Parents injuries...

[CuriousCate]

SO unfortunately the week after discovering that she had made level 7, my poor sweet kiddo got hurt - growth plate fracture of the shoulder. This is her first "real" injury where she really can't do much of anything except leg conditioning and splits for 4 weeks. I was wondering from those of you whose kids have been injured and out for a few weeks (not talking season long recovery or surgical issues, but like 4-6 weeks out), how long did it take them to get everything back when they were able to return to full practice? Did you notice the return of prior mental blocks or major set backs like that? Obviously, I know that every kid is different, but I'm just asking to get a range and perhaps some idea of what to expect. She is 9 1/2 if that matters. First meet is mid-January and she's got another 2 weeks out.

Thanks all!

 

[GymParent]

Like you said, every injury and every kid is different. Mine broke a couple bones in her hand on beam in practice a few years ago requiring surgery. It was Nov and she was level 7 at the time. She continued with her conditioning, stretching, leaps, going through floor routine, etc until she was cleared. She competed in February about 2 weeks after full clearance. She did great on 3 events. It took bars about a month more to get back to full strength (and toughen up those calluses again) so low scoring for a little while. It was a freak injury and no mental blocks going back to that skill after, but it is different for everyone. Good luck to your daughter!

 

[Deleted member 18037]

It’s not just the amount of weeks but the type of injury, where in the season the injury happens and where they are skill wise that will effect, the ”how long“ they will take to get back to 100 percent.

My kid has had 2 fractures. Both in early fall.

One on her leg had her out for about 4 weeks. She was still compulsory. Was able to keep upper body strong. Was back full on by December medaled at states.

The other arm, casted for 4 weeks. PT required. About to compete L8, very new to those skills and didn’t have all of them. Unable to compete until Jan, minimal skills. Didn’t qualify for states.

She got most of her weak or missing skills back over the spring/summer so I would say it slowed her down by about 6 months.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

I don't have any advice, but I'm sorry about her injury. I hope that she is able to bounce back quickly and has a great season!

 

[cp13]

My daughter had a back injury last year in L5. It happened early in the season and she was out of the gym completely for about 6-8 weeks. Around the 6 week mark she started going back to the gym and doing conditioning and simple skills. I worked closely with the PT and the coach to figure out when she could gradually add skills back in. She was fully back after the injury in about 3 months. I don't think the injury set her back too much. The bwo on beam was problematic for the rest of the season because she couldn't do the repetitions to make it consistent. She missed out on a lot of training time and so certainly she probably was less successful but overall, her skills came back quickly. She placed 3rd on floor at states and that was the event that she had mental blocks on and got injured on. I credit her coaches for that because they had to figure out how much to push in order to get the ro-bh-bt back.

 

[gymbeam]

Nooooo! I’m so sorry!

 

[CuriousCate]

I don't have any advice, but I'm sorry about her injury. I hope that she is able to bounce back quickly and has a great season!

Nooooo! I’m so sorry!

Thanks @mom2newgymnast and @gymbeam for caring I know you both know of my kiddo's journey in detail (probably too much painful detail!)... Hopefully she'll bounce back quickly! It's character building, right??!!

 

[CuriousCate]

My daughter had a back injury last year in L5. It happened early in the season and she was out of the gym completely for about 6-8 weeks. Around the 6 week mark she started going back to the gym and doing conditioning and simple skills. I worked closely with the PT and the coach to figure out when she could gradually add skills back in. She was fully back after the injury in about 3 months. I don't think the injury set her back too much. The bwo on beam was problematic for the rest of the season because she couldn't do the repetitions to make it consistent. She missed out on a lot of training time and so certainly she probably was less successful but overall, her skills came back quickly. She placed 3rd on floor at states and that was the event that she had mental blocks on and got injured on. I credit her coaches for that because they had to figure out how much to push in order to get the ro-bh-bt back.

Thank you for sharing. It's helpful to hear a success story!

 

[CuriousCate]

It’s not just the amount of weeks but the type of injury, where in the season the injury happens and where they are skill wise that will effect, the ”how long“ they will take to get back to 100 percent.

My kid has had 2 fractures. Both in early fall.

One on her leg had her out for about 4 weeks. She was still compulsory. Was able to keep upper body strong. Was back full on by December medaled at states.

The other arm, casted for 4 weeks. PT required. About to compete L8, very new to those skills and didn’t have all of them. Unable to compete until Jan, minimal skills. Didn’t qualify for states.

