Women Shoulder and ankle pain after growth spurt?

[sevenatenine2]

My ten year old daughter has had an insane year in terms of growth. She's gained about 15-20 pounds and grown around 4-5 inches. She's also matured physically in other ways and it has all happened so quickly her doctor told me she was just entering puberty and then within a month or two--tons of physical changes.

That said, she is experiencing tons of shoulder pain in practicr. It kicks in after about 10-15 kips (where she may make only 1-2) and then she has to move on because the shoulder starts to hurt.

Last week, her ankle started to ache when tumbling. We backed off of it a bit but it still hurt after just a fre passes today and her punch was definitely effected.

My girls are usually younger and lower level---my daughters group is Xcel Gold now and several are entering puberty so this is new territory as far as coaching goes.

I don't want to push her into an overuse issue, but I also don't know how much to baby these aches and pains. I'm sure they are an offshoot from the growth. Any advice or thoughts?

 

[GymCMLA]

I always think about apophysitis during periods of rapid growth (kind of like a stress reaction / stress fracture but in a location where a tendon inserts to bone) THere are some described in the shoulder. SO it is a type of overuse. I would alter her activity and if it persists more than about 7-14 days, I would see sports medicine/ortho.
(disclaimer, I am a ped, not a coach so they may know more about which apophysitis occurs from kips)

 

[GymCMLA]

I should add that ankle pain is a bit tougher as there are so many options for what part hurts. peroneal tendonitis, severe's, stress fx in meta tarsals or tarsals, ligament sprains, strains, medial tibial stress syndrome, etc...

 

[Ausi_poppet]

I agree with GymClaire03. Fast growth is always likely to lead to some growth pain/apophysitis type injury and they can occur on just about any joint, although I haven't seen any in our gym with their shoulder in trouble. My basic rule of thumb is if it's sore after training have a hot shower or bath, then put ice on it and rub it with Voltaren. I'll do that for a couple of days then ask her to talk to her coach if it doesn't seem to be improving and follow his instructions. After a full week of complaints, I'd then head off to a physio for an assessment.

Because of all the landing in gymnastics on bare feet, I would be watching that ankle carefully. We would always tape an ankle that is sore and again if it doesn't improve in a couple of days take it off for a proper look. Ice, elevation and some pain relief at bedtime might help too.

Anytime a gymnast grows you can expect growth plate pain. You should also be on the look out for other injuries as their changed body proportion can impact on their positioning for skills. My girl had a big growth spurt over our Christmas break and was working on new skills. When she went back to her routine and started doing a layout punchfront, she kept falling on her butt on the punchfront, which was due to her body positioning. I've seen girls roll ankles for much the same reason. They just have to be a bit careful I think and give their body time to heal and get used to it's new shape.