, almost a dried crust, once it dries up.
Sometimes, like I said, it looks like that small blister. The big thing we have to be careful of is a lot of the ones we're going to talk about today cannot be covered to return to play. So they can't be active anymore. That's one of the key takeaways here.
0:07:07
But with impetigo, we have to make sure for return to play, no new cuts, no new lesions for at least 48 hours, a full 48 hours. After consulting with your athletic trainer and physician, you're going to complete a 72-hour course of a very specific-directed antibiotic. We have to make sure there's no more drainage.
The wound cannot be wet anymore, in any way. If they are active, like I said, they cannot be covered for competition. So that's something that we can't just try to cover and hide or hide under a piece of uniform and sneak back out there into competition, because we risk passing it back and forth.
Dr. Mike Patrick:One of the things about impetigo that I find interesting is a lot of times, it's really just caused by the same bacteria that normally live on the surface of our skin. But when folks are playing sports and you're sweating and you certainly can get micro-abrasions and breakdown of skin from the sweat and friction.
0:08:05
And so, when those surface bacteria start to go in a little deeper, that's when the body has an immune response. And then, we get the lesion like you had described.
And you had mentioned jokingly, picking, I will say we don't want to pick scabs because the skin is healing under that scab. But with impetigo, with that golden crust, it is actually okay to pick that and put a topical antibiotic on the outside of it. Because if you put the topical antibiotic on that crust, it actually just stays on top of the crust and doesn't get down to where the bacteria are.
So that's one instance where it is okay to pick, but most of the time it's not. But as you mentioned, for return to play, you're really going to need an oral antibiotic for a few days and to make sure it's drying up and looking like it's healing and not going to be contagious anymore.
Although, impetigo is probably not too contagious because the other person would need to have a cut or scratch, and it's just normal skin bacteria. So, we have our rules for sure, but it's probably one of the less contagious infections in that respect, that it's just your normal skin bacteria anyway.
0:09:11
But then, I did want to also mention MRSA. A lot of people have heard of methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus. It's a big mouthful. That's why we say MRSA. But this is more of a resistant bacteria and more likely to cause an abscess. So how is that different than impetigo which is more superficial?
Eric Leighton: We look for all of these, but MRSA can be more serious. So, we really key in on looking for that. One of the key things, a lot of the times people will mistake a MRSA lesion when it first starts off as a spider bite and they'll ignore it. They'll be like, it's just a spider bite. But we have to be very careful about this.
It can also start off looking like one of the other ones we get, folliculitis, which is where the hair exits the skin right at the follicle can become a little irritated. It almost looks like a small pimple. But what happens is then those things start to grow and come together.
0:10:07
And it can turn into an abscess, as you mentioned, Dr. Mike. It starts with swelling and redness and can even have some black markings. What happens is though, that can actually turn into a much bigger, more dangerous infection if it's not taken care of, systemic infections. Or it can turn into fever, fatigue. Starts to see other larger symptoms pop up.
But again, this is also one of those big ones. There's no return to play. You can't cover it up while it's still active. It's a three-day, 72-hour course of those antibiotics, as you mentioned. Again, no further drainage from the wound. And again, no new skin lesions for at least 48 hours.
One of the biggest ways to prevent these, and as you mentioned too, one of the biggest causes, we have all these natural bacteria. Well, the problem is we're in such close contact. There are abrasions, there's gear, whether it's wrestling and headgear and close contact or even under all the equipment in football or hockey, lacrosse, soccer, the shin pads and the tight socks.
0:11:05
So doing a daily full body skin check. So, when you're prone to these types of sports, you check your gear. You make sure your cleats are good. You make sure your helmet's in good service as well.
You got to check yourself out, too. Make sure you're showering after a heavy sport like that. You make sure you shower with an antimicrobial soap right after practices and games and wash the hands.
Got to make sure you're not sharing things. We don't want to be sharing clothing, practice gear, razors. Wouldn't think that would be an issue, but it can happen sometimes.
