dealing with pain

[gymnaSTICKs]

i've never faked an injury... i always WANT to do gymnastics so i'd never fake an injury to get out of doing a skill or conditioning or anything. i've seen girls try to get out of conditioning/certain skills by asking to go to the bathroom when the coach announces what theyre going to be doing, but the kids doing this are young... like 6 years old - not that that makes it okay, but its something that i'm sure they'll grow out of once they get a little older.


as far as hiding injuries goes, i tried to once, but i ended up telling my coaches after a couple weeks. i thought that if i gave it some time that it'd just go away, but it didnt and it ended up getting worse. i later found out that had i took a little time off from gym right away i could have prevented it from getting so bad. and it still hurts sometimes now, so i regret hiding it.

 

[ex-gymnast]

As a former gymnasts:

If i said it hurt my coach shut me down. No more workout- I never admitted to pain/injury until it was so bad I couldn't keep going. Ankles and wrist were taped everyday due to weakness but I always kept going. So by the time I complained he knew it was serious.

As a former coach: (levels 4-7 beam/floor/conditioning)


I had one gymnast who was alway "hurt" with her there was no way to tell. So we made her workout. The problem here is when she really got hurt (sprained ankle) we didn't believe it. None of us saw the injury and we were watching them tumble in.

I had others like me: with them I was always looking for the signs of injury/pain. I was lucky, having been like that I knew the signs.

 

[gymnomore]

This is a really interesting and timely topic with the injury to Shayla Worley. How long had she been making herself "suck it up" before her leg finally broke?

Thanks for bringing it up, it is interesting to hear the different or similar situations

I would bet money that almost all of those girls on the Olympic team are "sucking up" some kind of pain or injury. It's sad. Too bad about Shayla.

 

[KBT]

I would say most gymnasts want to work out and have high pain tolerances. It's much more likely for a gymnast to be working out in pain than to fake an injury. They want to be in the gym working out.

As a gymnast:
I injured my knee and kept working out on it for 18 months. I didn't say anything because I could get through most stuff and I didn't want to complain because what if I really hurt another joint sometime to the point where I couldn't work out and then I'd be the kid who complains all the time. I remember getting to the point where I was considering mentioning the pain, then I really did hurt my arm and was so thankful I didn't mention the knee. Quit doing gym and ended up having surgery three years later because I could barely walk. I'm pretty sure if I had taken it easy for a week after the initial injury I would have been fine.


As a coach:
You know your kids. There's always a few who might try to fake it, but I still think most will work through the best they can. If a kid tells me something hurts, I do an eval - what skills hurt, is it muscle, ligament, etc. I'll massage it, let them skip the skills that hurt. But I'm not a doctor so it's hard for me to really know. I'll ask every day how the joint is doing, if it's getting better with some minimal rest that's great. Otherwise I'll send them off to the doc. Gymnastics comes with lots of aches and pains, but most are somewhat temporary. It's when they're not getting better when avoiding painful skills and/or getting worse that I get worried. I also try to figure out if there's a muscle weakness that we can do strength for (i.e. most wrist pain is caused by weak wrists).

 

[flpflp7]

I coach levels 3-7 & if something bothers them I normally have them ice it for 5 - 10 minutes & re-evaluate. Sometimes they just need a break, sometimes it's more serious. I'm no doc so I'm not gonna pretend I am! After they ice sometimes they can jump back in, sometimes they go home (hardly ever), but mostly they work on conditioning & skills they can do without bothering the injury. I let them decide because I feel like that will help them learn their body & what they can take. No matter what, if they get injured in class or if something has been bothering them for a while I talk to their parents about it so they know & can decide what the best course of action is for their child

 

[Jamie]

COACHES:
How do you respond to a gymnast who comes to you mid-practice and says "My *insert body part here* hurts." or "It hurts when I do a *insert certain skill or conditioning exercise*" Have you ever not believed the gymnast (thought she was just trying to get out doing something) and made her do it anyways? Can you tell when they're serious and when they're faking? Do you tell her to just suck it up? (please list the levels you coach when you reply)

Well, luckily for me as well as being a qualified coach, I am also a qualified Sports Therapist.

