Parents Preventative Care

[mezzamare]

Curious what people do to help their gymnasts stay healthy and injury-free (to the extent that we can do so). Now that my daughter is training higher level skills, I'm hearing more daily (mild) complaints. "Mom, listen to this!" as she does a twist and her back goes off like bubble wrap. Oy.

Chiropractors? Acupuncture? Hot baths? Cold baths? What has worked for your athletes?

Her gym is good about strength conditioning, warming up, and they go gingerly when the athletes say they are having any sort of pain. She is using Tiger Paws for vault and floor.

Anything else I should be doing/thinking of?

 

[CLaValle]

Both of my kiddos see a PT regularly (usually at least once a month, sometimes 2-3 times a month, depending on whether it's in season or whether they have active injuries)... It is great for catching things before they become a problem (especially since their PT is part of the gymnastics community and knows gymnastics/gymnasts) or for helping them get through the everyday aches/pains of training.

 

[gym_dad32608]

Weekly or bi-weekly massage therapy from a good athletic-focused massage therapist. Also use a PT intermittently and they often coordinate together. But either way it is worth have a PT on your contacts, because at some point you will need them.

Ice baths, heating pads for the hot/cold regimen that is usually good to do after a long day.

I am not a chiropractor fan though some folks swear by them. But either way I would say chiropractor/md/acupuncture I would use for targeted injuries versus maintenance.

 

[JBS]

Anything else I should be doing/thinking of?

Just address each soreness with.... getting better... staying the same... getting worse. The second two are things to monitor.

Our kids that do outside strength training have seen a great reduction in basic aches and pains. The trainer that they work with is extremely knowledgable in overall body movement and mechanics.

 

[JBS]

I forgot... we also hired a coach with a degree in Kinesiology. This coach works with our gymnasts on their in-house strength. While I still look for certain things... this coach has added in many things to help our team as a whole. This coach had no experience in gymnastics before working as our in-house strength coach. This concept (strength coach) is working wonders for us.

 

[mezzamare]

either way it is worth have a PT on your contacts, because at some point you will need them.

Wondering how you guys find your PTs? Pediatrician referrals? Google? Yellow pages (lol, probably not).

 

[CLaValle]

Wondering how you guys find your PTs? Pediatrician referrals? Google? Yellow pages (lol, probably not).

We found ours from a referral through my son's sports medicine doctor.

 

[gym_dad32608]

Wondering how you guys find your PTs? Pediatrician referrals? Google? Yellow pages (lol, probably not).

Depends on your location. Most would probably get a PT from a referral from sports medicine doctor. But even a medium sized town probably has some PT/rehab stand-alone (not affiliated with a health system) practices. You just have to do some calls and research on credentials and experience. Its not cheap since most insurance plans only cover PT based on a particular modality that a physician identifies. You might also want to consider your insurance and which providers are in network. In case an injury does occur that needs PT you would want to be able to go to the one you have been seeing as a covered provider.

 

[JBS]

Wondering how you guys find your PTs? Pediatrician referrals? Google? Yellow pages (lol, probably not).

Once we find a good one… we recommend that one to others. We have a couple that our gym works with. It’s all just based on experience.

 

[Pfiga]

Wondering how you guys find your PTs? Pediatrician referrals? Google? Yellow pages (lol, probably not).

We've done PT at the PT department of our children's hospital, with a referral by the pediatric orthopedist. More recently we've also been going to a small PT and sports medicine office, which we found because we actually drive past it every day. They are able to accommodate our schedule a lot better than the hospital, which tends to be booked for weeks ahead.