She got most of her weak or missing skills back over the spring/summer so I would say it slowed her down by about 6 months.

Thank you for sharing both stories! I'm hoping my kid follows the path of fracture #1!

 

[CuriousCate]

Like you said, every injury and every kid is different. Mine broke a couple bones in her hand on beam in practice a few years ago requiring surgery. It was Nov and she was level 7 at the time. She continued with her conditioning, stretching, leaps, going through floor routine, etc until she was cleared. She competed in February about 2 weeks after full clearance. She did great on 3 events. It took bars about a month more to get back to full strength (and toughen up those calluses again) so low scoring for a little while. It was a freak injury and no mental blocks going back to that skill after, but it is different for everyone. Good luck to your daughter!

Wow - what a great recovery. Thank you for sharing!

 

[KipWinger]

So sorry to hear about your daughter's injury--I hope she has a speedy recovery!

I feel like the time to recovery for my DD's injuries has varied depending on how she sustained the injury and the severity and timing of the injury. Her bar skills always seem to take the longest to come back, possibly because she's always had injuries to the upper extremities (hairline fracture near elbow 2.5 years ago, 2 broken bones through the growth plate in the wrist last spring, and a broken thumb last summer) and possibly because she has a history of struggling on bars.

She only was out for a month or so after her elbow injury (and she was only the equivalent of a level 2-3) so that injury really had little impact on her progression.

She was out for 7-8 weeks after she broke her wrist, although she kept going to practice to condition (maybe 6 hrs per week). She was able to return to full training about 3-4 weeks before her championship meet (her coach petitioned her in) and she did well (second on vault and beam in the equivalent of around JO level 5). She didn't regain all of her bar skills in time for the meet (which really stressed her out), but I think she was happy with how she did.

She was only out for 3 weeks after she broke her thumb after a bad beam BHS in August. This was not a bad fracture but since then, she's been unable to do a BHS on beam without major spotting due to a mental block. I think it's understandable but it's been really bothering her. So, I guess, in essence, she's still mentally recovering from that injury even though she's physically healed.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Thank you for sharing both stories! I'm hoping my kid follows the path of fracture #1!

In the scheme of fractures, not that any kid should be hurt. Yep, that one wasn't bad...... May your kids healing go as well or better

 

[Deleted member 18037]

She was only out for 3 weeks after she broke her thumb after a bad beam BHS in August. This was not a bad fracture but since then, she's been unable to do a BHS on beam without major spotting due to a mental block. I think it's understandable but it's been really bothering her. So, I guess, in essence, she's still mentally recovering from that injury even though she's physically healed.

And that is harder then the actual physical healing

 

[Faith]

It’s a growth plate fracture. It needs to heal. Properly and fully.

I’d give her some time off while she has the opportunity. Especially if she has blocks and fears. Get her away from the gym, go on vacation if you can, or a couple of fun weekends and days out.

missing leg conditioning and splits for two weeks, even longer, won’t make a bit of difference to the long term. That time off with give her mind and body time to reset.

My dd is 15 now. Between her and her team mates, all have had time off for various reasons. Injury, illness, appendicitis. One had nearly a year out after she had sepsis. Looking at them all now you wouldn’t have a clue who had made every session and who hadn’t. Some are elite, some are close to it.

The overall message from years down the track is let the injury heal. Those who try and train through it are more often than not left with permanent niggles and quit because of it. Or it doesn’t heal properly and they need corrective surgery and more time off down the line. I get it feels like she’ll never get back and the others will storm ahead, but the won’t. She’ll catch up.

 

[CuriousCate]

It’s a growth plate fracture. It needs to heal. Properly and fully.

The overall message from years down the track is let the injury heal. Those who try and train through it are more often than not left with permanent niggles and quit because of it. Or it doesn’t heal properly and they need corrective surgery and more time off down the line. I get it feels like she’ll never get back and the others will storm ahead, but the won’t. She’ll catch up.

Oh I'm definitely not rushing her! This is actually what I do for a living! If anything I'm annoyingly conservative with my own kid, so I defer to one of my partners to make the decisions so I don't just make her quit to spare my mental state! She definitely had a good several months of mental blocks on pretty much every event to some degree and spent the summer working her butt off to overcome them...and actually did! I'm just curious what others' experiences have been when the kids do return...

And thank you for the encouragement! I'll pass it along to her!!