In some sports, depending on comfort level where the gear is touching your body, some people will actually shave down to get rid of that hair that's being rubbed at. In this case, we want to avoid shaving. We start to irritate the hair follicles, and that can actually set us up for these types of things sometimes.
And also avoid getting into common shared water, whirlpools, tubs, things like that, if you do have any kind of lesion that's present.
0:12:02
Dr. Mike Patrick:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And we'll mention that with the MRSA, that is not something that we like just to be normal on the surface of the skin. So that definitely is something we don't want to pass back and forth because then you can share it with your family. And as you said, those are a little bit more serious infections. They're more invasive and a little bit more difficult to treat and often do start out looking like a bug bite.
So, any skin lesion, if you're an athlete, especially in a contact sport, you're going to want to pay attention and have someone look at it and get the right diagnosis. So you can get the right treatment started as soon as possible. And that'll minimize the amount of time that you're not playing because you get it treated and dealt with.
Let's move on to some viral conditions. So, bacteria, we know, can cause skin conditions, but viruses can as well. And Reno, I'm going to loop you in here now. Can you tell us a little bit about, first, molluscum contagiosum, which is another mouthful, and there's not really a common name to use for that one.
0:13:02
So, what is molluscum and is it something serious?
Dr. Reno Ravindran: No, it's not something serious. It is a virus. It's caused by the pox virus and it's something that's actually fairly common. We'll see it in pediatrics a lot. And when it comes to sports and molluscum, it may be treated a little bit differently compared to just kind of the general population.
So it is one of those things that can be self-limiting and spontaneously can resolve without any treatment. But when we talk about it in the sports world, it's something that needs to be treated just because it is contagious.
So, it's caused by the pox virus. It's this small little kind of flesh-colored papules that you'll see. They have this little central umbilication, so a little central dimple to them. And so they're easy to kind of pick out. And again, they are kind of transmitted by skin-to-skin contact, so they're fairly contagious.
Now, they don't cause any systemic issues or anything along those lines. But in the sports world, if we see any lesions that are molluscum related, they need to be treated if the athlete wants to continue to perform or participate.
0:14:09
And so, a lot of times for them to be able to return to play, the lesion has to be taken care of. And the best way to take care of them is by removing them, so you can curate the lesion.
There are also a lot of alternative treatments with some chemical therapies like potassium hydroxide and podophyllin, and some of these other kinds of chemical kind of topical treatments that you can place on the lesion to take care of them. So, yeah, it's not a serious condition by any means, but it's something that we would need to take care of if the athlete wants to get back to sport.
Dr. Mike Patrick:And again, the description is it's sort of a flesh-colored, small bump with a little dimple. And oftentimes they're in clusters because they're not only contagious from one person to another, but also from one cell to another. And so, the virus causes that molluscum lesion, and then you can get sort of a cluster of those.
0:15:10
In a lot of kids who aren't playing sports, we say, just give it some time because your immune system will kill the virus. But we're talking months, not days, so it takes a long time for those to go away. And of course, with wrestlers in particular, you don't want to be spreading those and have them all over.
So, you do want to see your doctor for those. There are ways to get rid of the lesions, but that treatment takes place in a doctor's office.
Dr. Reno Ravindran: Yes.
Dr. Mike Patrick:All right. And then herpes is another issue. So, herpes simplex virus, tell us more about that particular skin infection with that virus.
Dr. Reno Ravindran: Herpes is probably one of the more common skin infections we'll see in sports, and especially in the wrestling world. There have been plenty of, actually, studies and data out there that will tell you that herpes one of the more common microorganisms we'll see. So, the other term we'll use for it is herpes gladiatorum, just because how much we see it in wrestling.
0:16:11
So, this is caused by the herpes simplex virus, and it's spread skin to skin. So same sort of way, kind of a lot of these lesions are spread, and those kinds of micro-abrasions you kind of talked about earlier can increase that likelihood of infection.
