All Articles by Lindsey Barton Straus, JD

It may be a myth that people need to drink 8 glasses of water a day, and that most kids are dehydrated, but, says a sports hydration expert, that isn't the same as saying dehydration isn't a concern for kids playing sports.

While athletes should undergo regular preparticipation sports physical, parents need to understand that they are limited in their ability to detect all serious or life-threatening medical conditions, and, as a result, a "normal" evaluation does not imply absence of risk.

Student-athletes who experience lingering concussion symptoms and their parents are more concerned about the adverse effect of concussion on learning and school performance, report more school-related problems, and more classes posing difficulty than students who recover more quickly, finds a new study.

High school and college athletes with a history of developmental disorders such as attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and learning disability (LD) are 2 to 3 times more likely to self-report having experienced multiple concussions than those without such history, a first-of-its-kind study finds.

Players who reported body shaving are 6.1 time more likely to develop MRSA infections. Shaving genitals or the groin was associated with a higher infection risk than shaving other body sites.

A properly maintained playing surface can help reduce head injury risk. Whether natural or synthetic turf, field management practices directly affect field hardness and, in turn, the risk of head injury. As a result, monitoring field hardness is key.

While physical and cognitive rest during the period immediately after concussion is widely considered the cornerstone of concussion management, it might hinder recovery in those patients whose dizziness is the result of an injury to the cervical spine, who might benefit more from early, aggressive and active treatment for their dizziness.

Using a lighter baseball would not significantly increase batted-ball impact injuries to position players in youth baseball, but would likely increase such injuries to pitchers, suggests a first-of-its-kind study.

No matter the sport, athletes are prone to five dermatologic issues: blisters, turf burns, athlete's foot, acne mechanica and exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light. Here are some prevention and treatment tips from a dermatologist.

Strict physical and cognitive rest in the five days immediately after concussion does not help teens recover more quickly than taking it easy for one to two days after injury and then returning to school, finds a new study.