Parents another injury? what do you think?

[Committed]

Okay....... 1st of all DD is a hypochondriac, but also tends to hurt herself pretty seriously. She whines so much I basically ignore it.

Background: 6.5yo and this year chipped her ankle bone and tore her patellar tendon. Something is always "hurting". She's on pre team and only goes to gym 4 hours/week no other activity right now.

Okay, for the past month she's been complaining about her lower back really hurting. She now sleeps on the floor in her room because the bed hurts. Her complaints sound like sciatic problems: lower back with pain in her booty down her legs.
She has no problem with every day activity nor gymnastics. Every day, she practices getting her press handstand, but pain started prior. Oh, and she had a 2 week break from gym class.

The kicker....... DH had back surgery this summer due to herniated and slipped disks. It caused a lot of sciatic pain. Just recently, his pain has started up again.

We've had many talks about "crying wolf" and she keeps asking me for pain medicine and to go to the Dr.

I know the stock answer is "when in doubt, go to the Dr", but I'm wondering if there is any other wisdom or experiences out there.

I'm not sure if I'm being oversensitive as a coworker just had her 7yo diagnosed with a brain stem tumor, has had surgery, and now awaiting chemo. To be honest, it freaked me out.

Thanks in advance!

 

[txgymfan]

That's so hard. Your Dd clearly thinks its real if she is sleeping on the floor instead of her bed. Sometimes things that look like nothing are really something. I know people who have had experiences similar to your friend so I would err on the cautious side. You've said before she complains about pain. You might also consider calling a counseling center and asking for advice.

 

[Amusibus]

My older daughter is like that. After her little sister got glasses, she told me her eyes were also blurry. This child 100% fooled the optometrist, he was very concerned about her so referred her to a pediatric opthamologist. This specialist did a few tests and right away he was able to tell she was making it all up. There are certain tests experienced doctors can do to tell if there is a real problem. I agree to err on the side of caution, totally agree. You may end up seeing more doctors and having more tests than you feel like but it could easily be real, lots of strange things can happen with kids. The doc will know thru testing if it's valid.

 

[bookworm]

Okay....... 1st of all DD is a hypochondriac, but also tends to hurt herself pretty seriously. She whines so much I basically ignore it.

Background: 6.5yo and this year chipped her ankle bone and tore her patellar tendon. Something is always "hurting". She's on pre team and only goes to gym 4 hours/week no other activity right now.

Okay, for the past month she's been complaining about her lower back really hurting. She now sleeps on the floor in her room because the bed hurts. Her complaints sound like sciatic problems: lower back with pain in her booty down her legs.
She has no problem with every day activity nor gymnastics. Every day, she practices getting her press handstand, but pain started prior. Oh, and she had a 2 week break from gym class.

The kicker....... DH had back surgery this summer due to herniated and slipped disks. It caused a lot of sciatic pain. Just recently, his pain has started up again.

We've had many talks about "crying wolf" and she keeps asking me for pain medicine and to go to the Dr.

I know the stock answer is "when in doubt, go to the Dr", but I'm wondering if there is any other wisdom or experiences out there.

I'm not sure if I'm being oversensitive as a coworker just had her 7yo diagnosed with a brain stem tumor, has had surgery, and now awaiting chemo. To be honest, it freaked me out.

Thanks in advance!

Ok a couple of things here would concern me with this whole scenario:

* for starters, her age...she's 6 1/2 and has chipped her ankle bone and torn her patellar tendon only doing pre team?! and for the past month, she complains of her lower back "always hurting'...well I guess with this history, I'm not surprised that she's always complaining that she is hurting because it seems like she has injuries.Were the ankle bone chips or the torn patellar tendon ever fixed or addressed in some way? Her back could be stress fractures (that DO hurt) , especially if she's been doing a lot of bridges and back walkovers...

* second , that she "keeps asking for pain medicine"...what 6 yo does this without having pain? and what kind of "pain med" is she looking for (tylenol/motrin vs a codeine or stronger product)...the fact she even has this type of comment would concern me to look into it. It would be one thing if she was sick and she got a popsicle for her illness but the fact she's looking for "pain meds" (a term not really in a 6 yo's vocabulary) would have me worried...

*I think for her age and level of competition her injuries seem out of whack to me or maybe she's just unlucky , I don't know. If I had a kid this young with these injuries I would have to seriously think of whether it was in her best interest to continue the sport....

 

[Deleted member D3987]

that ^^^

 

[Faith]

her injuries seem out of whack to me or maybe she's just unlucky , I don't know. If I had a kid this young with these injuries I would have to seriously think of whether it was in her best interest to continue the sport....

I'd sign her up for swimming for 6 months ) stop impact, increase strength, and unlikely to cause any "injuries". And get a full medical.

I have a 6 yo who will bump into things and falls over constantly. She's had nowhere near the injuries yours has, and would never think of asking for anything beyond a cold tissue to fix it.

 

[Amusibus]

If your daughter is given a clean bill of health by an MD, perhaps a competent sports PT evaluation would be in order. There can be neurological issues of coordination and body awareness that could make her more prone to injury. A good PT can detect and treat this. If it was me I would not go so far as to pull her out of gymnastics totally, that's a bit radical.

