Parents Finally some answers- wrist injury

[mom2gymnast]

You may have seen some of my posts about my DD's wrist injury. It started in March with some pretty bad pain in her wrist mostly on BHS. She worked through it to get to state and I let her as she had already sat out 6+ months with OCD in her elbow last year (same arm!). Took her to the ortho the week after state. She spend 9 weeks total in a brace/ cast, as she had a stress fracture in her radius growth plate confirmed with MRI. Once out of the cast she still had significant pain (same as before). The dr pushed for a contrast MRI as he suspected from the areas of pain possible ligament/ tendon/ cartilage damage. Insurance denied this saying it was not necessary per their guidelines (UGH!). So we were referred to a hand/wrist surgeon who ordered the same MRI and it was approved (wasted 5 weeks on this process!-grrrrrr). Long story short, there is most likely a tear in her scapholunate ligament. We had the option of continuing to let it heal (it has been 4 months this week) which may or may not work at this point, or surgery to see exactly what is going on and fixing the issue. She could be out an additional 6-8 months depending on what they find. It will start as a scope surgery, but if a tear is found she will have an open incision several inches long for repair. We have opted for surgery as she has sat out this long already and does not want to take the wait and see approach.
I am really sad for her right now. I hope that the damage in minimal and she will be back at it before the 6-8 months but I am also being realistic. I also worry about long term function in her wrist!
Has anyone dealt with a similar injury? I have not been able to find a lot about this and gymnasts on my searches.

 

[John]

@mom2agymnast I have no experience to offer. I just wanted to say sorry your Daughter has to endure this injury and the feelings associated with it. I am sad for her too.

 

[Gymsy4]

We have had quite a few injuries but none that sound like what yours is going through. How discouraging for her after going through the OCD injury. I hope you get the answers out are looking for and she is back to doing what she loves sooner rather than later.

 

[flyinghigh]

That’s tough, especially after OCD. Curious- did she have surgery for OCD and if she did which type? OATS, microfracture, bone graft etc? My daughter had the microfracture procedure last week for her second episode with OCD same elbow. She was treated conservatively (for 8 months) two years earlier with andiffeeent doctor, was cleared and it came back. We have learned the hrs way conservative therapy does not work.
Injuries are the worst!! I’m so sorry

 

[mom2gymnast]

That’s tough, especially after OCD. Curious- did she have surgery for OCD and if she did which type? OATS, microfracture, bone graft etc? My daughter had the microfracture procedure last week for her second episode with OCD same elbow. She was treated conservatively (for 8 months) two years earlier with andiffeeent doctor, was cleared and it came back. We have learned the hrs way conservative therapy does not work.
Injuries are the worst!! I’m so sorry

Oh I'm sorry for your daughter! Mine had microfracture and stem cell injection. Surgery was in June and she was allowed to weight bear again in Sept. She was not doing 100% again till about Dec/Jan. I guess hers was not a good candidate for conservative treatment cause her dr never brought it up. He said right from the start that it will not heal without surgery. But I had read enough to know we were going to push for surgery. She has not had any elbow issue since so knock on wood that it stays that way!

 

[flyinghigh]

Oh I'm sorry for your daughter! Mine had microfracture and stem cell injection. Surgery was in June and she was allowed to weight bear again in Sept. She was not doing 100% again till about Dec/Jan. I guess hers was not a good candidate for conservative treatment cause her dr never brought it up. He said right from the start that it will not heal without surgery. But I had read enough to know we were going to push for surgery. She has not had any elbow issue since so knock on wood that it stays that way!

Well, I’m glad you went the surgery route because conservative therapy doesn’t work. I’m sorry she is now dealing with a different issue. This sport drives me nuts. What kind of weight bearing was she allowed in sept? Our surgeron, who has done this procedure on many gymnasts, is telling us that she might be getting my dd back completely in 3-4 months. Of
Course we are only a week behind surgery but she’s to start weight bearing in a few more weeks in pt. Dad is hopeful because her last round of OCD she was off that elbow for 8 months.

 

[mom2gymnast]

She was allowed to start right at 3 mo. Starting with handstands and cartwheels. We worked closely with her PT to work up to more impact. The last thing she did was bhs first on trampoline then on harder surfaces. She was very hesitant and didn't do anything till she felt ready as she didn't want to get hurt again.

 

[mom2gymnast]

Surgery update: Well sadly we got about the worst case scenario she could have. Her scapholunate ligament was partially torn. She was able to fix it with thermal shrinkage. This is the ligament that showed torn on the MRI and was the easiest fix for that. BUT...she also found that the TFCC was completely torn and had to do a repair with an anchor. Because of having two torn ligaments her recovery time now almost doubles so we are facing the possibility of 8 months to heal. She did well though and is in good spirits! I think she is happy to finally be able to move forward!

 

[gymbeam]

Aw man. Sorry for that news but happy surgery is behind her. Wishing you and her the best during her recovery!

