What Injuries Have You/Your Child Experienced From this Sport?

[gymdog]

Almost nothing serious. In more than a decade of gymnastics, I've never broken anything or even sprained an ankle. I've never had a knee injury or even knee pain. I also got a blood infection once that kept me out for a week or so but that's not really an injury per se. By the timeline I'm pretty certain it was at the gym though.

I have torn a ligament in my hand (I think that's what it was, fell and landed on my hand weird, they casted it but it wasn't a break), torn a muscle in my back (but this was a re-injury of an area I injured while playing, so it was only tenuously gymnastics but it hurt a lot), pretty serious tendonitis in my wrists. Except for the wrists where I have low cartilage or something weird, my body is great for gymnastics. I still tumble a lot and besides odd wrist pain I don't even really have pain.

I have broken a bone once, but it was stepping down off stairs, not at gymnastics. I turned my ankle on something that I didn't see at the bottom, but my ankles are tanks that are apparently incapable of being injured, so it broke my upper foot. Not a very bad break, I was walking in a day or two and I could take the cast off in 3-4 weeks.

I wouldn't say my training was particularly amazingly designed or anything, I guess I was just fortunate. I was kind of a late starter, which probably doesn't hurt. I can't even imagine some of these injuries.

 

[Megz]

A few years ago, at my old gym, we *think* I either fractured a bone in my ankle or at least a bad sprain.

We were doing shuttle runs for warmups and I stood in a hole in the sprung floor (it was a very old sprung floor with tennis balls underneath. There were several 'pot holes' where the tennis ball had popped or been squished) and my ankle gave way. Hurt so much but I didn't get it checked out. Anyway, I physically could NOT put any pressure on it for 3 days and limped around for the next 3 months. Now it always gives these huge loud POPS and SNAPS that make people go "OMG are you okay?!"

Aaand, my toe is pretty much made to dislocate itself now. All the time. It hurts a little but mostly it just feels really gross and uncomfortable.

Oh yeah! One time we were doing 'relay races' on the beams (yes, running across them in a race.... thanks coaches). The inevitable happened - I fell off the side, scraped my shin hard, and landed on my back in a forwards roll. Hurt but I was ok.

And finally, we were doing extension forward rolls as a warm up and I managed to pull a neck muscle. I couldn't move my head around for a couple weeks after that, so I had to turn around fully if someone called my name from behind me or whatever.

 

[UnoMas]

Older DD is battling with patellofemoral pain syndrome right now.
Other than that, she once got a black eye the night before a meet when someone kicked her at open gym!

Little DD hurt her neck once when doing a RO BHS (round off back HEAD spring). Enough to give her a sore neck for 2 days. So far, that's been it for her.

 

[Gymnasticlover78]

I've sprianed my pinky toe twice and I broke my big toe a year and a half a go. Luckily I've only twisted my ankles instead of spraining them.

 

[gymnastjess]

i have also got shuermann's disease in my back. my spine grows too fast for my body to keep up so its all bent and crooked!! gymnastics is actually making the pain all go away and i have better posture!! this didn't happen because of gymnastics though

 

[busymomof4]

my 12 year old DD had severs and bulging discs in the lower back (now does dance and tumbling.
one of my 8 y.o. twins had a spondilolithesis (bilateral fracture at L5 vertebrae) she was in a brace for 3 months and had to quit gymnastics. She is still not healing and may have to have surgery. Her twin who is still doing gymnastics has had a mild sprain to her ankle and knee pain but otherwise has been lucky so far. I am surprised at how many lower back fractures I am seeing reported. I would really like to talk to some of you about how you are doing and what all medically you had done. Thanks.

 

[TXGymnastMommy]

My daughter has tendonitis in both shoulders, and has jumpers knee in her right knee (hurt the 2nd day at the new gym..coach wanted to "try" a new drill and FAILED epically!) She's 11 and a LV 4

 

[Terpsikhore]

I dislocated my thumb while vaulting. On the up side, it cured my long-standing habit of doing handstands on my fingers and thumbs instead of flat hands - I'm not going to make THAT mistake again! On the other hand, though, I've still got no grip strength in that hand, so opening bottles and jars has become a bit of a nightmare...

Despite frightening my coaches every single class - I have really thin ankles and wrists, and my joints hyper-extend, so every time I do a cartwheel or land from a jump it looks like my limbs are going to snap - that's the worst I've managed so far! For someone so danger-prone and clumsy, I'm pretty much made of rubber.

