Parents Season over prematurely

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

M

Midget's Dad

Midget has been diagnosed with a stress fracture of the L5 vertebrae and is out for the next 2 to 3 months. Poor girl is devastated. She was not happy with her first 3 meets and has been crying every day because she cant compete and do better.

On the other hand she is still going to practice to stretch and do conditioning and the HC has been letting her help coach. She appears to have a gift for it though it is funny to think about her as an 8 yo level 5 coaching the level 4s that are all older than her. But apparently they think she is great at it.
 
bummer for her!!! I hope she recovers quickly. That is cute that she seems to have found something she is good at that is keeping her busy in the gym!
 
Oh poor Midget. I know how you feel though. Make sure she takes all the time she needs to heal as these things can drag out for a long time and get uglier.

So glad she is finding an outlet through coaching.
 
A back fracture at Level 5 would be concerning to me going forward...what is her training regimen that led to this? and are there more girls in her gym with similar injuries? My daughter had a back fracture ...but not until her third year of level 10...it took her a solid 12 weeks of resting for it to heal without sequelae..definitely take the 3 months to let it heal..
 
It is an overuse injury. Basically from doing lots of backwards bending movements. From what I understand it is a fairly common type of injury for gymnasts. Based on the physical therapy she is doing it seems to be related to her core muscles.

There is a difference between a stress fracture and a regular fracture, this one was also caught very early. The vertebrae is weakened but not actually broken all the way.
 
It is an overuse injury. Basically from doing lots of backwards bending movements. From what I understand it is a fairly common type of injury for gymnasts. Based on the physical therapy she is doing it seems to be related to her core muscles.

There is a difference between a stress fracture and a regular fracture, this one was also caught very early. The vertebrae is weakened but not actually broken all the way.

and the fact that it's an overuse injury in Level 5 is what would really concern me...my daughter had a stress fracture when she did it as well and was out the 12 weeks...
 
I dont think it is a training issue. Or, to be more clear, I dont think it is an issue with the gym. I do think it is an issue with her, the coaches have noticed that she tends to twist into backwards skills in compensation for some weak core muscles. The doctor and the PT say the same. They are working to correct that for the future.
 
I do think it is an issue with her, the coaches have noticed that she tends to twist into backwards skills in compensation for some weak core muscles.

But your desciption is indicative of a training problem. If the coaches noticed that she had habits to compensate for a weak core, why didn't they stop her from doing the skill? I believe that is what Bookworm is getting at. If her core is too weak to support what they are having her do, skill/drill wise... then they need to strengthen her core; aka beef up their team conditioning. We left a very famous gym with a big deficit in conditioning. My DD almost quit when she got to the new gym because the conditioning was so much more difficult. The injury rate at her old gym is sky high with lots and lots of overuse injuries.

I would pose this question to her coaches, "how are we going to prevent her from getting another stress fracture? Will she be doing more conditioning to strengthen her core?"

Hope she heals fully. Unfortunately, I would hope for a full recovery rather than a fast one. A stress fracture in one so young at such a foundational level is concerning. Good luck to Midget.
 
With my kids for weak tooth enamel I had to start giving them not only vitamin D all fall/winter/spring (which our family doctor asks everyone to take) but also B-complex and K2. I believe their need for B-complex and high dose K2 for strong bones and teeth is related both to diet (the K levels in dairy have plummeted since animals stopped being grass fed as often) but also some kids just have gut bacteria that are not pumping out the vitamins they need.

Anyway I mention this because I think D, B-complex and K2 might also benefit stress fractures.
 
I hope healing goes well. I do agree with bookworm--a stress fracture in a level 5 is concerning. Something like that doesn't typically happen until the upper levels when they've put more repetitions on their body.
 
She might be twisting into her backbends to compensate for stiff shoulders as well as a weak core. So along side the increase in her core conditioning she might benefit with improving her shoulder flexibility.

I agree with Bookworm. If she doesn't have the necessary core strength to do a move should she really be endlessly training it? Not really IMHO. Especially since she doesn't really need it at level 5.

Is it a common injury in gymnastics? Maybe at higher levels and older ages it is more common than it really should be. Your dd is very young. If this is a particular problem you sense with her body and the way it is made then I would be doubly worried. A training regime can be altered, your dd's body make up cannot. It could always be a problem as she advances in her gymnastics.

Any overuse injury at level 5 is a big red flag. Any overuse injury at age 8(I think is that right?) is doubly worrying. I hope she really takes time to heal and strengthen. She has plenty of time to come back to gymnastics when she is older. And her coaching the others is brilliant!
 
I absolutely agree with Bookworm. A stress fracture, or any other kind of overuse injury, at level 5 would definitely be a red flag to me that something's not quite right. If the coaches have told you she's training incorrectly, well, as others have noted, that's a training issue right there. Is she also training too many hours for level 5??

My DD also had what was though to be a stress fracture at the L5 location in her back last year, but she was a L7, training L8, and going to the gym 16 hours at week at that point. Some of her friends also suffered from stress fractures, but again they were also L8+ and working 16 and up hours per week.

Yes, stress fractures seem to be common among gymnasts, but that doesn't mean they are to be taken lightly. Gymnastics is temporary and for most of our girls (and boys) something to keep them active and in shape, and not a means to a college scholarship (let's be real here, o.k.?).... but their backs have to last them their whole lives. My biggest fear right now is what is my DD going to be like when she's 25 or 30? Will all these years of stress on her ankles and back catch up to her then? Will she be able to jump right out of bed, or will she roll out like a 50 year old woman?

Please allow your DD to take the 3 months or so, it truly does take that long to fully heal. Good luck!
 
To all that are being supportive, thank you. For those that feel they need to comment on everything else, I am sure you mean well. But frankly I am done. More and more on CB I see people second guessing everyone else constantly. That is not for me.
 
So sorry to hear about your DD. Hope she gets back on her feet soon. In the mean time Im sure she is loving being able to tell "the big girls" what to do..lol
 

New Posts

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

Gymnaverse :: Recent Activity

College Gym News

New Posts

Back