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Growth plate injuries in children and teens: the signs, who gets them, getting a diagnosis, treatment, and recovery
For any parent or caregiver whose child or teen is still hurting after a fall, a hit or a hard season of one sport; and for any young athlete who is. The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS, part of the NIH) says growth plates, the areas of tissue near the ends of a child’s long bones, are weak spots in a growing skeleton; that injuries to them often need immediate treatment to prevent problems with bone growth; and that with proper treatment most growth plate fractures heal without any lasting effect. This page passes on, by name, what NIAMS says: the signs; who gets them and what causes them; the exam, the scans and the types; casts, setting the bone and surgery; and follow-up and getting back to play. It builds the words to say to a provider, and prints a card for the visit.
Right now
- A bone showing through the skin, an arm or leg that is badly bent, a hand or foot below the injury that is numb, cold or pale, or a hurt head, neck or back: call 911 (ours). Do not move your child unless they are in danger. See Broken bones and After a hit to the head.
- A child who cannot move, use or put weight on an arm or leg after an injury: get care today (ours; NIAMS says these injuries often need immediate treatment).
- Thinking about suicide: call or text 988, any time.
More help
- Injuries: Broken bones · Sprains, strains and sports injuries · After a hit to the head · First aid · Pain, bones and joints.
- Children’s bones and joints: Osteogenesis imperfecta · Juvenile arthritis · A baby or child: find the right page.
- Care and costs: Symptom diary · Medicines list · When you need a doctor and can’t pay · Get ready for the appointment.
- In a crisis: Help right now (988, 911). All our free tools.
Pain, a bone or a joint, and not sure this is the right page? The pages on this site for back pain, arthritis, pain that lasts, headaches, broken bones and sickle cell, on one list.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No doctor, nurse or therapist has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 16, 2026 on NIAMS’s Growth Plate Injuries page, both parts: Overview, Symptoms, & Causes and Diagnosis, Treatment, & Steps to Take (NIH, last reviewed December 2023). Its Spanish twin, Lesiones en las placas de crecimiento (December 2020), is shorter; our Spanish page says where a fact comes from the English page. Ours: calling 911 for a bone through the skin, a badly bent limb, a numb, cold or pale hand or foot, or a hurt head, neck or back, and not moving the child; getting care today when a child cannot move, use or put weight on a limb; not assuming it is only a sprain and not playing through pain that stays; telling the doctor the sport and the hours; asking the doctor or a pharmacist before giving any medicine; writing things down; asking what a test or treatment would change, its risks and what it costs; asking when to go back to sports and for a note for school; 988; and the order of the steps. What we left out: any medicine’s name or dose, any safety gear, training limit, diet, supplement, remedy or product NIAMS does not give, and NIAMS’s research pages. This page saves nothing and loads no trackers.