Parents Has anyone ever heard of radial variance?

[Gymmom82773]

My daughter is 11, shes a level 9 and her closest gym team friend just turned 13 level 9. Her friend hyperextended her wrist and went to an ortho to get xrays. They found that the radial bone is growing faster and is much longer than the ulna bone and might require surgery. She may quit if thats true. My daughter is scheduled to have minor surgery Sept 12 for a hamate fracture in her hand. If her friend quits, she will be devastated they are the only 2 young 9s. Has anyone heard of this bone issue and is it possible to return to the sport?

 

[Amusibus]

This seems to be the most frequently cited research study on this topic:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/12435656/

Although from what I know, what you describe is the opposite of the common scenario, in which the distal radius suffers growth plate injury from weight bearing, resulting in stunted growth of the radius, consequently the ulna is longer as it continues to grow.

As we are talking about bone growth here, without radical intervention (rest for a super long time or surgery to even out the bones), it would seem like this is a very serious thing for upper level kids. Bones growing unevenly permanently alters the shape of joints, which is not really something you can recover from.

I am curious to hear what the experienced coaches have seen with regard to this. I am not a coach and am only speaking from a scientific point of view.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

the repair is pretty straight forward. and same as PUV. recovery is about 4 months. and the kids that i have seen do fine and are pain free.