Parents A smile and a sigh....

[Fliptwisttumble]

It's been a crazy month for my daughter. She has spent the last few months working towards her goal of competing L7 this spring (she only competes in invitationals due to her age). After finally nailing down an uprise (above in lieu of giants here), her split 1/4 on beam and the BWO-BHS, and then the layout 1/2, they (her and the coaches) finally agreed to L7 for her 3 meets. (Smile)

But this week she's complained of shoulder pain - apparently not having wanted to tell me about it at the beginning (she hates doctors), but after last night fessing up after I saw her get teary and have to ice, that her shoulder pops and it has for a while. So 2 weeks before her competition season starts and we're making our first ever visit to the sports doctor this week. (Sigh)

I know all gymmies will go through this, but I was hoping for her to get past 8 years old to have issues. I'm sure all will be well, but I just needed to vent to those BTDT.

Thx.

 

[gymmomtoo]

Oh I'm so sorry! I hope the shoulder issue is nothing to worry about.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

and it certainly might be the uprise causing pain due to her age. an uprise is hard on the rotator and AC joint. have her put her hands on a table or counter top with her arms extended straight and palms down. then tell her to push down as hard as she can without bending her arms. when she feels the pinpoint pain (which i'm sure she will) ask her to point with her finger on the other hand while she is pushing down right to where it hurts. this will help the Doc. let me know the at home test result.

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

Thanks so much, Dunno. We'll try it when she gets up in the AM.

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

Hmmm... I thought I posted this yesterday but perhaps there was a glitch...

Dunno - DH tried this with my daughter yesterday morning. She put her full body weight onto her arms pressed onto the table, and said that it didn't hurt.

So not sure if that is the expected or unexpected result. Leaving in a couple of hours for the new sports doc appt, so we shall see.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

then there is a good chance it is not her shoulder. it may be the bicep tendon which makes the shoulder hurt. let us know.

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

So we went to the doc, who said she is/has hyper ligamentous laxity, also called multi directional instability. In laymans terms it would appear to mean super flexibility in her joints - both a pro and a con for gymnasts.

He suggested a few exercises for her shoulder, but generally said you can't tighten up the ligaments so the most she could do at the moment is keep her shoulder as strong as possible and not to move to quickly towards release moves.

He said it "might" tighten up as she grows, but might not.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

pretty common ^^^ she'll be fine then.