And it's more commonly seen in kind of the exposed area. So, your head, face, kind of upper extremities in the trunk.
And in the incubation period, so the time that it'll kind of pop up can be anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. And so, they initially may have just kind of localized burning or stinging or itching in that area. And then, at times, you can get systemic symptoms like fevers or chills, feeling kind of fatigued or tired.
And then, once you start seeing these lesions pop up, so they look like blisters in kind of this grouped kind of way. And they'll have a little erythematous base, so a little red base to them. Sometimes, quote unquote we use, "it looks like a dew drop on a rose petal" type of thing. And then they'll have some inflammation or edema around the skin.
0:17:17
And so they're pretty easy to pick out when you see them. And then the diagnosis really is both clinical as far as looking at it. But we can culture the lesion. The most sensitive way to find it is by PCR. If it's diagnosed, it needs to be treated.
And there are some pretty strict guidelines when it comes to treating these. So, they have to be on antiviral medications. So oral antiviral medications and the treatment time frame is anywhere from 10 to 14 days, depending on if it's the initial outbreak of it or if it's a recurrent outbreak of it.
And then in regards to return to play, similar to kind of maybe some of the bacterial stuff we talked about earlier. But active lesions cannot be covered in this condition. The lesions have to be dry. They can't have any systemic symptoms and no new lesions for at least 72 hours when we talk about high school sports.
0:18:19
And then, when we talk about the treatment, like I said, they have to be on antivirals and at least they have to be on it for five days, for recurrent infections at the high school level and then ten days for that initial infection. So that has to be documented, basically, that they've been on these oral antivirals for the ten days if it's a primary infection. And then, alongside, no active lesions, no systemic symptoms to be able to return to play.
Dr. Mike Patrick:Again, the description is going to be little blisters in clusters. And oftentimes, there is skin tenderness, burning, tingling, pain at the site, just kind of a vague feeling even though you don't see anything there. And then these blisters pop up and they rupture and crust and that's sort of classic herpes.
0:19:10
And a couple of questions I have for you on that. Is that, for most of these kids, a reactivation of herpes that they already have in their body that just comes back out because of the stress of playing sports and such? Or is it direct contact that folks get that? Am I making sense?
Dr. Reno Ravindran: Yes, I think it can be both. What you will see, so there is skin to skin contact and the transmission that way, but there are also times that you'll see a recurrence of it in the same athlete.
So even in those athletes that have this recurrence, at times we'll put them on a preventative kind of antiviral through the rest of the season. So, like prophylactically, we'll treat them for the duration of the season because they tend to have a recurrence. But I think, initially, it is this skin-to-skin transmission and not necessarily a reactivation.
0:20:05
Dr. Mike Patrick:And then shingles can look sort of similar to herpes and that's from the chickenpox virus instead of the herpes virus, but it can look similar. Do you see that in athletes or not so much?
Dr. Reno Ravindran: Not so much, not so much.
Dr. Mike Patrick:Good. That's probably a good thing. And we see less of that too in kids because of the VARIVAX or the varicella or the chickenpox vaccine. And so, that's probably one of the reasons that we don't see it as much, which is a very good thing and a reason to get that vaccine. But we don't have a vaccine for herpes at this point, but maybe someday, we will.
Dr. Reno Ravindran: Right, maybe someday.
Dr. Mike Patrick:Let's move on to warts, which are pretty common skin conditions. Some people may be surprised that they're caused by viruses, but they are. Tell us about those in the sports world.
Dr. Reno Ravindran: Yeah, so, I mean fairly common. I think everybody's probably seen a wart or two here. There this is caused by, you're right, it is a virus. It's caused by the human papillomavirus, so the HPV.
0:21:02
And again, same sort of thing can be spread by direct contact. Those abraded areas are a little bit more susceptible to them, but these are benign in general. And again, a lot of these can even just regress spontaneously within a couple of years.