 

[Seeker]

Wow - that is a tough blow! Any idea how that happened? That is a pretty tough injury no matter how you look at it. Glad she’s in good spirits.

 

[mom2gymnast]

Wow - that is a tough blow! Any idea how that happened? That is a pretty tough injury no matter how you look at it. Glad she’s in good spirits.

No idea! Her doctor keeps asking too. She started working bhs again in Dec/Jan again after her OCD surgery. By March she would complain that her wrist hurt really bad on bhs mostly on beam and had cut back on even practicing them. None of us can recall one certain day that the pain got worse. When it was just the gymnast wrist diagnosis, I was certain it was overuse. With this I don't know anymore.

 

[buttercup]

Sorry to hear this! Glad she is in good spirits- must be a relief for her to finally know what was causing the pain, and to know it is fixed.

My son had an undiagnosed/misdiagnosed wrist injury that dragged on for a very long time. End result was surgery in August of 2016. It was a fairly major surgery - and he now has a lovely 2 inch scar down the outside of his wrist.
It was a slow road back. 13 weeks immobilized, physio started after, and most of the everyday stuff was doable at 8 months. Gymnastics took longer- he was almost 9 months before he touched any apparatus at the gym (rings p-bars and high bar) , and he didn't get on pommel for the first time until July 2017. He is now an event specialist pommel and rings, so he has only started doing some tumbling this summer for fun and I'm pretty sure he hasn't vaulted yet. He only trained (didn't compeate) last season to get the skills/strength back slowly (and figure out how to work around the mobility limits that are a result of his surgery) and will compete this December for the first time since Feb 2016. His recovery might have been slower since it was undiagnosed for so long (Pretty much unusable for the 6 months prior to surgery).

What we learned is that a long recovery is a rollercoaster ride. There will be highs and lows on this journey- but If she can hang on tight, be patient with herself and stay as positive as possible it will all work out. Take the time needed to heal properly- there is so much in life that needs functioning wrists beyond gymnastics.

Wishing for a speedy and uncomplicated recovery for your daughter!

 

[mom2gymnast]

Wow buttercup, sounds like a long recovery for sure. Why ended up being your son's diagnosis? I hope to get a better idea of her recovery path at her appointment in 10 days. I know she will have a cast for 6-8 weeks. Then up to 8 months out past that. Thanks for the encouragement. She is tough for sure so hopefully she can stay positive through this.

 

[buttercup]

He ruptured the extensor carpi ulnarnus subsheath. It is a band of ligaments that holds the ecu tendon in place and against the bone. Every time he turned his wrist the tendon would dislocate and then snap back into place causing irritation to all of the other bones and ligaments on that side of the wrist. There is not enough space or ligaments in the area to repair the subsheath so they make a new one slightly higher up in the wrist using tissue that is already there. He had a fabulous surgeon and although it was a slow recovery my son is able to do so much more then he was counting on.
Good luck with her next appointment. There will likely be times over the next weeks that she doesn't manage positive and that's alright. Between the elbow and now this it has been a lot. We used to tell G on the bad days that it was alright to fell mad/upset/jelous/sorry for yourself for today. It has been a rough road (he also had ongoing knee issues and had come off of a couple seasons of back to back injuries) and we know it' not easy. These feelings are normal - but they are not helpful. So feel it for today then make the choice to feel differently tomorrow. Choose to feel thankful that the pain is gone. Choose to look forward to typing with 2 hands again (he is a bit of a computer geek). Somedays he needed the reminder to look for the good to focus on. He was older though and has been through alot.

 

[mom2gymnast]

Oh wow. That sounds like a crazy odd injury! I am glad they finally figured it out.
Thank you for that advice! We have seen the bad days before and that is helpful to focus on what she can do. She is good about making some goals that she can achieve, so having a focus on what she can work on helps. It has just been really hard lately for her to see her friends/ teammates achieve new skills that she would be doing too, but can't even work on. Good to know he came back after all of this. I will remind her it is possible! Even if she just focuses on one or two events for awhile.

 

[duyetanh]

I am so sorry. She sounds like an incredibly strong kid mentally. I just can’t believe no one knows how she hurt it. Do you think it just started as a nagging one and the injury kept increasing over time? I don’t mean to be thinking aloud here, but it just floors me with what you have described. Again, so sorry.

 

[mom2gymnast]

Trust me I know! I asked her again yesterday. Now that she has had surgery and is feeling that pain she can't believe she competed on it. She said she knows right before state it hurt really bad on beam bhs so much that her wrist would give it on her, but she cannot think of a time one particular landing or practice where the pin got worse. With all that she is gone through, she has become really aware of her pain and doesn't hide it so I believe this 100%. I am thinking on the TFCC maybe it was torn a bit then became weaker and weaker and then finally fully tore? Her wrists always hurt a bit but even she says that this was a different pain.