WAG Anyone with experience with Severs and PT?

[munchkin3]

Munch has gotten to the point where she is asking to be casted....She's coming out of practice with A LOT of pain....I just don't think casting is the solution since it will come right back after she's back tumbling....
I am going to give PT a try first. Anyone have ANY experience with PT and severs?
I feel like the pt has quite a bit of ammunition with this condition before jumping into casts.....
Massage, ultrasound, ice massage, stretching....Any advice or experiences would be appreciated.

 

[mommyof1]

Munch has gotten to the point where she is asking to be casted....She's coming out of practice with A LOT of pain....I just don't think casting is the solution since it will come right back after she's back tumbling....
I am going to give PT a try first. Anyone have ANY experience with PT and severs?
I feel like the pt has quite a bit of ammunition with this condition before jumping into casts.....
Massage, ultrasound, ice massage, stretching....Any advice or experiences would be appreciated.

I will PM you.

 

[2gymmies]

My older dd worked through severs with ice cup massages, stretching, Oscon, and Tylenol. I would definitely give PT a try before casting!!! Poor thing - makes me hurt just thinking about it...

 

[gymnastmom05]

We did PT at first and ended up casting. There are many different opinions on the casting but for my DD, it MADE her give her foot the rest it needed to get the pain under control. Now we are much more proactive when she starts feeling pain and she knows when to back off. Before the cast, she just could not get the pain under control. To me, it was like the anchor that she needed to hold her back while her body healed. We did PT, cheetah cups (still do those), ice, etc to help but the cast really was the thing that helped her the most. These girls are so used to moving and being active, it's hard even when you keep them out of the gym to rest their body.

 

[duyetanh]

I will pm you tonight. Pt is definitely worth a shot!

 

[munchkin3]

Have few appointments this week to see what the best course of action will be.
I have no problem casting, or booting......its just that it BOTH feet.....can she have both feet booted?
My son went through 3 rounds of double casting for Achilles' tendon contracture...and severs, etc....not sure if I could repeat this.

 

[2littlegymmiesmom]

We are in PT now for DD (9) who is going through a bad flare up. She has been booted 3x for it for that exact reason, so it has time to heal while she rested it. We have managed to avoid the cast this far because her ortho prefers the boot so she still has some movement and range of motion preventing too much stiffness and weak muscles. She actually ended up with a sprained ankle and tendonitis this time in addition to the severs, all due to the fact that because the heel was hurting so bad she was landing differently which led to the Sprain etc. The PT has worked wonders so far. Her pain level has gone down dramatically. PT also noticed that her right foot was much weaker and less flexible than the left due to chronic severs issues which he feels just never fully healed. DD is working on strengthening and getting more range of motion and flexibility in the right ankle. I wish we had started PT before this because it has really helped. In just a couple weeks I see a huge difference in her pain level and willingness to use that foot. We went from a boot and crutches, to a boot, to no boot much quicker than anticipated. Good luck to your DD and hope she heals quickly and you Can avoid a cast!

 

[B.Gold]

My dd has been through severs (3 or 4 flare ups, once with a growth plate break), plantar fasciitis, and most recently peroneal tendon subluxation (say that 5 times fast). Her weak spot is her right foot.

Casting\booting her has made her condition worse. What we are finally realizing is, as long as our dd is doing gym, she will need PT care. With every episode, it has been her PT that has gotten her back into shape. Our big mistake, with each episode, is having stopped the P.T, then, shortly after, pain and inflammation would return. I'm convinced that if we continued maintenance PT, some of these other episodes would never have occurred.

An orthopedist diagnosis a condition, but a good physical therapist fixes it. Good luck!

 

[wrzos]

My daughter did a lot of PT when her severs was bad. She was really, really bad about stretching at home - still is. So I wouldn't take her to PT till she also had another issue, but once there, they worked on the severs as well. She refused the needling (but I think she may have come around to this eventually), and in general hated the treatment, but it definitely helped. There was lots of stretching, massage, scraping of the achilles with a plastic credit card looking thing, ultrasound to the area, heat and ice both. I'd definitely try it over casting...

 

[Iwannabemargo]

@munchkin3 have you tried the massage technique linked on the other severs thread ? Its really helping Pink atm ( well she is back getting new skills so thats a bonus), plus the heel cups. She is however feeling it in her other leg now so I'm off to get another heel cup and now massaging both legs.

( Oh and we call Step-daughter "the Munchkin" too as she was premmie)

 

[munchkin3]

LOL! Thanks everybody! I so appreciate the feedback and the differences in everybody's paths.
I don't know what will work for her, but I'm thinking the PT will be #1 for now....then I need to see about the boot- or boots.......can she possible have both feet in boots????[emoji43]
Yesterday a gym friend said the same thing- get the boot for when she is at home, or school....really everywhere else, and at gym she can take them off for stretching and strength.
I guess she can also do bars and some beam?
I dont know.....I just want to avoid casting for this.
The only bonus when they did it for my son, was his flexibility was awesome! (For about 1 month)
Margo- I have been massaging, but not exactly like the video....

