Women Help - struggling after injury

[Mom2twingymnasts]

My DD had two injuries in a row keeping her out of gymnastics for 6 months. She injured her left shoulder in June was on rest for several weeks then PT. She was back doing gymnastics for 1 week in September and injured her right shoulder, neck, rib. She couldn't lift her are above 90 degrees, the number 2 rib had popped out of place a bit. She only could ride the bike and stretch her legs during this period - no ab or arm work. Finally, after trying myofascial message stretching, it was loosened up enough for her to make progress at PT and for the rib to stay in place.

She really needs to work to gain her strength back in her arms, shoulders, neck, and back. Two weeks ago she couldn't do a single pull-up. She is now up to 7 but pre-injury she could consistently do about 30. She has only been back for 2 weeks and I'm really not sure what she should be doing. I want to have a meeting with her coaches as they seem to be asking her to do two different things. I'm afraid that she is being asked to do things that require her old upper body strength and am concerned that she will either learn bad habits or will get injured again. She is struggling with the free hip at the moment. On bars, her one coach wants the free hip perfected before she does higher level skills and the other coach wants to get her back doing double dismount, blind fulls... My DD wants to work these other skills as she said the free hip is really hard right now and doesn't feel right. Does the free hip require the upper body strength that she doesn't currently have?

I think the coaches are hoping she will be able to compete this year and I don't know that is the best plan for her. Her coach who passed away this summer had planned to have her do a couple meets of 8 and move to level 9 this year. She was a level 7 the past 2 years. I thought the plan would be to focus on getting her skills back and not worry about perfecting routines. That doesn't seem to be the case at the moment.

Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[gymmomtoo]

Sounds like a meeting with the coaches to figure out what their plan is for her, is in order. Does she have clearance from her doctor and physical therapy to do everything?

 

[skschlag]

Those injuries are so hard. Shoulders seem to be especially hard. She had an ambitious, but reasonable plan, but I am guessing that the injuries have slowed that significantly. I know for D they did. The 3 1/2 months he was out really slowed his progress, and the coach took a very conservative approach on the rehab and comeback. He could do no skills that had any pain for the first 3 months. NO pain at all.

I think the meeting is a great place to start, so that all of you are on the same page. Is your daughter coming? Just to get the coaches on the same page is huge. Is she cleared for all of this? Or does the PT still have some limitations on her? How bad do things hurt? (D used a 1-10 pain scale, and was really good at it).

Good luck! I really don't have any advice but can empathize after watching D go thru the shoulder injury. I can say that high bar was the last thing he could work without pain.

 

[Mom2twingymnasts]

The PT said she should go back slowly and don't do things that cause pain. We didn't have our final session because weather was so bad that day that it was cancelled. I will give PT a call today to get more detailed instructions. They don't know gymnastics so really not sure how detailed they can get but it is worth a shot.

 

[skschlag]

That sounds like what D's PT said. His pain level had to be a 0 for him to keep working the skill. That took a lot longer than any of us expected Killed his progress on high bar and rings. Eventually, they let him push thru, as they thought the pain could be related to inactivity, so he was to try a skill 2 times, and if the pain stayed below a 3, it was ok. Anything higher and he was to stop immediately. It took a long time

 

[profmom]

Seems like she may need to go heavier on the strength and conditioning and lighter on the skills for a while! Once she is fully healed, the skills will come back, but hopefully all her coaches can get on board with getting her 100% healthy before marching forward. Sounds like her bars coaches are definitely not on the same page. I'm not a coach, but it seems to me that working the free hip until she's got it fully back makes a lot more sense than going right into blinds and double backs. So maybe she doesn't compete this year and starts next year with one meet at L8 before she moves up to L9 -- that doesn't seem all that bad given how far she's come and how quickly! But yeah, I'd definitely get the PT into the conversation pronto! All good thoughts to her -- she must be pretty frustrated.

 

[iwannacoach]

One coach is being very foolish. Talk to the coaches and tell them anything you have to have them give her time to strengthen back up. She urgently needs time to completely heal before training any further than the basic skills. She may be in better shape than most kids who would be deemed "healed" by any standard except gymnastics, but I wouldn't consider her healed until she could do at least the strength work, from top to bottom, typically seen in kids who do the skills she's being asked to resume work on.

Seven chin ups and clear hips are just barely related to one another, but giants and double back dismounts are not.

 

[Mom2twingymnasts]

@iwannacoach - help me understand which coach is being reasonable. My daughter feels like the free hips hurt and are very hard for her right now but feels that she is capable of the giants and double backs right now. Does that seem correct? Should she stop the free hips until stronger?

