Parents Question about recovery after wrist injury

[Mommy25qtpies]

My daughter injured her wrist 6 weeks ago. They put her in a cast due to fears of growth plate injury. The cast came off last Thursday and my daughter isn't able to put weight on her wrist yet. We knew there would be recovery time but how long should we expect to wait to see her regain her strength? She is doing wrist exercises shown to us by the doc to help. I don't want to push her to soon and also want her to have realistic expectations. Her first meet is Jan 9. Is that pushing it?

She's a level 4

 

[gymgal]

I would recommend an OT to speed things along and help her gain strength back. They will be able to give better exercises and be able to do proper stretching. Mine broke her wrist (incomplete) when she was equivalent to new L3. Broke it in late sept and was ready to compete in early January. She had to have it taped and wear a tiger paw (eventually had to wear tiger paws full time. I always wonder if we had gone to an OT if she would have gained the strength back enough to not require the wrist supports). And she didn't compete her BHS for most of the season (xcel at the time so we could work around her routine) because she didn't feel confident enough but all her other routines were fine.

 

[Mommy25qtpies]

I wanted her in OT but our insurance wouldn't support it due to no "real" fracture. Should I get tiger paws now or wait till she builds some strength back?

 

[mkwh]

My DD (scored out of level 5 this summer) broke her wrist Aug 19th doing a BHS series on beam. Complete break through the growth plate!! She was in a cast 6 weeks. Continued to go to gym everyday for conditioning and stretch and learned the dance choreography of her floor routine. The cast came off Sept 29th and her first meet is this Sat! It will be 7.5 weeks after cast removal. I counted that you have 9 weeks so I think she certainly has a great chance of being ready! We did not do any kind of OT or PT. Dr did not mention it. I just let the coach handle all of her rehab. She definitely could not put any weight on it for a week or so or have full range of motion. Grip strength has been the longest thing coming and its still not equal to the other hand. All I can say is to trust the coach and tell you DD to be patient. I know mine started with very slow progressions. handstands and cartwheels for a little while, beam work only on low beam, only hanging and gliding on bars, etc etc. Here is the good news! Mine has progressed beyond my expectations! She has everything ready for this weekend! Does does wear a tiger paw on that wrist ( coach plans to fade it over time). Last night they had a "practice meet for Sat" with coach scoring them. She did her full level 6 beam routine and landed it all. Did a solid vault ( not her best but solid 8.8 I think was the score). Full bar routine which has been the hardest thing to regain! No spot on anything and "score" of 8.9. Floor she has 3 tumbling passes RO BHS BT - FHS FT and RO BHS BLO ( she only has the layout on tumble track right now so just did this 3rd pass as a BHS BT also -but that pass is extra beyond required so it doesn't matter) and coach scored a 9.1! She had a mock AA of 35.6! First meet and major injury..yep Ill take it!!
Good luck. Just be patient , slow and steady progression!! Let us know how it goes!

 

[Mommy25qtpies]

Thank you! I needed to hear that. Coaches have been great working with her and she to kept going with the cast to work strength and choreography. Our mock meet is Dec 23 so we will see how it goes then. Should I order tiger paws or no? Coach hasn't said anything about them yet

 

[krisnkids]

I haven't posted in a long time but thought I would considering your post.

My daughter had a possible growth plate injury/tendon injury to her wrist. She refused to quit and kept working out. We went through casts, splints, braces, cortisone injections. Her wrist never recovered. It was career ending for her. She still has issues 3 years later.

Moral to the story, missing meets is not worth the potential damage. Go by the doctor's orders. If you have to pay for physical therapy out of pocket then do it. Go with what her doctor says, not the coach. Ask the doc about Tiger paws. My daughter's doc said no, they would just hide the injury.

 

[B&M's mom]

Our coaches are great but know nothing about rehabbing an injury. I would pay for a session or two with a PT who is trained in injury rehab to advise your daughter. Having been through the injury wringer, you really don't want injuries to linger or get worse because she didn't rehab it properly.

 

[mkwh]

Thank you! I needed to hear that. Coaches have been great working with her and she to kept going with the cast to work strength and choreography. Our mock meet is Dec 23 so we will see how it goes then. Should I order tiger paws or no? Coach hasn't said anything about them yet

I would ask the Dr and coach about the tiger paws. Do you go back to dr again? We had to go back one month after cast removal for more xrays and he tested her range of motion. He was very very pleased and released us completely. The coach recommended the tiger paw but I know she plans to fade it, not use it forever.

