Parents The doctors were wrong.

[MamaofEnS]

Ugh, I'm so upset. After two doctors told my dd that she only had a sprain, we just found out that she fractured the 4th and 5th metacarpals on her right hand. You might recall that I posted about her injury from late last month. Since then, DH and I have been telling her to rest her hand, while her coaches have been telling her to work through the pain.

Thanks for letting me vent.

MamaofEnS

 

[gymjoy]

OH NO!!

Sorry to hear that. I hope the coaches will lay off the working through it thing now.

Did they put her in a cast or anything now that they have determined it is broken? And how did you finally find out?

Hope she heals fast.

 

[mariposa]

So sorry. I hope she heals fast. I worry about this a little with my DD. She had 2 xrays that showed no fracture and her pain is now gone. It has been 3 weeks since the injury. She has worn a hard brace since the injury and will start doing light stuff next week. Luckily (and I am very thankful for this) her coaches have completely respected my wishes to treat it like a fracture and not do anything on it. After hearing a few stories of coaches that didn't do the same, I am very happy that her coaches have complied.

What is the plan now? Hope she heals fast!

 

[Granny Smith]

What her coaches were doing seems to be common, you hear it all the time. The coaches press them to do more than they should sometimes. It is up to the gymmie to say no I can't do that, remember I'm injured. I am talking from experience as my dd has a Jones' fracture of the 5th metatarsal. It happened 3 months ago and she is still only 80% healed. She has to speak up as I am not there the whole time to watch.

If you are the least bit concerned that they are still pushing you need to stay there to watch what is going on or don't send her. This is what I have learned from my experience.

Shame, huh.

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

Granny Smith is soooooo right. The coaches WILL push....The girls need to speak up and say "no." I know it's hard for the young ones, heck it was hard for my then 13 year old daughter!!! Even with me going in and telling them that Katy could only do so much on a sprained ankle (per Dr.'s orders), I ended up staying many times to watch and make sure they followed her plan. Otherwise, I'd turn my back and they'd be pushing her to do something she shouldn't be doing!!! FRUSTRATING!!! We finally told her old coaches that if they didn't let her "take it easy" at practice, she'd just stop coming!

Breaks can be very frustrating!!! Sometimes the actual break will not show up on an x-ray until about 5 to 6 weeks after the injury. Once it actually starts to heal is when many are actually finally diagnosed! The X-ray will show the fracture beginning to heal at that point.

Good luck, and just MAKE her take it easy!

 

[cathiann]

Coaches push--I think the vast majority do! I know Beth's do with her injury. Glad the break was discovered--sometimes it does take awhile.

 

[bpatient]

… [W]e just found out that she fractured the 4th and 5th metacarpals on her right hand. … Since then, DH and I have been telling her to rest her hand, while her coaches have been telling her to work through the pain.

My child broke two metacarpals some years ago. She was out for four months, although after some weeks in a cast the substitution of a custom-fitted, removable splint provided enough protection from inadvertant impact that she could practice skills such as jumps and turns on beam and tumble into the foam pit.
You might want to consult with a hand surgeon and/or with a therapist who specializes in hand injuries. Metacarpal fractures can sometimes be problematic, since tension on the healing bone can occasionally cause some rotation such that the fingers articulate aberrantly.Most physicians (including ER docs and pediatricians) would not be particularly expert in this and related issues.

Too bad about your coaches ….

 

[MamaofEnS]

Hi all,

Well, for an update, I took her to the specialist who put her in a full hand cast. It goes from the tips of her fingers (you can't see them at all), up to her elbow. This is on her dominant side, so she won't be able to write at all. I'm not sure how she will do back at school this week. The cast comes off in 3 weeks. I don't think it is too bad of a fracture, because there was no displacement. I'm hoping that this will be just like her fracture that she had in her leg last year. By the time she got her knee immobilizer off, she was 100% healed.

I was sort of hoping there would be some sort of an apology from the coaches. Nope. In fact, the coaches told her to go on strap bars. (I think he was just kidding.)

She still went to open gym last night for 4 hours. She did dance on the beam, and some jumping on the tramp. She also loves spending time in a relaxed atmosphere with her friends and the recreational coaches who are not mean to her.

Thanks again for everyone's support.

MamaofEnS