Parents Fall on back chest hurts?

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gympoppop

Proud Parent
Hi,

My DD was jumping to the high bar, caught her dowel on the bar and fell flat onto her back on the mat below. The weird thing is that her back is totally fine but her chest hurts and she has difficulty bending forwards, crunches etc. The pain seems to mostly be in the sternum area and does seem to be improving. My question is have others experienced this and is this normal? Should we get it checked out?

Thanks!
 
This is just an online forum... so we will always tell you to get it checked out by a doctor.

Her ribs connect to her sternum... so impact to the back (where the ribs also are) can definitely cause pain / issues in the front. I've also seen gymnasts hit themselves with a knee or arm as they fell.

Be safe... get it checked out.
 
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I separated my sternum many years ago. It hurt like hell and took forever to get better. It could be that, or displaced ribs, or it could be that she knocked her shoulder blade out of alignment. All those things have manifested as pain in my chest in one way or another. Many possibilities— see a GOOD doctor who treats sports injuries.
 
I separated my sternum many years ago. It hurt like hell and took forever to get better. It could be that, or displaced ribs, or it could be that she knocked her shoulder blade out of alignment. All those things have manifested as pain in my chest in one way or another. Many possibilities— see a GOOD doctor who treats sports injuries.
I just came to comment that a separated sternum SOUNDS as painful as you described, yikes! Yes, there could be rib involvement with this gymnast's injury; I cracked ribs in a car accident years ago and didn't know until I saw it on my paperwork when leaving the hospital. Our body can manifest injuries in fascinating ways. Better to be safe than sorry and have her checked out, describing carefully what happened.
 
This happened to me a few years ago! Except I landed in like a candle stick. For the first couple days it didn’t hurt that bad but then it got worse for a while and then better. It hurt how you described but laughing and coughing was bad too. It took about a month before I could go back to practice and I was fine after that. But once in a while I curl up in a way that makes it hurt just a tiny bit again for a minute. I never went to the doctor just rested a lot. I recovered pretty easily on my own and I’m not sure what you can do for that sort of injury but getting it looked at couldn’t hurt. The fear of jumping to high bar was the worst for me as I kept feeling my hand slipping away when the pain of a terrible rip made me let go instinctively. I definitely got set back of floor to but things worked out for the best for me, probably better than they would have been if I hadn’t fallen.
 
This happened to me a few years ago! Except I landed in like a candle stick. For the first couple days it didn’t hurt that bad but then it got worse for a while and then better. It hurt how you described but laughing and coughing was bad too. It took about a month before I could go back to practice and I was fine after that. But once in a while I curl up in a way that makes it hurt just a tiny bit again for a minute. I never went to the doctor just rested a lot. I recovered pretty easily on my own and I’m not sure what you can do for that sort of injury but getting it looked at couldn’t hurt. The fear of jumping to high bar was the worst for me as I kept feeling my hand slipping away when the pain of a terrible rip made me let go instinctively. I definitely got set back of floor to but things worked out for the best for me, probably better than they would have been if I hadn’t fallen.
That sounds like a broken rib.
 
That sounds like a broken rib.
Yup, sounds like it to me too. I broke a rib years ago but gutted it out - didn’t know until the bone callous formed and I felt a very strange bump on my back and freaked out. Turns out I broke it and it was healing “mostly straight” according to the dr. I was in my teens - young and stupid.
 
Yup, sounds like it to me too. I broke a rib years ago but gutted it out - didn’t know until the bone callous formed and I felt a very strange bump on my back and freaked out. Turns out I broke it and it was healing “mostly straight” according to the dr. I was in my teens - young and stupid.
I got kneed full force in the ribs and broke three. Very painful and long healing but mostly benign.
 
My DD had a bad fall on a tumble rum and injured her chest. We took her to the ER and while there was nothing conclusive the doctors alluded to it being a minor bruise to the sternum. It took a few weeks for her to feel better but I would strongly recommend taking her to a doctor to get her checked out for a professional opinion.
 

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