Parents Tiger Paws and wrist pain after bars

[XcelMom08]

Do you use tiger paws more for support or can you compete in them or both?

And how do you help wrist pain with bars? Her connection is getting much better. Now she just needs to connect the squat on with it all but it’s definitely faster! Like no pause.
But her wrists are having some soreness after. Thoughts? Advise?

Next comp is Friday. She says she is ok. It’s been like this before and next day feels better. But I’m mom and proactive

Thanks in advance!

 

[raenndrops]

If the gymnast practices in tiger paws, she should compete in them too. Wrists were NOT designed to do what gymnasts do.
Some coaches say that they just need to build strength in the wrists and that tiger paws are a crutch, but they aren't.
For wrist soreness, you might consider a stress ball or a rice bucket. 2 to 3 minutes of my wrist PT was sticking my hand in the rice bucket. I would go through 4-5 different exercises, doing 30 reps each.

 

[JBS]

Now that we have our entire team do this exercise and a couple other wrist exercises… our team in general has much less wrist pain…

 

[XcelMom08]

Now that we have our entire team do this exercise and a couple other wrist exercises… our team in general has much less wrist pain…

She does this! Yaya! Yea she thinks she was overworking them yesterday. They feel better today but I still bought paws

 

[JBS]

We use Tiger Paws on all of our optional gymnasts for Yurchenko style vaulting as a preventative measure. Once an athlete has wrists that are hurting… we would do more than just the Tiger Paws. We would potentially tape under the Tiger Paws and possible over them too… reduce reps… stop doing certain things… we would also look into hand placement and technique on certain skills. This would be for our optional team… compulsories would just rest until better.

 

[estamey21]

Tiger Paws were a game changer for me when I was a gymnast. I personally think that they should be worn as a preventative measure before injuries crop up—especially on floor. Gymnastics is very hard on the wrists, and I see no downside to using them so long as gymnasts are also doing regular wrist strengthening and flexibility exercises. In other words: Tiger Paws should not be used as a replacement for strength and flexibility.

Two extra thoughts:

• There isn't really a Tiger Paw equivalent for bars. But once you start wearing grips, you kind of get wrist support "for free" with the added wristbands and wrist strap. Maybe it's time for your daughter to start wearing grips?
• Wrist soreness can have many root causes. Sometimes gymnasts have sore wrists because they are overcompensating for another weakness. For example, a gymnast might lean forward in their press handstand (i.e. planche) because they have tight hamstrings. In the short term, Tiger Paws will alleviate soreness, but they won't treat the underling issue. If you want your gymnast to have a long career, it is also important to understand and treat the root cause of the injury.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

If the gymnast practices in tiger paws, she should compete in them too. Wrists were NOT designed to do what gymnasts do.
Some coaches say that they just need to build strength in the wrists and that tiger paws are a crutch, but they aren't.
For wrist soreness, you might consider a stress ball or a rice bucket. 2 to 3 minutes of my wrist PT was sticking my hand in the rice bucket. I would go through 4-5 different exercises, doing 30 reps each.

This. My daughter uses tiger paws on all events except bars.

And knowing what I know now I would have gotten them for her much sooner. She would likely have been much do further along skill wise. She lost time due to “gymnast wrist”.

 

[XcelMom08]

Tiger Paws were a game changer for me when I was a gymnast. I personally think that they should be worn as a preventative measure before injuries crop up—especially on floor. Gymnastics is very hard on the wrists, and I see no downside to using them so long as gymnasts are also doing regular wrist strengthening and flexibility exercises. In other words: Tiger Paws should not be used as a replacement for strength and flexibility.