And even in the sports world, as far as return to play is concerned, as long as actually this is a lesion that can be covered. Now, if there's a facial lesion, those will disqualify you from sport, but everywhere else really can be covered or taken care of.
And then, gosh, there are so many treatment modalities out there, from paring them down to curating them to cryotherapy and duct tape and salicylic acid. There are all sorts of treatments for warts. And so really, whether they're over the counter or some home remedies, whatever takes care of them is how you would manage them.
Dr. Mike Patrick:Yeah, absolutely. You had mentioned human papillomavirus, and then you said HPV, and that probably rang a little bell in some folks' heads.
0:22:00
There's a lot of different subtypes of HPV or human papillomavirus. And there is a vaccine available for strains of it that typically cause infections of the cervix and is related to cervical cancer in women. And so, that's the reason that the HPV vaccine is given to prevent that cancer.
It's also given to boys because it is passed sexually. And so, if you can protect boys from having that particular virus, then their sexual partners in the future, it's less likely that they'll get that virus and then potentially have cervical cancer. But it's not necessarily the subtypes that cause just your common wart.
So that HPV vaccine is not necessarily going to prevent warts, but it's still an important thing. And I just wanted to mention that. So, people probably have heard of that term before in the past.
All right, so we've covered the common viral infections and bacterial infections that we see on the skin of student athletes. Let's move on to fungal or yeast infections, and there are a lot of those. We're going to bring Eric back in. Tell us about tinea or a ringworm.
0:23:07
Eric Leighton: Ringworm, yeah, this is one of the more common ones we definitely see out there. As an athletic trainer, we were the ones on the front lines doing these skin checks. Kid would wander into the training room and, "Hey, what is this?" Yeah, ringworm. It's one of the ones you might think of when you think of these skin infections.
And as Dr. Mike mentioned, so the main name for it is tinea. And there's a few different versions of it. So, you may hear these out there.
The first one is tinea corporis. So that's when we see this infection or the skin infection on the body, on the main part of the torso. If it's on our scalp, we call it tinea capitis.
On the feet, tinea pedis, or as you've all heard it many times probably, athletes foot. It's one of the more common ones and the old household name. And another one that you hear from watching different sports movies and things like that, tinea cruris or jock itch.
0:24:00
So those are the different versions of it that we'll find out there. Each one can look a little different the way it presents though, depending where it is on the body. So, tinea corporis, so on the torso, on the body, tends to be this round, kind of red scaly plaque, as they call it. Kind of a flaky skin with raised edges.
If we see it on the scalp, between the hair, if we're scrubbing around in there, pulling the hair apart, looking for tinea capitis, it's going to look round, but more gray scaly patches as opposed to red. So, you'll see it kind of grayer. And sometimes we can even have a little bit of hair loss right there, localized right where that lesion is.
Tinea pedis, if we see it on the feet. So, we see that kind of the webs in between your toes a lot. That's where you'll get that flaky skin. It's usually pretty thick scaling or peeling as it comes off a lot.
They are typically round in shape. But a lot of times, with athletes, it can be a little broader. It doesn't always necessarily stay round. It can have more of an irregular shape on those athletes.
0:25:03
Same thing with this one. We got to make sure we take care of it. We don't want to pass it back and forth.
So, it will start off with an oral or a topical fungicide medicine, as prescribed by your physician. You're going to check in with somebody, we're going to make sure it's identified correctly so you're getting the right kind of medication, the right kind of treatment.
They're going to do that for at least 72 hours. So, a full three days for tinea corporis if it's on the body. If it's on the scalp, for tinea capitis, it's 14 days. We have to make sure that really is resolved before we put them back out there.
Once it's considered no longer active, then we can cover it with what's called an occlusive dressing. So, think of like a really high-end Band-Aid, one that the athletic trainers will have access to. It's more of a membrane that really seals it, that nothing can get through. So, it might even be kind of see through. But that patch, think of it almost looks a little bit like a see-through smokers patch or a transdermal patch.