I have a small enough group of competitive kids so it's easy to watch what they all do. I wouldn't be as concerned about the 4/5/6 years olds as they're bodies are way more supple & flexible. With them, they tend to be crying from the shock of stubbing a toe or falling from the beam and they're fine.

I always ask them how they hurt it. The majority of the kids genuinely are trying to get out of doing conditioning I find. I think they've copped now that I don't pay attention to the fake injuries but that you can't ignore them if they ask to go to the toilet as we're cautious because we've had "accidents" before.

I can pretty much always tell when there's a proper injury compared to a fake one. If it is something they continue to go on about, I'll say it to the parents at the end of class or give the kid the ultimatum of sitting out of training if it's really "that sore"

 

[lannamavity]

As a gymnast, I was always hurt and didn't realize how hurt I was until doctors have looked at X-rays and have found fractures which healed on their own 15 years ago. Some people have a high pain threshold and want to keep going no matter what...that was/is me.

As a coach, I like to think I know my athletes well enough to know how to handle injuries on an individual basis, but you never know. I have been coaching long enough to see lots of wipeouts and the sorts of injuries which can result, so I usually make a judgement call at that time. If a kid tells me something hurts, they usually try again (or do something similar) to see if it is going to stop them from completing the assignment. They ice, rest and/or I modify their assignment.

If the injury appears acute (swelling, discoloration, dislocation) or is not better in a week, they are not allowed in the gym until they see a doctor, period. The reality is that their health needs to outlast their gymnastics career.

We never reward kids for "pushing through injuries". That is just plain stupid and a recipe for disaster.

 

[IloveBARS]

i think most of the time, gymnast keep quiet when they have an injury so they dont miss any practice time. i had stress fractures in my wrists and had to take three month off for recovery. as a gymnast, it is ingrained in our minds that injury and time off is bad, but i often wonder if i would have spoke up earlier and learned conditioning and strength exercises for my wrists that i might not have had to take any time off at all. i think we could all learn something from courtney kupets. if you set your mind to it, an injury does not have to be the end of the road. taking time to heal is the most important thing because working out with an injury will only lead to more complications later

 

[uggymnast]

well... as a gymnast, i definently know some girls who cry at anything for attention and out of lazyness to get out of conditioning and stuff. Its partly an immaturity thing, and part fault on parents and coaches for letting them get away with it. i personally never "fake" anything or cry in gym because i dont want to draw attention, which is the sole intent on many girls "acts". i fractured my back in december and didn't cry, or make a big deal out of it. I have always been taught never to cry wolf, because when you're really hurt, they wont believe you. i always am weary about telling my coaches if somthing is hurting, i.e. ive had sprained ankle problems recently, because i dont want them to not believe me or think that i am just wanting attention. but because i dont overexagerate or overreact, when somthing is wrong... they will believe me. i just try not to say anything...

 

[Livinatthegym]

After her level 6 season, dd1 had a terrible fall from the pit bar. She missed the pit and landed, on her knees, on the one are of unpadded floor in the whole gym. How she managed that, nobody could figure out. Long story short--no breaks or cartiledge damage, but her knees were never the same. She knew that if she wanted to be a gymnast, she was just going to have to suck it up. She didn't complain to the coach, but you could often see her, at the end of practice right before pick-up, crying in pain as she finished her assignments. I suggested quitting a number of times, but she refused.

This is something I consider one of my great failures as a parent. I should have demanded she take a break and heal (or even quit the sport) rather than continue the pounding. In our then coach's eyes, as long as nothing was broken or torn, and she should heal eventually, there was no mercy, no "light duty" for even a short period of time. In the long run, there was absolutely NOTHING important about moving into optionals or being ready to compete the next season. It was my job to be the mom and make the hard decision, and I didn't.

On a less personal, more philosophical note -

Things a 6, 7, or even 8 year old can do easily can be a lot tougher on a bigger body. Do aparent's or coach's response to pain differ based on the age of the child? Are complaints of pain taken more seriously in younger children since they're less likely to have them? Are complaints of older girls likely to be ignored because they're more likely to have chronic pain. At our gym, the optional coach would often point out that my dd2 and another girl never complained like some of the others. Well, dd2 and the other girl were definitely pre-puberty. Most of the other girls were working similar skills with women's bodies. Let's face it, bigger bodies come down harder.