 

[catova]

My only advice is take this injury seriously to avoid re-injury.
DD fractured wrist growth plate doing BWO BHS on beam (training L8). It wasn't a new skill to her or a traumatic fall, but wrist was prob stressed already due to training and her age (12.5 YO, body trying to grow!) and she thought she just 'landed funny'. Took her immediately to wrist specialist who treated my husband successfully...doc said it was no biggie (not a big fracture) - cast for a month. DD had great mobility from the start after cast came off, but wrist still hurt a bit and she said wrist felt weak, though Xray showed fracture healed. Coaches cautioned to come back slowly and try to get PT. DD did PT for 10 weeks, and by 3 months post injury was working on all skills again. DD got back all skills to where they were 4 months post injury and then...bam! reinjured wrist doing that same BWO BHS on beam. Hurt worse than the fracture. New xray showed no re-fracture so DD went back to work in a week with Tiger Paw (doc said 'let pain be your guide), but it still hurt; and the pain was so bad on that unforgiving beam (where she couldn't use Tiger Paw), her elbows started hurting after just a few days (compensating). We got an MRI 2 weeks after re-injury which showed some inflammation and fluid remained in that wrist. Took her for second opinion from sports ortho who deals with gymnasts at her age and level. He said would have told DD a minimum 4 MONTHS no impact on the wrist post growth plate fracture! WHAT?? We were shocked. DD is pretty tough, high tolerance for pain, never had wrist issues before. But again, at this growth stage, and based on the amount of impact the wrists were taking from the beam in particular, this has been a tough injury for her to overcome and we are taking it seriously even though she could probably muscle through the pain...she doesn't want it to become a 'forever' injury. DD is restricted from impact again for a few weeks. She is devastated because she might miss competing this winter but I won't risk her wrist as an adult for a competition season now. I have since talked with two parents who have had gymnasts end up leaving the sport because of this injury...girls muscled through, relied on Tiger Paws to tolerate pain, too long, and the pain just never went away. Note: tumbling on the floor is not as 'tough' on the wrists as going backwards on the beam, according to DD, on the wrists. So L4 gymnast recovery might not be a big deal. But just wanted to share because had I known before what I know now, I would have had DD delay trying to get skills back for another month...best of luck to your DD!

 

[munchkin3]

My only advice is take this injury seriously to avoid re-injury.
DD fractured wrist growth plate doing BWO BHS on beam (training L8). It wasn't a new skill to her or a traumatic fall, but wrist was prob stressed already due to training and her age (12.5 YO, body trying to grow!) and she thought she just 'landed funny'. Took her immediately to wrist specialist who treated my husband successfully...doc said it was no biggie (not a big fracture) - cast for a month. DD had great mobility from the start after cast came off, but wrist still hurt a bit and she said wrist felt weak, though Xray showed fracture healed. Coaches cautioned to come back slowly and try to get PT. DD did PT for 10 weeks, and by 3 months post injury was working on all skills again. DD got back all skills to where they were 4 months post injury and then...bam! reinjured wrist doing that same BWO BHS on beam. Hurt worse than the fracture. New xray showed no re-fracture so DD went back to work in a week with Tiger Paw (doc said 'let pain be your guide), but it still hurt; and the pain was so bad on that unforgiving beam (where she couldn't use Tiger Paw), her elbows started hurting after just a few days (compensating). We got an MRI 2 weeks after re-injury which showed some inflammation and fluid remained in that wrist. Took her for second opinion from sports ortho who deals with gymnasts at her age and level. He said would have told DD a minimum 4 MONTHS no impact on the wrist post growth plate fracture! WHAT?? We were shocked. DD is pretty tough, high tolerance for pain, never had wrist issues before. But again, at this growth stage, and based on the amount of impact the wrists were taking from the beam in particular, this has been a tough injury for her to overcome and we are taking it seriously even though she could probably muscle through the pain...she doesn't want it to become a 'forever' injury. DD is restricted from impact again for a few weeks. She is devastated because she might miss competing this winter but I won't risk her wrist as an adult for a competition season now. I have since talked with two parents who have had gymnasts end up leaving the sport because of this injury...girls muscled through, relied on Tiger Paws to tolerate pain, too long, and the pain just never went away. Note: tumbling on the floor is not as 'tough' on the wrists as going backwards on the beam, according to DD, on the wrists. So L4 gymnast recovery might not be a big deal. But just wanted to share because had I known before what I know now, I would have had DD delay trying to get skills back for another month...best of luck to your DD!

I can also give you my horror story with my sons wrist injury, but I wont......
All I will say is after his surgery for soft tissue repair, we was able to use his wrist after 6 months of OT. Without the OT he would have never been able to use it in gymnastics.
It still hurts occasionally......
Message, DONT MESS WITH INJURIES!!!! Who cares about the meet right around the corner......make sure your DD is 100% healed, and in NO pain before competitive gymnastics......

 

[gymjunkie]

I wanted her in OT but our insurance wouldn't support it due to no "real" fracture. Should I get tiger paws now or wait till she builds some strength back?

PT is not only prescribed for fractures!