We cover that up, and now they can't actually touch that area skin to skin. And once that's inactive and covered, it's safe to get back out there.
0:26:08
Dr. Mike Patrick:And the key with whether you're going to use a topical cream on the skin or you're going to use a medicine by mouth really depends on if there's hair at the site, because the organism, the little fungus gets down into the hair follicle pretty deep. And then, anything you put on top of the skin does not necessarily penetrate down into that hair follicle.
And so, then you're going to need an oral medicine. And usually, you need that for at least a month. But as you said, if it's on the scalp, they have to be out for two weeks.
Eric Leighton: Yeah, 14 days is the recommended time on medication.
Dr. Mike Patrick:So, this is when you may just want to avoid getting in the first place, because that's a long time to be away from your sport. So don't share things that go in your hair. In fact, my grandma used to say that, never share what touches your hair. I think I was more for lice, though. But anyway, that was back in the day. One of my grandma-isms.
0:27:00
Dr. Reno Ravindran: Mike, real quick, with the fungal infections and even the bacterial infections and the viral infections we've talked about, it's very important that these are treated as we've talked about. But also, the documentation is really important. So, we'll run into this, and Eric knows this well, but especially at some of the sectional tournaments and all that, but there will be skin checks that are done before the tournament starts by the medical staff and the referees.
And if there's a skin lesion that's seen, they have to be documented that it's been treated. And we've kind of put some numbers and hours and days out there through the cast here today, and they're pretty strict guidelines. So, on top of 72 hours, it has to be documented that they've been on the antifungals for 72 hours or the five days of the antivirals. And they have to kind of come in with what we call skin forms or skin documentation to be able to participate.
Dr. Mike Patrick:Sometimes, when I work in the emergency department and our urgent cares, folks will come in with ringworm. And they'll bring paper in with them that we sign and say what the diagnosis is, and what our treatment plan is, and when they're getting that started.
0:28:13
And it has occurred to me that we don't necessarily have those sheets just on hand like parents give them to us. And so, sometimes I wonder if there are parents who we see and we treat and they don't bring that paper in, then they have to go get it filled somewhere.
And so, I think the state of Ohio has a standard form, if I'm not mistaken. And so, if you had that available, you'd be able to take it with you. So, something you ought to maybe print and have on hand and then if your child does have a skin lesion, take it to the doctor with you. It'll avoid an extra trip just getting that done.
Dr. Reno Ravindran: Yes, absolutely, the OHSA website has a section where you can print off that form.
Dr. Mike Patrick:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I'll try to find that and put it in the show notes, so folks can find it easily.
All right, so we have covered bacterial causes of skin conditions in student athletes, viral ones, fungus and yeast. I think that as we consider prevention of all of these conditions, there are just some things that student athletes and their families really ought to know in terms of preventing these things from happening in the first place.
0:29:20
So, Reno, can you just run through sort of a list of best practices that student athletes can follow to avoid these problems in the first place?
Dr. Reno Ravindran: Prevention is key. First and foremost, good hygiene in general, but hand hygiene. We'll talk a lot about showering before and after practices.
We've talked a little bit already about antibacterial soaps, not sharing equipment, especially sharing towels, as well as just razors and other personal items, which can and will be shared in locker rooms. So, we'll try to tell them, we'll discourage them from doing that.
And then, daily washing of practice gear. In the wrestling world, cleaning those mats with a good disinfectant solution is really important.
0:30:12
And then, doing these thorough skin checks. I mean, Eric kind of talked about that earlier, but we encourage coaches, the athletes themselves, parents even, to do these skin checks on a regular basis.
And if there is anything that looks suspicious, to kind of get a good look at it and then get it treated. And kind of encourage the coaches as well as the other athletes to kind of look out for each other from that standpoint.
Dr. Mike Patrick:Yeah, great tips and advice, for sure. And we're going to put a link in the show notes to some other resources for folks. One is called "Wrestling and Skin Conditions, What is That?" And another one is "Wrestling and Skin Conditions, Symptoms and Prevention".