 

[starmaker]

DD has never complained about being sore or of anything hurting. I used to think it was because she was young and young muscles don't hurt. Then I thought it was because she didn't know how to tell me. But now I know she just doesn't hurt! She tells me: "no mama nothing hurts"
Also, she hasn't had an injury yet- knock on wood! She did have a pretty big fall off beam. Straddled the beam during warm-up (she was playing and racing with the girls next to her). She cried some and her coach gave her ice. After a few minutes came out to show me her injury. She already had a pretty ugly bruise in betweeen her legs. She asked me if it was ok for her to get back on beam. I was like: "of course if you want to, go for it" She did and never looked back.
She also has this self-imposed "tough it out" attitude. For example she hates rope! It hurts her legs and hands. She'll go about half way up and start whinning, crying to herself. I tell her to get down, that it's ok, she doesn't need to cry about it. But she can't. She can't NOT go all the way up the rope. She sucks it up and does it. Once she's down, she doesn't mention it again. She is not a bathroom break kind of gymmie either! And during water breaks she takes a quick sip and is ususally the first one back on the floor. She walks right passed me and doesn't usually talk to me. Sometimes I'll just say in passing.."hey Liv, having fun?" but she usually doesn't answer me. I guess she is too busy and I am just slowing her down.

I don't think Liv would be the type to fake injury although lately she "plays" injured all the time. She'll wrap her knee, ankle whatever and limps/hops around the house on one foot. I"ll hear her say things like: "Oh I hope it gets better soon." or "I sure do have to rest this leg. I wonder if it'll heal in time." or "I guess I can only condition today."
Maybe she trying to put injury into some perspective. SHe sees girls in gym all the time with body parts wrapped up. It may be her way of trying to understand that part of the sport.
What do you guys think? At frist I was concerned about her preoccupation with injuries. At school she spent the whole day hopping on one foot. She told teacher she injuried her foot. At the playground she ran around in a bear crawl. (which she does really fast). She has done this several times and when I ask her about it she tells me she's just playing. So I let her do her thing and hope she outgrows it soon. It reminds me when she was about 2 yrs old and was obsessed with being our family dog. With crawling on the floor, barking to speak, licking to kiss, the whole nine. Good thing we are over that one.

 

[Deleted member 1703]

I probably should not tell you this ...... but when I was a kid I used to make myself a leg cast out of cardboard and go around in it in the house pretending I had broken my leg. I also used to make a sling out of a big white piece of material and put my arm in it for hours at a time!

You will never respect me now, will you?

 

[gracefulone]

Yeah, I think kids just like playing pretend and even just doing imitations. I don't think you should be concerned. Who knows? It may be an early sign of her wanting to be a doctor or physical therapist or something like that!

 

[starmaker]

I probably should not tell you this ...... but when I was a kid I used to make myself a leg cast out of cardboard and go around in it in the house pretending I had broken my leg. I also used to make a sling out of a big white piece of material and put my arm in it for hours at a time!

You will never respect me now, will you?

LOL!!! Yes...I still respect you.

That was a very cute story! I guess it's true- kids just play pretend and have a great ability of getting into "character". Yeah and who knows maybe she is interested in physical therapy.

 

[gymluvr33]

GYMNASTS:
Do you ever fake an "injury" and/or pretend something hurts when it doesn't just to get out of doing a certain skill, conditioning exercise, or event? If so, why? And have you ever had a coach who didn't believe you when you said it hurt to do something and it actually did hurt? If so, how did it make you feel? (please list the level you are or were in when replying)

NO I HAVE NOT!!!!!!! I am more of the person, who no matter how much it hurts, I won't say anything. I have started to figure out when I really need to tell a coach. I do know what you're talking about, though. There is one girl in my class who is very nice, but every practice something hurts (i.e. her head, her back, her ankle) And, amazingly it only hurts when we go to conditioning.

