Coaches ? about broken bone & competition

[beachtumble]

Hello. I am looking for some input regarding the following: our 7 y.o daughter, who competes at Level 5, recently broke her left index finger in two places (on each side of the growth plate). She broke it on April 14th. She saw an orthopedic specialist who put her in a cast (up to her elbow) two days following her injury. The doctor said that they would remove the cast at 4 wks. When I mentioned that she had a State gymnastics competetion a few days before the 4 week mark, the doctor said that she should be healed up by the 3 week mark. I did not want to push the issue of having it removed early. I clearly told the doctor that I didn't want to take any chances of it not healing properly. Anyway...my daughter is scheduled to have the cast removed this upcoming Wed and the State Competition is on Saturday. She wants to compete and has been practicing what she could at the gym. We are just a little nervous about her possibly reinjuring her finger or struggling at the State competition. Any suggestions as to how to assess her "readiness" for the competition or how to help her to better prepare during the two days leading up to the event. Thanks for any suggestions/ advice that you may be able to offer. Sincerely, Ginger

 

[Aussie_coach]

Kids bones are very flexible, unfortunatly this means they break a lot more easily than adults bones, but fortunatly it means they heal a lot faster too. I have had kids in casts who have had their bones x rayed and been completly healed after just 1 week. In nearly all cases the bones were healed in 2 weeks.

If you get the doctor to re x-ray they will be able to see if the bone has healed fully and if it is safe to compete. It is important though that she keeps going to training and doing as much as she can otherwise if she takes a big break and then comes back into full on training, that is when injuries are more likely to occur.