Two extra thoughts:

• There isn't really a Tiger Paw equivalent for bars. But once you start wearing grips, you kind of get wrist support "for free" with the added wristbands and wrist strap. Maybe it's time for your daughter to start wearing grips?
• Wrist soreness can have many root causes. Sometimes gymnasts have sore wrists because they are overcompensating for another weakness. For example, a gymnast might lean forward in their press handstand (i.e. planche) because they have tight hamstrings. In the short term, Tiger Paws will alleviate soreness, but they won't treat the underling issue. If you want your gymnast to have a long career, it is also important to understand and treat the root cause of the injury.

Agree to get to root of cause.
Grips - her gym rules are you have to have kip or consistent high bar to get grips. The extra wrist support would be awesome. But I don’t want to go against coach and buy some outright either.
Kinda stuck on this one.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Agree to get to root of cause.
Grips - her gym rules are you have to have kip or consistent high bar to get grips. The extra wrist support would be awesome. But I don’t want to go against coach and buy some outright either.
Kinda stuck on this one.

Grips are not about wrist support

 

[raenndrops]

Agree to get to root of cause.
Grips - her gym rules are you have to have kip or consistent high bar to get grips. The extra wrist support would be awesome. But I don’t want to go against coach and buy some outright either.
Kinda stuck on this one.

They do sell wrist supports that can be worn on bars ... and they sell other ones that can be modified so they don't affect bar performance but do offer wrist support. I only know this because I was having a wrist (and thumb) issue, but none of the "medical" braces felt right on my hand/wrist. I had an old one that was just for the wrist, and it actually helped. When my brother misplaced it, he offered me one of his that had a thumb hole. Other than the thumb hole, it was a lot like the one he lost. The thumb hole part actually hurt me, so I just buried as I wrapped the brace. It worked ... but I was happy when my brother found mine.

 

[Maxcat83]

Im going to say this loud! Get her to a Pediatric Sports Medicine Dr or a Pediatric Orthopedist now!!! My daughter spent a good amount of the summer this last year on bars trying to catch up after a fall/ mental block. She ended up with gymnast's wrist that came on all of a sudden vs gradually over a period of time. She had to be restricted to no upper body for 6 weeks and then 4 to 6 weeks of PT while making a slow comeback as to not reaggravate it. She has a variance (Difference in the bone growth rate in her Radius and Ulna) that may end up requiring surgery if it doesn't correct itself. If she has to have this surgery she will be out, with no upper body for 4 MONTHS!!! She uses Tiger paws now per the doctor at meets and at practice for vault, floor, warmups and anything else in the gym and at home that requires load bearing and still does her wrist strengthening exercises from her PT dr even though she is cleared from any appointments. Please have you child checked out, please!!! Had we not gone in my daughter's growth plate would have separated and slipped off of the top of her bone.

 

[beckerdev1969]

Im going to say this loud! Get her to a Pediatric Sports Medicine Dr or a Pediatric Orthopedist now!!! My daughter spent a good amount of the summer this last year on bars trying to catch up after a fall/ mental block. She ended up with gymnast's wrist that came on all of a sudden vs gradually over a period of time. She had to be restricted to no upper body for 6 weeks and then 4 to 6 weeks of PT while making a slow comeback as to not reaggravate it. She has a variance (Difference in the bone growth rate in her Radius and Ulna) that may end up requiring surgery if it doesn't correct itself. If she has to have this surgery she will be out, with no upper body for 4 MONTHS!!! She uses Tiger paws now per the doctor at meets and at practice for vault, floor, warmups and anything else in the gym and at home that requires load bearing and still does her wrist strengthening exercises from her PT dr even though she is cleared from any appointments. Please have you child checked out, please!!! Had we not gone in my daughter's growth plate would have separated and slipped off of the top of her bone.

My daughter is first year Xcel Platinum and at the beginning, she started complaining about wrist pain a lot. We thought it was just a strain but had it checked out it urgent care. They said it didn't look like there was any fracture but to have her seen by a pediatric orthopedic doctor. We did and it turns out she had a buckle fracture. I was told by the doctor that it's very common in gymnasts and often missed because it's sometimes hard to see on an x-ray.