Parents Gymnast Wrist

[catova]

Wow! Sounds a lot like what my DD is going through. She was 12.5 when it happened and was experiencing rapid growth. Level 8 skills for my DD. Thanks for sharing your story

Wow, very similar! Yes, I did not really think about combined affect of what's going on at that age in the growth plates plus the additional stress on the wrist due to new L8 skills until doc asked specific questions about her skills and the lightbulb went on (in DD's case, it's also the wrist that lands first on the beam on the BHS...practicing that would hurt the worst!). If you can get PT, my DD thought it helped in building strength. Since the initial fracture, she does wear tiger paws for practice too. Best of luck! This does not mean the end of gymnastics

 

[profmom]

Update: After two weeks of rest, my DD tried to do a round-off BHS on the floor, and it hurt, so she decided not to push through it. Looks like a slow gradual comeback and more missed meets. =(

For those of you whose gymnasts have returned from resting their wrists, did they experience some residual pain that they gently pushed through, and was it ok? Also, what events/skills did they try first?

Do NOT encourage her to "work through pain." DS returned to rings and hi bar first, and was actually able to do some floor and vault before he was back on pommel horse and pbars support work. We managed aggressively and are happy with the results. As I've mentioned before, his teammate who worked through pain ended up with three months off everything. When DS has a flare, he backs off and it resolves quickly. His orthopedist assures him that if he responds sensibly to the pain, he'll be able to get through his major growth spurt and still be a competitive gymnast at the end of it. You might also look into the rice bucket exercises.

Wrist issues in most cases don't mean the end of gymnastics. However I have seen it where it did wind up ending competitive gymnastics, and in three of the cases I know, the end came after months of chronic pain and repeated comeback attempts.

 

[Seeker]

More rest. My dd was in a cast for 5 weeks. She had no pain or swelling when cast was removed -- just stiffness and weakness from being in a cast. She was prescribed 4-6 weeks of OT to build strength in her hand. That that was critical to her recovery and I feel it should be done for any athlete coming out of a cast -- otherwise they risk re-injury as they reintroduce activity. Dd wears Tiger Paws for both Vault and Floor.

 

[Yuenling]

@Seeker - this is tough to hear, because if my daughter takes the 11 weeks to recover, she has lost her entire season. =( The timing can't be worse. I wish she had at least one real meet to enjoy. Well, at least she did have intrasquad.

 

[Yuenling]

I measured my daughter's height last night and she grew 1/2 inch in exactly 2 weeks! No wonder she is having these growth plate issues. Why does she have to grow right now? =(

 

[kris]

Mine is also 12.5 and growing like a weed. Five inches in 10 months.

 

[Yuenling]

Mine had gymnast wrist -- stress fractures in her wrists -- when she was 9 turning 10 and training level 7. She pushed through mild pain through most of the season without letting on, and we were all surprised at the fact she had fractures as the doc only sent her for x-rays to get a baseline since it had been hurting for a long time and in case the pain got worse.

She just had a flare up again at 12 which was likely the result of growing 5" in 10 months, but we took her in sooner this time and no fractures just irritated growth plates. She still took a long break and her coaches are working hard at making her use proper hand placement and technique as she starts skills again. Apparently she uses her flexibility in a way that is causing extra pressure on her wrists in some skills.

She does wear tiger paws, and has been advised to keep doing so at least until she's done growing now. Also, this season is likely a wash for her, but like has been said, her wrists have to last a lifetime so healing is more important.

Hi Kris,

When was your DD diagnosed with irritated growth plates this year? Was it through an MRI? Is she competing this season at all?

My DD is off of "complete rest" and is gradually using her wrist again. What does your daughter's "gradual return" look like?

 

[Seeker]

@Seeker - this is tough to hear, because if my daughter takes the 11 weeks to recover, she has lost her entire season. =( The timing can't be worse. I wish she had at least one real meet to enjoy. Well, at least she did have intrasquad.

I understand. Dd has missed all meets so far as well. Hoping to compete end of Feb.

 

[kris]

Hi Kris,

When was your DD diagnosed with irritated growth plates this year? Was it through an MRI? Is she competing this season at all?

My DD is off of "complete rest" and is gradually using her wrist again. What does your daughter's "gradual return" look like?

Yes, she was diagnosed in the fall, not via an MRI as they could see enough on an x-ray and by her symptoms. She did physical therapy November through middle of January. After Christmas, she started doing some things -- a couple cartwheels, maybe a kip or two -- that didn't bother her wrists, and built up from there. She is not going to be competing a Yurchenko this season, so the very last thing she brought back was her series on beam (BHS-BHS) and she's only done a handful of those. She's still having to keep reps low, so in a workout she'll do say one RO-BHS-BT, one RO-BHS-BLO, one RO-BHS-Full. And same for front tumbling, just doing one FHS-FT, one FHS-FLO, one FHS-FLO-FP. Doesn't allow her to perfect her tumbling the way she likes, but everyone wants to simply protect her joints through the rest of this growth spurt. She worked closely with her PT to figure out a plan to return. He's not a gymnastics specialist, but really understands how the body works, and helped her decide what skills she could re-introduce when. She's planning on competing in a couple meets at the end of February and hopes to be back close to 100% by states in March. That said, everyone around her wants her healthy more than competing. She has long term goals and whether she gets to compete this season or not isn't going to matter much in the long run.

Sorry your DD is struggling with this right now.