Parents Sprained Ankles--how does it affect straight legs?

[Avasmom]

A lightbulb just went off....I posted on the forum yesterday about my daughter, age 7 (almost 8) not straightening her legs. I have no idea if this could be the cause but it just hit me that a few weeks ago, beginning of September she sprained her ankle. She complained about it hurting when she was doing her round offs and robhs so my hubby took her to the doctor. The doctor didn't seem to think it was a big deal and told her to wear a brace at gymnastics for a few weeks.

It is during this time her coaches have continued stressing straight legs and telling me to she needs work with it. She kept telling me it hurt to straighten her legs and point her toes hence the doctor's appointment. The sprained ankle should have healed by now but I asked her if it still hurt. She has a high pain tolerance and I often have to ask her what is hurting. She said sometimes like when I point my toes.

So what would you do? Let her keep wearing the brace? Take her back to the doctor to see if it's still sprained? Let her work it out on her own? Like I said it may have nothing to do with her bending her legs but she may have started a bad habit. I tried googling info on this for gymnastics but found nothing.

 

[Seeker]

If she has a high pain tolerance and is still saying that it hurts, most definitely seek treatment. I would go back to the Dr and ask for a referral to PT. She probably has a bit more going on than just the sprain that is contributing to the legs not being straight (tight hamstrings, hip flexors, etc...), but a good sports-minded PT can help with al of that. From your post, it sounded like this was an issue before and is just more pronounced/noticeable -- now that her ankle has been injured, she can't really compensate for whatever was causing it before.

 

[gymjunkie]

Doctors don't have much to do with the actual rehab process (you don't even need to see a doctor for a sprain unless your insurance requires it). Physical therapy is key. The PT should be the one who releases them skill by skill back to their sport. A kid is never fully released until they have regained full ROM (range of motion) and proprioception. If you cannot see a PT for whatever reason, your coach will need to have her do basic lower extremity rehabilitation until balance and ROM are normal.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

I'm battling what I thought was a simple sprained ankle (turned out to be a bone bruise and severe ligament damage, but that's a different story) and my range of motion in that ankle is nowhere near normal yet. It's just not possible to point and straighten that ankle to where the other one is at this point, for me. It's been 4mo. It takes a lot of rehab to get full range back after the initial damage is healed. Of course everybody is different and her being young should make it a lot easier in comparison to my old body, lol, but it's definitely something to keep in mind.
Have a chat with a PT or a chiropractor!!

 

[Ausi_poppet]

My daughter hurt her ankle that the doctor thought was a sprain. I wasn't convinced and pushed for an x-ray, which showed she had an avulsion fracture, a chip of bone was pulled of by a tendon when she rolled her ankle. The healing time is much longer with those than a simple sprain, and pointing the toes takes a while to get back. It's taken 8 weeks for her to get back to that point and she's only just resuming full tumbling and vault runs now.

There are rules that doctors follow about whether or not to x-ray a sprain. You sometimes have to be pretty pushy to get them to order one, but if the injury is more than 2 weeks old and she's still having pain even with the brace, I'd definitely go back to the doctor and ask if it can be xrayed.