Coming back after injury/need realistic expectations

[Claire]

My daughter was put in a boot by the orthopedist for Iselin's disease (which is inflamation of the growth plate connnected to a bone in her foot). He prescribed the boot for 3 weeks. She goes back for a re-check Friday. She is already missing a meet this weekend and she has another one the next weekend. This is a big meet that she has really been looking forward to. She says the pain is gone now, so we anticipate her being released from the boot and able to resume normal activity. If she is released, she will have 1 week to train for this big meet. Will she be able to practice as she normally does or will she need to ease into it? Does she have any chance to do well at this meet? She has been attending practice and doing major conditioning, so hopefully she will be back in the swing of things in no time at all. She has worked so hard doing her conditioning; I am so proud of her. When the ortho told her 3 weeks with no gymnastics,such heart broken sobs you have never heard.
I just want to prepare her realistically for what may happen. This is her first major injury.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

depends on her level of gymnastics.

 

[Claire]

She is training L5, but competing L4. (She has all L5 skills, except for a consistent kip.)

 

[coachmolly]

If she's been doing a good amount of conditioning and was ahead before the injury, I think she should be able to get caught up. Her skills might not be as good as they were before, so she probably won't want to have high expectations for awesome places, especially at a big meet, but I think she could do it.
I'm not familiar with the condition, but if doctors encourage her to ease back into training to see how things go, I think at least bars and beam could be an option. Not a lot of running or pounding.
Injuries are always tough, especially during the season. Best wishes for the appt., hoping it's all great news! Good luck!

 

[gym law mom]

Ask her doctor and be specific as to the skills she will be doing such as ro-bhs, vault etc. He can give you better guidance on how much she can do right away. She may be able to come back and practice all events or may have to settle for competing bars/beam. Make sure her coaches keep a close eye on her so that she is following doc's instructions---if any.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

She is training L5, but competing L4. (She has all L5 skills, except for a consistent kip.)

i think she'll be okay. i'm sure her coaches would not put her at risk.

 

[Claire]

Thanks for the advice. We are planning for the first meet to be a "fun meet" and just be happy if she gets to do it at all. If she places well, that will just be a bonus.

She has wonderful coaches with a lot of experience and I do trust their judgment for her. I know they won't let her do more than she should.

 

[MamaofEnS]

DD broke her leg

Hi,

This happened to my dd. She broke her leg at the gym, and was put in a "knee immobilizer" for three weeks. She continued to go to the gym everyday, but for less hours, practicing on bars, conditioning, and low beam.

The coaches let her decide how much she was ready for when the immobilizer came off. She didn't have any pain, so she was able to go pretty much all the way without much relearning.

However, she did need to relearn her flyaway, since she got that right before she broke her leg, and she has been reluctant to do her flick on the high beam, since she also attaches that to hurting her leg.

She did miss one meet, since her immobilizer came off shortly before her first level 6 meet.


Good luck, and I hope she heals quickly.

MamaofEnS

 

[Claire]

Update: Even though she has no more pain in the foot, the doctor wants to "wean her off" the boot. He said 2 hours off in the morning and evening for a week and then 4 hours off in the morning and evening for a week and then re-check again. She is not to put any pressure on the foot, but he is allowing her to do bars, just without any dismount. She was disappointed, but so happy to be able to at least do bars. She will miss the big competition she was looking forward to, but hopefully be able to do the next 2 competitions and state. This has been such a crazy season!

 

[cathiann]

Update: Even though she has no more pain in the foot, the doctor wants to "wean her off" the boot. He said 2 hours off in the morning and evening for a week and then 4 hours off in the morning and evening for a week and then re-check again. She is not to put any pressure on the foot, but he is allowing her to do bars, just without any dismount. She was disappointed, but so happy to be able to at least do bars. She will miss the big competition she was looking forward to, but hopefully be able to do the next 2 competitions and state. This has been such a crazy season!

Oh bummer! That is a slow weaning off too--but if it keeps her healthy in the long run, that's the important thing.

 

[Claire]

UPDATE #2 We went back to the doctor and he fully released her to do gymnastics with no restrictions!! She was estatic! Her coach let her go to practice that night with the upper level girls, even though that's not her usual practice time. She got to do her routines on all events and she looked really good. She might need a little brushing up on some skills, but overall she looked really good. The other moms were all commenting on how good she was doing and how the upper body strength she gained fron all that conditioning was really paying off. She has 2 weeks until her next meet. We can't wait!