Parents Pain...what to do

[balancedmom]

So, DD's ankle(s) and now wrist hurt. a lot. We have been to the dr, she has had x-rays. No breaks and no clear sprain. Seems to me like overuse. She has been taking it (partially) easy at gym but seems like her body needs a break, but she is refusing. Even after a week out of the gym. she went back, did some tumbling and her ankle now is killing her. Any thoughts? Could this be overuse? thanks

 

[munchkin3]

no way for anyone here to say........is she flat footed?
how old? What level?

 

[balancedmom]

no way for anyone here to say........is she flat footed?
how old? What level?

thanks-- yeah, not really looking for medical opinions, but just wondering if others have gymnasts who complain about pain, and whether I should be forcing her to take a longer time out; ther is no break, no sprain. She is not flat footed. L7.

 

[munchkin3]

thanks-- yeah, not really looking for medical opinions, but just wondering if others have gymnasts who complain about pain, and whether I should be forcing her to take a longer time out; ther is no break, no sprain. She is not flat footed. L7.

how old?

 

[balancedmom]

11

 

[munchkin3]

Regardless, assuming she is in the 10-13 range and if you had both her wrists x-rayed, and both her ankles, then I would treat it with my child as 'pain from doing too much gymnastics'.
when my DD feet hurt, we ice bath as much as possible, use Advil after practice, and reduce running and pounding for a few weeks. Sometimes she will wear her good sneakers for vaulting.
I bought X Braces for her feet which seem to help too.
For wrists, my DD must wear her Tiger paws. If she has wrist pain then the same thing- ice, and modification of training......
Growth plates are made of SOFT bone. These can get hurt easily so I would be careful.

Of course, this is all after the Ortho has checked everything out.

 

[balancedmom]

Regardless, assuming she is in the 10-13 range and if you had both her wrists x-rayed, and both her ankles, then I would treat it with my child as 'pain from doing too much gymnastics'.
when my DD feet hurt, we ice bath as much as possible, use Advil after practice, and reduce running and pounding for a few weeks. Sometimes she will wear her good sneakers for vaulting.
I bought X Braces for her feet which seem to help too.
For wrists, my DD must wear her Tiger paws. If she has wrist pain then the same thing- ice, and modification of training......
Growth plates are made of SOFT bone. These can get hurt easily so I would be careful.

Of course, this is all after the Ortho has checked everything out.

thanks!

 

[sce]

thanks!

If she is in a lot of pain, that is concerning. Did she see a sports doctor or just a Ped? I say it warrants further investigation. Resting more might be the answer, but there could be more going on. She is at the age where growth plate issues could be the problem.

What level is she, how many hours does she do?

 

[bogwoppit]

Sounds like she needs a few weeks off. Sometimes they do not get to decide, sometimes you have to be the bad guy.

 

[balancedmom]

If she is in a lot of pain, that is concerning. Did she see a sports doctor or just a Ped? I say it warrants further investigation. Resting more might be the answer, but there could be more going on. She is at the age where growth plate issues could be the problem.

What level is she, how many hours does she do?

We have been to an orthopedist. Nothing 'wrong' so she rested for a week, went back and is still in pain.

 

[munchkin3]

YES......Pediatric Sports Orthopedist is an absolute must.

you should become best friends with one.

I have mine's personal e mail.

 

[ProudDad]

X-ray's don't always tell the whole picture. When DD complained of pain and the X-ray's said there shouldn't be any we persisted and they ordered an MRI that revealed multiple partial ligament tears and inflammation that was propping up an arch that otherwise would have fallen.

Add to that the angle of the X-ray didn't detect a lisfranc dislocation that our chiro could feel and corrected.... that day pain went from 7 to 3 and after 5 weeks in a boot no more issues.

 

[raenndrops]

YES......Pediatric Sports Orthopedist is an absolute must.

you should become best friends with one.

I have mine's personal e mail.

We have the personal email of a Pediatric Sports Ortho… and his wife / assistant … and their personal phone numbers (perks of them being "gym parents" as well) lol.

 

[balancedmom]

thanks all

 

[gymgal]

Just want to add that by this level, pain is a real part of gymnastics for most girls. The determining factor as to whether they push through it or rest it is how much pain and where is it coming from.

You really need to get your dd to figure out exactly when it hurts (what skills, after how many reps, after how many days in a row, with/without motrin, etc). Taking her out of gym for a few weeks might help but it is only going to return if you don't figure out why it is happening (assuming there is no break, tear, etc - which is where the x-rays, mri's, etc come in). Also be on the lookout for using pain to get out of certain parts of training. It doesn't sound like this is the case with your dd since she doesn't want to take time off but you never know.

 

[TOPSmom715]

My then 8 year old daughter was having knee issues last year. Our team has a specific sports medicine doctor that we use. He usually tries to keep the girls in the gym with limited practice if only for modified conditioning but he made my daughter sit out for a week.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

I would take her to a skilled chiro or PT. we are very fortunate to have a trusted chiro who is also a licensed PT. that's our #1 stop whenever anything hurts, and with one dancer, one optional gymnast and one old coach doing a lot of spotting (me, lol), lots of things hurt. There is almost never anything wrong that would be diagnosed by X-rays etc, but plenty of sprains and overuse injuries.
My gymmie has sprained her wrist extenders multiple times, with her it's a combination of overuse and incorrect technique. Her pediatrician would have just told her to take time off, whereas our chiro will manipulate her, do muscle work on her and show her exercises and stretches to help.

 

[ProudDad]

chiro will manipulate her, do muscle work on her and show her exercises and stretches to help.

It's gotten to the point where we have a pretty good idea of whether ortho or chiro is needed and it's usually chiro. When we get it wrong and do ortho first it means extra weeks of dealing with slowly resolving pain vs chiro is typically same day fix.

ETA: and learn how to use KT tape... it may actually be more useful than duct tape