 

[gymgirl_60]

no, i never fake an injury. i tend to not say anything about the injury. whem i was in level 5 i did something to my heel on floor and evry time i put any prssure on it, it really hurt. i didnt tell anyone for two weeksi did eventually tell my coach because my coach noticed i had a slight limp. i have learned that when something like this happens to tell a coach, but i tend to wait a few days to see if it goes away. also, i have a high pain tolorence.

 

[TuesdayPillow]

As a gymnast, I sucked up pain as much as I could. I hated missing a practice or working on any skills. I also hated missing meets. I did have one bad injury. I was also older, and instinct kicked in and told me there was NO WAY I could suck that one up.

As a coach, it depends on the gymnast. Every one has a different personality, pain tolerance, and create different excuses for not doing things. If they are coached well in their early years they won't come at you with fake injuries.

At lower levels normally it's a small tweak or just a funny landing. I tell them to keep going if I don't see any visible change in the part that hurts. Rarely do you get serious injuries from overuse. If something is obviously bruised or swollen, or the body language is indicative of real pain, or the kid is normally tough and hates missing practice, I sit 'em down, give them something else to do, ice, or if it's bad enough send them home.

Higher levels are different. The skills are harder, the reps are more, the kids are older. I cut back on reps for a kid with a tiny pain, cut out the body part in any skills altogether if it has to be wrapped or the doctor has confirmed a slight sprain of any kind. Frequent complainers don't get a lot of sympathy from me if they are the kind of kid that avoids scarier/harder skills. I always tell them not to cry wolf unless there really is one!

 

[canadiangymnast_eh]

I have never faked an injury and never will. I have felt sore or things but i just work through it. The only injury ive ever had was when i had tendonitis in my foot but all it prevented me from doing was hard landings for about a week ( like i tumbled on sting mats or fast trak, dismounted into the pit on bars and beam, and i vaulted into the resi pit).
I know ive never been hurt because when i had to get ice for some one else, i didnt know where to find it. lol.
some other people complain about being hurt at practice but not me like one time this girl "hurt" her ankle doing a yurchenko drill and so the went to bars but everyone knew she was faking (even the coaches) but when she went to bars she started dismounts and she started fooling around with another girl so we knew it was fine.

 

[mariposa]

My DD has never faked an injury. Even when she peeled off the high bar and fell on her back, she went back to practice (after a short break to come out and cry). She is, however, one of the "bathroom breaks" type if she's trying to avoid doing something. She usually goes for avoidance if she's tired or just off her game that night.

I had to laugh because Abby never fakes being hurt or sore ever, but I think she does the bathroom break thing once in a while, usually when she is overtired, which luckily isn't a problem often. There are several girls on DDs team that do the faking an injury thing, then you see them running around and jumping as soon as they are onto something fun. Guess it is pretty common. Usually when they are bored or tired I think. It is funny how kids usually know when other kids are faking injury. Mine will come home and be irritated if another girl did that. I think she gets upset because she knows that she does things she doesn't like and she is probably mad she didn't think of feigning injury.

As a parent, I have told Abby that she definitely shouldn't do things that cause pain and that if she has pain she needs to tell me or her coach, but not to use it to get out of things. At home, she complains about everything and cries when she can't get things right, but at the gym, she is pretty tough.

Hard place to be as a coach, but even with a kid that I thought was faking injury to get out of things, I might require a visit to the doctor to make sure it wasn't anything. Might encourage the parents to have a talk to their child about faking injuries.

And then there is always the story of the little boy who cried wolf...a coach might not know when a child is really hurt if they are always faking being hurt. Good story to use when talking to kids as well.

 

[rachmeal03]

Being a former gymnast, I've dealt with my fair share of all the issues you listed. I never faked an injury but I had teammates who did. My injuries were always legit considering my passion for the sport. There are ways coaches can check for "fake" injuries and you can always get a dr.'s opinion if you think a coach/parent doesnt believe you. I actually just wrote a book that deals with a lot of these issues in the Parent section. The book is called Gymnastics in a Nutshell and will be released this spring.