Also, what about press handstands. My daughter could consistently do 10+ in a row preinjury but can only do 2-3 in a row now. Yesterday they were doing 5 presses quickly followed by 5 handstand pushups. I think this didn't feel good for her.

 

[Mom2twingymnasts]

@iwannacoach - her free hips are to handstand if that makes a difference. I also think she might be struggling with the cast to handstand.

She is really struggling with tumbling. She hasn't done a front handspring yet - so is doing punch front layouts and not making it. I think she has started doing backhandsprings in her back tumbling passes but not sure.

 

[iwannacoach]

@iwannacoach - help me understand which coach is being reasonable. My daughter feels like the free hips hurt and are very hard for her right now but feels that she is capable of the giants and double backs right now. Does that seem correct? Should she stop the free hips until stronger?

Also, what about press handstands. My daughter could consistently do 10+ in a row preinjury but can only do 2-3 in a row now. Yesterday they were doing 5 presses quickly followed by 5 handstand pushups. I think this didn't feel good for her.

Most successful recoveries are governed by the guideline that any thing producing pain should be waited on until there's been more to to build up strength. I'm concerned that the clear hip produces pain, as that's an indication her body hasn't either healed or hasn't been built up enough to withstand the requirements of the move. I would have thought the swing below the bar during giants and double back dismounts would have been harder on her shoulders, but there's many different shoulder injuries and they each come with their limits.

The foolish reference was a little over the top, but there's a lot at stake. Your child has been twice injured and a third injury withing the next three months is going to set her back tremendously. It's not only a matter of waiting on skills that produce pain, as being weaker throughout her body will leave her susceptible to greater than expected injury should any skill related accident take place. Assuming at least one of these injures already suffered is the result of a fall, I think it's fair to say there's not telling when the next one may take place. Any time soon would be a bad thing because a fall in her weakened condition may bring about an injury that her pre-injury body would have been able to absorb with little, or no consequence.

Many injuries take place as the result of returning to full impact and full load work too quickly. It's important to be very cautious and conservative during her recovery. My discussion with her coaches would center on that principle as well as deliver the message that competing this season, or competing with her old skills is a second priority to her recovery and long term ability to put everything she has into her work.

 

[Gymsanity]

First, let me say how sorry I am to hear about your daughters situation. It sounds like she and everyone around her have been through quite a lot over these past months. Gymnastics aside, these have been some tough times I'm sure. I would focus more on getting and keeping her healthy right now, more than any level or trick. You, she, and her coaches need to keep your eye on the big picture, which should be her long term health and well being. Gymnastics is everything, except in a few rare cases, and this is one of those!
It's sad to think a meeting with the coaches would even be necessary in this case, as it should be self evident, but you definitely should. Let your daughter come back at her own pace, no matter what anyone else thinks. One of my girls was injured in a car crash a while back and is working her way back. I still remind her everyday, 'listen to your body, your pain is telling you what to do and what not to do. Plain and simple, if it hurts, don't do it!' All my girls and I have that understanding and know the difference between good pain (50 leg raises) and bad pain (injury). We work through the good pain and stop at the bad pain. The best of luck to you and your daughter on a full recovery. Oh yeah, and after that, I hope she does well in gym too!

 

[munchkin3]

Injuries are very serious with gymnasts. Especially since there is always pressure to keep working out.
My son has had a very tough YEAR dealing with an injury. After surgey in August, and PT, and TONS of conditioning, he is now ready to work skills.
Coach had him doing conditioning and A LOT of basics in the gym for 3 months to the point where my son though that the coach was being mean to him!! He felt singled out.
He showed us the the monthly conditioning chart where you can clearly see where he was post op, to now, coach is ready to begin SOME skills.
You must ask your coaches what their pre-requisites are for working skills (if they have any)
You should make sure DD is focusing on conditioning and flexibility for a long time.
AND NEVER HAVE PAIN while working on something that was injured!!

I am so sorry for your daughter. It is so hard to deal with an injury.
the only way to get back in is to give it TIME!

 

[profmom]

Hey, Munchkin, it is really good to hear that he is starting to work skills again! He has really been through the wringer, and what tremendous dedication it's taken for him to stick this out. You must be really proud of him.

 

[Mom2twingymnasts]

Update: So my daughter is the one asking to do the higher level skills. I think the one coach is just excited that my DD is finally able to do gymnastics and wants to accommodate her requests. The other coach is making her wait until she can do more basics like the free hip. My DD said the free hips pain is more soreness because her body isn't strong enough yet and that they are just really hard to do right now. My daughter is used to her coach who had passed away slowing her down a bit after return from injury. She is missing him and not trusting anyone as much as she did him.