Local High School Athletes have been hard at work in practice for fall sports for over a week now, and with the return to activity comes an increased risk for injury. Erin Bower, an athletic trainer at Pella Regional Health Center says certain injuries are more common at this time of year.

“Ankle sprains or tweaking their knee or straining their muscles – either their quadriceps, hamstrings, back or the groin are all common ones [that we see],” said Bower. “Just people who maybe aren’t as prepared to start practice. Also the heat is a big issue as well.”

Bower’s colleague, Gene Schmitz, adds that along with helping treat common injuries for athletes, they also try to help them learn to separate aches and pains from a more serious injury.

“A lot of times when you just start a season, athletes don’t know if it’s really an injury or if it’s just soreness, especially if they’re just starting contact,” said Schmitz. “We help differentiate if this is a true injury or if the aches and pains that you would expect from vigorous training or a contact sport like football.”

Bower is on the field and at practices with teams from several area schools, which include Pella Community Schools, PCM and Lynnville-Sully.

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