Both of those are from Nationwide Children's Hospital. Just great information sheets, and we'll provide those in the show notes for everyone.
Before we take off, Eric, tell us a little bit more about Sports Medicine at Nationwide Children's Hospital. Because you guys are a pretty big group and really are involved in the schools. You have clinics all around town. Tell us more about the services that you guys provide.
0:31:18
Eric Leighton: Nationwide, as you mentioned, we're everywhere, quite frankly. We actually have clinics at nine different locations around Columbus. And we offer clinics throughout the day, five days a week. And we do, we see it all.
So, we have a lot of athletic trainers actually out at those schools. We cover, I believe, 16 high schools. And we're also part of the medical team at Ohio Dominican University.
And our athletic trainers are there seeing things in the training room and on the field, evaluating it and seeing it as it happens. And then, of course, we can help direct that care and get them to the right place to our clinics.
So, we see everything from skin conditions we're talking about today, to concussions to sprains, strains.
0:32:02
And then, for those where it's appropriate, we also do the rehabilitation. So as athletic trainers, specifically my division in functional rehab, if Dr. Ravindran sees an athlete who maybe has a knee issue, then he can take a look at that athlete, decide what the issue is.
We diagnose it. We can get them upstairs and we can work them through a very directed therapy to get them back on the field, back to play as quickly but as safely as possible. Making sure that we've helped take care of any of the issues that may have risen because of the injury or maybe anything that was leading to the injury.
Dr. Mike Patrick:Yeah, absolutely. Really great services that you provide for the student athletes of Central Ohio and beyond.
And we'll put a link to the Sports Medicine Program in the show notes over at pediacast.org so people can get more information and explore what you guys are all about a little bit more deeply, for those who are interested.
So, once again, Dr. Reno Ravindran and Eric Leighton, both with Sports Medicine at Nationwide Children's Hospital, thank you so much for stopping by and sharing your expertise with us today.
0:33:07
Dr. Reno Ravindran: Thanks, Dr. Mike.
Eric Leighton: Thank you, Dr. Mike.
[Music]
Dr. Mike Patrick:We are back with just enough time to say thank once again to all of you for taking time out of your day and making PediaCast a part of it. Really do appreciate that.
Also, thanks again to our guests this week, Dr. Reno Ravindran, sports medicine physician at Nationwide Children's, and Eric Leighton, certified athletic trainer, also at Nationwide Children's Hospital.
Don't forget, you can find us wherever podcasts are found. We're in the Apple and Google podcast apps, iHeartRadio, Spotify, SoundCloud, Amazon Music and most other podcast apps for iOS and Android.
0:34:08
Our landing site is pediacast.org. You'll find our entire archive of past programs there, along with show notes for each of the episodes, our Terms of Use agreement, and that handy contact page, if you would like to suggest a future topic for the program.
Reviews are helpful wherever you get your podcasts. We always appreciate when you share your thoughts about the show.
And we love connecting with you on social media. You'll find us on Facebook, Instagram Threads, and LinkedIn. Simply search for PediaCast.
Also, don't forget about our sibling podcast, PediaCast CME. That stands for Continuing Medical Education. It's similar to this program. We do turn the science up a couple notches and offer free Continuing Medical Education credit for those who listen.
And not only physicians, we also offer credit for nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, social workers, and dentists. And since Nationwide Children's is jointly accredited by all of those professional organizations, it's likely we offer the exact credits you need to fulfill your state's Continuing Medical Education requirements. Of course, you want to be sure the content of the episode matches your scope of practice.
0:35:10
Shows and details are available at the landing site for that program pediacastcme.org.
You can also listen wherever podcasts are found. Simply search for PediaCast CME.
Thanks again for stopping by. And until next time, this is Dr. Mike saying stay safe, stay healthy and stay involved with your kids. So long, everybody.
[Music]
Announcer 2: This program is a production of Nationwide Children's. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next time on PediaCast.