 

[bribri514]

At L10 JO states my senior year I didn't get enough distance on my dismount on beam and landed on my head and got a really nasty concussion. Like I got knocked out and had to go away in an ambulance. It was embarrassing. And painful

I've had a lot of wrist and ankle and finger sprains. All those minor things. Lots of bruises. I broke my arm when I was 6 doing BHSs in our yard.

My worst injury is spondylolysis (I think that's how you spell it), which is mini fractures in parts of your vertebraes, and a compression fracture in my lower back and hip. I can't really describe it well. It started years ago and recently got really bad again. It's what's prevented me from keeping training unfortunately.

 

[lilgymmie7]

may this be a consolation for anyone reading this thread for gymnastics. gymnastics is 44th on the list of reported trips to the emergency rooms here in the US. our stay in the hospital, if needed, is just a bit longer than most sports but puts us in 18th. hands down, gymnastics is still considered one of the safest sports for children to be participants. this may be due to coaches who are exceedingly obsessive, compulsive, neurotic, and thorough in regard to their heightened awareness of safety when coaching children in gymnastics.

Thanks Dunno. I needed that, but... If you were DD's coach would you object to my bubble wrapping her for practice? We are all sick at home and she just started coughing today. I right away thought, "Oh man, she can't go to practice. What if she gets dizzy like me and falls off of something?" Mom's should definitely not read something like this. So why did I? Curiosity!

 

[gymgurl]

Well, my injuries have been scarce and minor but here is what i have done:
1. Torn ligament in ankle (doing a split leap on floor!! Can you believe it!!!) - out of all sport for 4 weeks on crutches for two
2. Hyperextended knee (Doing a barani/aerial cartwheel on tramp) - no vault or tumble and some of beam and no splits for two weeks
3. Broken toe (doing what? A full turn on floor!!!!!!!!) didn't stop training and had to ski on it for 2 weeks!

Worst injury to date would be concussed, suspected spinal injury (wasn't) Greenstick fracture in both bones of left forearm and severely bruised pelvis and suspected brain injury (non existent) put me in hospital for a week...........:S

 

[AlexsGymmyMom]

Alex has suffered a broken foot, twisted ankle, and has bruised her chest while doing a flyaway drill into the pit. She was complaining of her wrist a few weeks back but only for a couple of days (no gym for almost a week because of it) and has not mentioned it since. Not sure if it was related top gymnastics or not. Wow, and she is only 11. I am 44 and have NEVER broken a bone.

 

[dkgymnast]

-shin splints which i've grown out of now
- 2 sprained ankles
- hyper extended both my knees at the same time
- either jammed or hyperextended my elbow
- and most recentlly a couple weeks ago i hurt my forearm just soing a roundoff actually and it still hurts to twist my arm and when i hold like a handstand for like 1 minute after i come out of the handstand there is like a shooting pain in my forearm.. so if anybody knows what that could be let me know haha

 

[Gymnasticgrandkids]

First gymnastic injury for my youngest grandaughter. Metatarsal bone at the growth plate. She was practicing a punch front tuck dismount from the beam, one foot punched, the other foot's big toe punched (the rest of the toes did not touch the beam), she over pronated the big toe and this was the result. Her ortho says she will be in a boot for 6-8 weeks, on crutches for at least a week with no weight on that foot. Gymnastics is certainly not a sport for sissys!

 

[gymnast88]

Hyper extended knees (5 times)
sprained ankle (2 times)
sparained foot
chipped bone
osgood-schlatter disease
pulled muscle (2 times)
Pulled ligament
broken thumb
3 HUGE bruises

 

[Northstar2400]

Injuries...

I have had plenty of injuries in my career of gymnastics. I am a freshman in high school and my injuries started in 4th grade. I was told i have severe tendentitis in both ankels and would have to wear ankel braces on both ankels until they were strong enough to support themselves. well eventually i could stop wearing the left ankel brace until i sprained my left ankel and i had to again tape my ankel. In this time period i have sprained my right right ankel 3 times, my left ankel once. This past year has been the worst though. Ive suffered from a concussion which kept me out for two weeks, a sprained next whicch kept me out for 6 days and the day i came back i dislocated my elbow and i am awaiting my return from theat. My entire gymnastics career was put up into the air with this one as competition season has started and my doctor has not toldme for sureif i will beable to regain full range of motion in my arm. Might i add i have never been tothe emergency room before i sprainedmy neck and after that i returnedto the ER by ambulance this time 6 days later. I cant wait tocome back when i hope i will make a full recovery. Will u please send prayers my way?!

 

[Northstar2400]

injuries...cont

Oh i have also hyper extended both my knees and both my elbows numerous times learning my front pass.