 

[munchkin3]

My daughter did a lot of PT when her severs was bad. She was really, really bad about stretching at home - still is. So I wouldn't take her to PT till she also had another issue, but once there, they worked on the severs as well. She refused the needling (but I think she may have come around to this eventually), and in general hated the treatment, but it definitely helped. There was lots of stretching, massage, scraping of the achilles with a plastic credit card looking thing, ultrasound to the area, heat and ice both. I'd definitely try it over casting...

What's needling?

 

[Splash123]

@munchkin3 not 100% sure but I think by "needling" they mean acupuncture therapy??

 

[B.Gold]

One more comment\observation. Munchkin3 this isn't directed towards you and your dd specifically, but it is related to your question.

Red flags that it's time to question your gym choice if:

1) your coaches think your dd is faking pain to get out of work. (Let's be honest, if she's faking pain, her days are numbered anyways)

2) you and\or your dd are hiding a diagnosed condition from her coaches for fear of being kicked out of the program. (Hint: hiding a boot in the car at drop off is concerning)

3) your dd's coaches discourage you from ever taking your child to a reputable medical dr., but have you take her to a chiropractor instead. (A coach who doesn't want you to involve a medical professional doesn't really care about the well being of your child)

The more stories I hear from neighboring gyms-, the more I cherish my dd's gym...

 

[B.Gold]

Splash123 correct... needling is an acupuncture therapy accepted by "western" medicine rooted in scientific research.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

type 'dry needling' into youtube (if you are okay with watching needles) you will see plenty of videos with twitching. My main advice for Severs is to identify early and seek treatment to manage it asap. , It is a very small inconvenience if you don't wait - of course this advice is not useful to most in this thread.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

My main advice for Severs is to identify early and seek treatment to manage it asap. , It is a very small inconvenience if you don't wait - of course this advice is not useful to most in this thread.

Guilty

I do tune out my DD frequently when she moans about aches and pains. I think because everything "really hurts", or used to when she was little. Be it a hang nail or a broken toe, there was no scale for her pain so I used to think she was whining.

Also as no matter how excruciating the pain she would still go to gym with no obvious limping etc. Now she is older we use the 1-5 scale for pain and she is getting better at quantifying. But old habits die hard

 

[mommyof1]

Guilty

I do tune out my DD frequently when she moans about aches and pains. I think because everything "really hurts", or used to when she was little. Be it a hang nail or a broken toe, there was no scale for her pain so I used to think she was whining.

Also as no matter how excruciating the pain she would still go to gym with no obvious limping etc. Now she is older we use the 1-5 scale for pain and she is getting better at quantifying. But old habits die hard

It is so hard when you have a kid who complains equally about a tiny bruise and Sever's, or a minor cold and a raging case of strep. Whenever my child is asked to rate her pain on a scale from 1 to 10, she invariably answers "8." It is just impossible to gauge the seriousness of an injury or illness based on her description.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

We did the massage where you gently rub your knuckles next to the Achilles while flexing the foot, combined with stretching and icing for home care. We also had frequent PT visits with ice massage, manipulation and massaging with a metal thingy (I'm sure that's the medical term!). She backed off a LOT during practice for the major flare ups (like no tumbling on floor at all, only tumbltrak, and no vaulting!). She wears a cheetah cup the whole time she's at gym, still does even though it's quite mild right now. When it flares up she also wears extra support/cushioning in her shoes.

 

[gracyomalley]

It is so hard when you have a kid who complains equally about a tiny bruise and Sever's, or a minor cold and a raging case of strep. Whenever my child is asked to rate her pain on a scale from 1 to 10, she invariably answers "8." It is just impossible to gauge the seriousness of an injury or illness based on her description.

I run into this both at home and work...my DD wouldn't complain about pain from gym unless she couldn't walk...literally, but my youngest is always hurting. And hangnails were disasters when he was little...I do try to get a gauge on whether his discomfort is changing how he's moving - back pain on rings with growth has been a big issue for this one - nothing serious, but leading to technique issues that lead to more pain, etc. Older son has bad flat feet - lead to pain, led to landing funny on big tumbling passes which led to ankle tendonitis, etc..

With so many of these things only true rest heals...DD ankles only completely healed after she not only quit gym but also aged out of the competitive cheer program where she was doing countless standing back tucks, front twisting, aerials and layouts on gym floors...and a benefit of older son's lack of time in the gym due to music and mulitple AP classes is his feet and ankles feel fine...Happily she can now run 5Ks without any pain or instability - something I wondered about a year ago...

Point being, its really important to make sure its "only" severs, and that technique isn't being harmed in such a way as to lead to a more serious issue - I always tell parents the good news about Severs is it will hurt but not cause any long term damage - as long as its respected! Youth sports are great and feel very important, but long term health for their growing bodies is the goal...

At work when a kid walks into the exam room and jumps up on the table then tells me their belly pain is an 8 out of 10, I tell them 8 means you can't get to the bathroom on your own, 10 means you can only lie in bed moaning, and anything that allows you to do all your daily activities is 5 or less...I'm nice when I say it, but it does help to give kids a reasonable scale to judge by...