A sports physical is a physical exam performed at the start of every school year or sports season to kids and young adults that actively participate in sports. Depending on the age of the child, a standard physical may be enough, particularly in young kids who aren’t doing intense physical activity. As kids get older though and participate in higher intensity sports or join extracurricular sports teams or leagues, a sports physical will be required to ensure that the student is healthy and in good physical condition to participate.

A sports physical will focus more on athletic issues and less on overall health checks. With the sports physical, there will be an emphasis on the condition of the joints, muscles, flexibility, and how the body responds to physical activity. The doctor will check for any pre-existing injuries or potential injuries, as well as conditions that can be aggravated by exercises such as respiratory issues like asthma or heart conditions. They will also look at your medical history, including previous injuries, surgeries or hospitalizations, allergies, if you’ve had issues with breathing, chest pain, fainting, or dizziness, and if you are on any prescription or over-the-counter medications.

The sports physical is important for ensuring that it is safe for the child to participate in sports activities at the start of a new school year or sports season. The participant’s health and wellbeing during sports participation are at the heart of a sports physical, by providing a series of tests and exams that will check their strength, flexibility, joints, vision, blood pressure, heart rate, heart, lungs, and other functions of the body that can be impacted through physical activity. It will also look at the child’s medical history including existing or previous medical conditions, previous surgeries, injuries and hospitalizations, allergies, any medications the child is on, and if they have ever had problems with breathing, chest pains, feeling dizzy, or fainting.

The sports physical will be used by the doctor to determine whether or not it is safe for the child to participate in sports and will let the school or coach know of any existing medical conditions that require monitoring or special treatment throughout their participation. It is important for the coach or school to have updated and accurate medical records should the child become ill or injured through their participation and need to be treated onsite.

While it might seem redundant, the answer is a typical yes. A sports physical and regular physical are looking for different things and assessing different checkpoints in the student or child. The sports physical is going to be fully focused on the child’s safety and checking for any potential risks to their health and wellbeing from their participation in sports and physical activity.

A regular physical is looking at the child’s overall health and development, including their physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral growth and development. A regular physical will also check that the child is up to date with all of their immunizations and discuss any questions or concerns about the child’s overall health. While the two types of physicals will test some of the same vital signs, such as height, weight, blood pressure, pulse, and lung function, they will do so for different purposes.

Your pediatrician, family doctor, or primary care physician can perform a sports physical, in addition to the standard annual physical exam. The sports physical exam should be completed at the start of the school year or at the start of the season for competitive sports. The need for a sports physical can vary based on the age of the child, the sports in which they are participating, and the school, team, or league rules.

When a sports physical is needed on short notice, it can be hard to get one completed through your family doctor, depending on their schedule. Luckily, many urgent care facilities offer sports physicals on a walk-in basis for patients of all ages, including Burbank Urgent Care, so children and adults can get their exams completed quickly without an appointment. We serve patients from Burbank CA, Glendale CA, Pasadena CA, Beverly Hills CA, San Fernando CA, La Crescenta-Montrose CA, North Hollywood CA, Toluca Lake CA, Sunland CA and Kagel Canyon CA.