MAG Patellar Evulsion

[trapar]

So ds has been having trouble with his knee for a while now, and we found out about a week ago from an x-ray that he has Patellar avulsion. We've been heating/icing and giving him ibuprofen for the pain and still he's limping around the house. At practice he's avoiding floor, vault, and hard landings on everything else. Anyone have experience with injury? How long does it usually take to heal? His started after a jump on the spring board. He's only got a week and 10 days before state!

 

[profmom]

No advice here, but I'm really sorry to hear this. The poor guy! I hope he heals up quickly and completely!

 

[skschlag]

Oh no! That stinks I have no experience, but I just really feel for him! He has had a rough year with illness and injury

 

[J&A's mom]

Oh wow. I bet he feels like he can't catch a break. I am sorry, I have no advice, just wanted to say that I hope he has a speedy recovery.

 

[MyBoysFlip]

Hope he heals quickly and feels better soon!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

because of his age, i'll assume he has a sleeve fracture? if so, i wouldn't get your hopes up for state meet in 10 days. not a good idea.

 

[trapar]

Thanks everyone. It is really disappointing for him and I feel so sad because he's worked so hard and wants to do so well.

Yes, you are right, dunno, the Dr. wrote down Patella Sleeve Avulsion. What could happen if he did compete in pain? Could he make it worse? The Dr. said he could compete but that if he could do nothing for about a month it would heal on it's own. I should have asked more questions of the doctor, I think.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

yes, he could do further damage. in gymnastics it is very important for the knee cap to track properly and later in their careers not dislocate. so, there will be other state meets. tell your son he can be certain of that.

 

[trapar]

yes, he could do further damage. in gymnastics it is very important for the knee cap to track properly and later in their careers not dislocate. so, there will be other state meets. tell your son he can be certain of that.

Thank you for the advice. It confirms what my dh and I knew was the right thing to do. It's just hard.
Ds's coach says that we can try petitioning him in to regionals if he's healed and ready to compete by then. We'll see.

 

[skschlag]

oh I hope they do that. Poor guy! how is he taking it?

 

[trapar]

oh I hope they do that. Poor guy! how is he taking it?

Thanks, I really hope so too. Ds is very bummed because he thinks he should be able to do everything but fx and vt. He's been sick with a bad cold all week so that just makes it worse. "Can't Catch a Break" is his middle name these days
I told him we can still go up there if he wants to be with his team, though I'm not sure if that's really a good idea.

 

[skschlag]

Sounds like these boys! Always looking for a way to be out there. Is landing painful for him? Going to watch would hard, but might be good. Keep us posted!

 

[trapar]

He says landing off of high bar and p-bars hurts, and rings a little bit but no pain on the pommel dismount. His coach wants us to see how he feels next week. We might let him do pommel, but I haven't told him that yet, in case we see he's not ready. We already have the petition in motion for regionals.

 

[2G1B]

last year my DS could only do vault for states (that level 4 vault that was only a straight jump). He broke his finger 1.5 weeks before state and they put him in a cast from the tips of his fingers up to just below his elbow! He was sad not to get to compete most of the events; but happy to at least get to compete in one.

One of his team mates broke his jaw about 2 weeks before state last year (something happened on warm ups at a competition when coming off of the p bars!). He wasn't able to compete in state and had hoped that they would petition for for him to be able to do regionals; but I don't think that the coach did it. I suspect it was because they knew that they were dropping the boys' team right after regionals more than that they didn't think they would win the petition.

Good luck on pommel if he gets to do it!

 

[trapar]

Wow, that's a huge cast for a finger! Must have been a bad break!

It turns out one of our other gymnasts just got hurt this week and won't be able to make state either. Man, our coach has some paperwork to do for regionals!

Thanks for the well wishes

 

[munchkin3]

My so did exactly this 1 year ago. He was tumbling on floor and felt something while punching front on a tumble pass. No swelling just 'odd' feeling. It hurt to bend his knee and when he touched the kneecap.
We did not expect a fracture! It was a sleeve fracture where a small chip of bone tears away with some cartilage along the bottom of the knee-cap.
Sorry to say that this is VERY serious because if you push it, you can end up really messing up the knee cap which will require surgery.....an injury that can heal in 3-4 weeks, with TOTAL immobilization, can easily turn into being out for 6 months.
Take it seriously....these are kids, they have lots of time for advancing in this sport. There is no reason to compromise his health, and ultimately his staying in the sport for one meet or season.
besides, al at least with a long leg cylinder cast, you can still do quite a bit of conditioning, and stretching....he could be back in the gym at 100% in a month, or he can just live with the pain and limitations for 4-6 months.....
Sorry, and good luck.....tell him to hang in there and remind him that good athletes always come back from injuries!

 

[trapar]

Yikes, that's way more serious than anything I've been told about my ds's injury. His orthopedic surgeon only showed us how to make a "poor man's band" to help support his knee and told him to avoid fx, vault, and landing until it feels better. No cast at all, so I'm thinking your ds must have had it much worse.

Even so, we will not allow him to practice or compete on it while in pain. He has a follow-up at the dr. on the 25th to determine for real whether he is out for regionals.

 

[skschlag]

That stinks trapar! I am so sad for your boy and his teammate!!! We just had a boy break his pinky at practice (just below the finger...casted..totally out of gym for 6 weeks because it involves the growth plate). The attrition level is high this year. I so hope it heels in time for regionals!

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

If this kid can compete... anyone can. Whether they should compete is a better question. Good luck healing.

 

[munchkin3]

Injuries are injuries...I am sure you have researched sleeve fractures. No biggie for NON gymnasts.....the risk is that you repeat the injury with another jump, or landing and then you pop the tendon completely and separate kneecap completely.....even with a dislocated kneecap, it could end his gymnastics. Something like what happened to Rebecca Bross.

Good luck and I really hope he gets better quickly and completely! I know the frustration and how tough it is for the boys. My DS had to scrap his season altogether because or a wrist injury. He was competing for 3 months in pain... It is so hard to keep perspective on the sport, but us parents together with the coach decided for him to get better first, compete after.

I really hope he gets better!