 

[lhmom]

Mine had the beginning of stress fractures (stress reaction) in both wrists that was diagnosed in late July. One wrist was casted for complete rest and she was not allowed to do anything but lower body conditioning for 3+weeks. Once the cast came off, the wrists looked good but was put on a protocol used by USA gymnastics for wrist injury recovery. She also saw an OT for evaluation and strength exercises. From beginning to end, she was not back to full practice for 6 weeks. I will also caution about rushing back as well- one of DD's teammates had a full fracture in the wrist growth plate and it took 4 months for her to completely heal. That is why I was very insistent that DD follow everything the doctor recommended.

 

[munchkin3]

There are SO many things that can go wrong in a childs growing wrist......and gymnastics of course.......

As my sons Dr. said, without the gymnastics part his wrists will work fine.

 

[B&M's mom]

Talk to your doctor about OT. Many times they can prescribe it in a manner that the insurance company will approve. If the insurance company rejects it, you can appeal. Your insurance company should have the information available on how to do this. Also if the doctor doesn't recommend it, ask why! I've learned the hard way that not asking can result in other problems. Remember her wrist has been immobilized for 6-8 weeks, it shouldn't be expected to move like it did and it most definitely has lost strength in that time. Normal use is vastly different than using it in gymnastics. If you don't have a good sports medicine doc who understands gymnastics, they will likely not realize what forces are being put on that little wrist. Over the years, my DD has seen several different sports medicine docs for various problems, not all of them have understood what types of things she does at practice. However, the one consistent thing we've walked out with is a prescription for OT/PT. We've even gotten that script before they definitively diagnosed a fracture. Her current doctor is having her do PT once a week just to keep an eye on her during competition season.

This subject is near and dear to me as I have a gymnast who has is more than willing to compete/practice on injured limbs without telling me or the PT how much it hurts. You would never know to watch her what's injured. It's only when the injury gets worse because it wasn't properly healed in the first place do I find out about it. It's the "play through the pain" mentality that they too often hear. As a result, we're still dealing with injuries that looked healed two years ago but weren't.

 

[gymgal]

No, don't get the tiger paws right away. Our wrist specialist recommended it for my dd to get her back in the gym faster but if I knew then what I know now, we would have taken a different course and seen an OT to help her gain strength in her wrists so she wouldn't have to use the tiger paws. It would have taken longer but then she would not have had to rely on wrist supports. By the time she was equivalent of new level 5, she was wearing tiger paws full time.

Even if you have to pay out of pocket, I would take her to an OT - one with experience with wrists. Look for a wrist surgeon and find out who he/she refers patients to. Even if you can only afford a few sessions, it is worth it. But chances are once the OT evaluates, they will be able to bill it so that insurance will pay for it.

 

[munchkin3]

No, don't get the tiger paws right away. Our wrist specialist recommended it for my dd to get her back in the gym faster but if I knew then what I know now, we would have taken a different course and seen an OT to help her gain strength in her wrists so she wouldn't have to use the tiger paws. It would have taken longer but then she would not have had to rely on wrist supports. By the time she was equivalent of new level 5, she was wearing tiger paws full time.

Even if you have to pay out of pocket, I would take her to an OT - one with experience with wrists. Look for a wrist surgeon and find out who he/she refers patients to. Even if you can only afford a few sessions, it is worth it. But chances are once the OT evaluates, they will be able to bill it so that insurance will pay for it.

Hand specialist is very important.

 

[gymjunkie]

Using Tiger Paws doesn't mean you don't also strengthen the wrists/rehab the injury. They prevent the wrist from extreme hyperflexion. They should be used in combination with rehab/prehab.

 

[LizzieLac]

I paid for private PT out of my pocket for a highly qualified ex-gymnast and college cheerleader sports therapist to work with DD at homecoming AND at the gym. Best money ever spent!

Also as others have said, go slow. Returning, nagging and not truly healed injuries end athletic careers all the time in all sports. Wishing you guys the best!

 

[kimute]

My DD had a cast on her wrist for a broken pinkie a year ago. Her Dr. said no PT/OT needed as the cast was only on for 3 weeks. DD still (one year later) doesn't have the same flexibility in that wrist. Now it is sprained from slipping on a BHS on beam. Maybe because of the limited flexibility, maybe a fluke.

I've now found a great PT who I pay, out of pocket. With a sprain, she can't do wrist flexibility exercises right now, but we will be doing them once the sprain heals. If it isn't too late...

Just really seconding the advice to find a way to PT/hand therapy-- even if you just do one visit, video the exercises, then show them to coaches to do at gym (or do with her yourself).

 

[Mommy25qtpies]

Update. We have an appt for a pt evaluation on Tuesday so hopefully that will work. Question for those with kids who've had wrist injuries. Is it normal to be able to pull weight on it but not push? For example she can hang her weight and swing on the bar with no pain but a handstand causes lots of pain.