 

[Committed]

Ok a couple of things here would concern me with this whole scenario:

* for starters, her age...she's 6 1/2 and has chipped her ankle bone and torn her patellar tendon only doing pre team?! and for the past month, she complains of her lower back "always hurting'...well I guess with this history, I'm not surprised that she's always complaining that she is hurting because it seems like she has injuries.Were the ankle bone chips or the torn patellar tendon ever fixed or addressed in some way? Her back could be stress fractures (that DO hurt) , especially if she's been doing a lot of bridges and back walkovers...

* second , that she "keeps asking for pain medicine"...what 6 yo does this without having pain? and what kind of "pain med" is she looking for (tylenol/motrin vs a codeine or stronger product)...the fact she even has this type of comment would concern me to look into it. It would be one thing if she was sick and she got a popsicle for her illness but the fact she's looking for "pain meds" (a term not really in a 6 yo's vocabulary) would have me worried...

*I think for her age and level of competition her injuries seem out of whack to me or maybe she's just unlucky , I don't know. If I had a kid this young with these injuries I would have to seriously think of whether it was in her best interest to continue the sport....

^^she's very unlucky. When she was 2 she broke her leg..... her aunt fell on her and snapped her tibia.
Plus she loves the attention she gets from injuries.
and..... when her leg was in a brace, she was in agony, screaming and begging to go to the hospital. I got her an MRI the next day, and she was totally healed. The "pain" was gone the next day. So, it's hard to tell when her problems are psychosomatic.

 

[Committed]

Well, at the breakfast table, I let her know that if her injuries are to continue, I will pull her from gym. No sport is worth being hurt so much.
She agreed.
So, I guess we will see where that takes us. She's tried many sports, but gym is her absolute favorite.

 

[GYM0M]

Impact on the spine can sometimes cause a slight deviation in alignment. While this is not 'serious,' it can be quite painful while in certain positions. You can have her stand with her feet together, then bend over and roll her shoulders forward so you can see the curve of her spine. Very, very gently run your fingers along the sides of her spine and if one is out of place, you will be able to feel it. This happened to me in HIGH SCHOOL and a couple trips to the chiropractor and lots of rest helped! However, with a 6-7 year old.....I don't know that I would recommend the chiro. I'm pretty confident that I would NOT take my 7 year old, but I'm not in the situation so don't know if I would change my mind if circstances changed

 

[CanAmGymMum]

Spondylolisthesis could cause sciatic pain and is definitely something to consider for a gymnast. However, there does seem to be some discrepancies in what she can and can't do. A good orthopedic exam should be able to determine what, if anything, is causing her pain. Although I'm not suggesting that you ignore her pain for a prolonged period of time, what happens if you tuck her into bed on the floor like it's normal and completely ignore her requests for pain medication and any other sort of pain behavior? This type of behavior, especially in a sport like gymnastics where the athlete needs to be so in tune with her body, is very worrisome.

 

[MaryA]

DD has a girl in her gym (in high school, training level 9) who always seems to be injured. She was coming back from an injury last month, only competing floor and even then a very watered-down routine, and she landed funny and rolled her ankle. It seems like she has had every imaginable injury on top on ongoing back issues. I told DD, "I love you and I support you doing gymnastics, but if you ever reach the point where you are in chronic pain and just having injury after injury, I'm pulling the plug." DD agreed.

I'd definitely get the back checked out. Better safe than sorry, especially when it comes to backs. And, unless she heard someone (your husband) describing similar pain in the past, talking about a pain that starts in her back and then goes through her butt and down into her legs is pretty specific.

I think swimming sounds like an excellent sport!

 

[krisnkids]

She really needs to be seen by a doctor.

On a side note, when she is practicing the press handstands does she have an arch in her back?

 

[Natasha]

Given the family issues with your husband with back pain and that she is describing the same pain that he has, along with your other descriptions of screaming in pain one day and then being completely better the next day with the MRI, I would recommend a consultation with a child therapist who could be very helpful in helping you sort out whether it is psychosomatic/real/attention seeking or combination of the above. It is hard to effectively have a plan for responding to her until you know this.

Also, make sure you get a good therapist who is skilled with children as it is completely different than working with adults. The therapist will probably also recommend that you consult with a Medical Doctor as you will need to first rule out that there is not an actual physical issue with her back causing the pain.

 

[EastCoastGymMom]

If it was my dd, I would take her to as many doctors (or therapists) as necessary to figure out what's going on, and would most likely pull her out of gymnastics if no concrete answers were found. Gymnastics is hard on their little bodies, especially as the levels and hours go up. It sounds like she is more prone to pain and injury than the average child, whether that is a physical or emotional issue. Regardless of the source of the problem, getting it fixed sooner rather than later will help her (and you!).

 

[bogwoppit]

Stop her doing those press handstands immediately. Done poorly they can put huge stress on the lower back. Just watching some kids do them gives me sciatica.

She needs evaluation and frankly if she was my kid I would yank her from gym and put her in swim, or let her do nothing for a while.

Some kids are not built for sports, four hours a week sounds like very little on this board, but it actually is a lot of hours on top of whatever she does at home.

I would never ignore back pain, especially back pain that radiates anywhere. Even if she is faking, she needs to be seen because you have no idea if she is or isn't.

Moreover do not threaten her with taking gym away if she keeps complaining about pain. It is well known for gymmies to hide pain and injuries when threatened that way. If she stops gym it is because you said so, not because of anything she did. Sometimes parents just get to say "we are done" with no further explanation.

 

[Committed]

Well, I made an appt with her Dr. later this week. We'll see.