Parents Return to gymnastics after elbow surgery

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AnnieH

Proud Parent
Hi
Just wandered if anyone had any similar experiences and could give any advice. My daughter broke her medial epicondyl in May and had surgery on her elbow. She was heartbroken as she wasn't allowed to do sport at school or go to dance as well as missing her beloved gymnastics. In August she had a procedure to remove the metalwork from her elbow and the wound healed quickly . When I asked the doctor if she could do sport again he just said to build it up gradually. As this conversation took place just as she was on her way into theatre there wasn't really enough time to chat. It has now been 16 weeks since the initial injury and I am allowing my daughter to do sport at school and dance at weekends. However I am unsure as to when to allow her back to gymnastics. Medical advice is vague and to be honest the risk of further injuries fills me with dread.
 
I think I would be trying to speak to a few people for further advice - GP , consultant and especially her physio. The Physio dealing with her recovery probably has the best currant knowledge of where your dd is right now and what she could do. Hope she is able to come back soon. Sounds like she was out of gym completely? Most kids come in and condition while injured until they are cleared to return to full training. What does her head coach think?
 
We had a girl who broke her elbow in two places during a meet in August. They put a pin in it and later took the pin out after the bone healed.
She did physical therapy for several weeks. In late November she was allowed to come in for conditioning only, no arms. Then in December she was allowed to hang only, and condition.....
I think she was cleared for weight bearing in January and was 100% cleared about this time. But I do not know the inner details of her healing, and her injury.
But in her case it was 4-5 months from A-Z....
I'm sure some heal sooner.
All I can say is, a broken bone is much easier to heal than tendon and ligaments......so once it's healed, it's healed...
 
I think I would be trying to speak to a few people for further advice - GP , consultant and especially her physio. The Physio dealing with her recovery probably has the best currant knowledge of where your dd is right now and what she could do. Hope she is able to come back soon. Sounds like she was out of gym completely? Most kids come in and condition while injured until they are cleared to return to full training. What does her head coach think?
 
I think I would be trying to speak to a few people for further advice - GP , consultant and especially her physio. The Physio dealing with her recovery probably has the best currant knowledge of where your dd is right now and what she could do. Hope she is able to come back soon. Sounds like she was out of gym completely? Most kids come in and condition while injured until they are cleared to return to full training. What does her head coach think?
Hi thanks for taking the time to reply. She hasn't had Physio but seems to have full range of motion. Her coach is happy for her to go and condition but she won't go,it's as if she can't bear to watch others do what she isn't allowed to do. We see the consultant in 4 weeks so hopefully he will be more helpful then.
 
We had a girl who broke her elbow in two places during a meet in August. They put a pin in it and later took the pin out after the bone healed.
She did physical therapy for several weeks. In late November she was allowed to come in for conditioning only, no arms. Then in December she was allowed to hang only, and condition.....
I think she was cleared for weight bearing in January and was 100% cleared about this time. But I do not know the inner details of her healing, and her injury.
But in her case it was 4-5 months from A-Z....
I'm sure some heal sooner.
All I can say is, a broken bone is much easier to heal than tendon and ligaments......so once it's healed, it's healed...
Thank you,this is reassuring advice. She will be doing lots of dance in the meantime so won't be totally out of condition. I like the quote too. This is the first time any of my kids has had a broken bone or even an operation so I am a novice.
 
Hi thanks for taking the time to reply. She hasn't had Physio but seems to have full range of motion. Her coach is happy for her to go and condition but she won't go,it's as if she can't bear to watch others do what she isn't allowed to do. We see the consultant in 4 weeks so hopefully he will be more helpful then.

Well she needs to get over that even though it is understandable. It is going to take time for her to get her skills back. She will have to come back gradually. She won't be able to come in and swing bars first session like she used to . Hopefully once she is in the gym she will be OK and see it all as steps in the right direction.
 
A few years ago, DD had a bad fracture of the humerus, completely displaced, that required pinning and then removal of the pins. To make things worse, she had nerve damage, leaving her unable to move the thumb, index, and middle fingers much at all. She was only able to condition for three months and was in physical therapy, first to regain mobility in the elbow and then to retrain the hand as the nerve damage healed, from late May into September (the accident happened in April). Amazingly, not only did she come back, but she moved up a level and I vividly remember watching her compete bars at the new level in November. (At that point, she had complete mobility in the hand again but still could not feel the bars. It took about a year for the full capacity to feel to return.) What Munchkin said is right -- with a broken bone, the time frame for healing is pretty straightforward, and once it's healed, it's healed and as good as new.

Reassure your daughter that the human body is a remarkable thing. She may be frustrated at first when she starts back, but those hard-earned skills haven't gone away. She just needs to recall the muscle memories and regain the strength to do them again. If you can encourage her to start coming in for short periods, I have a pet theory that kids train in part by watching other kids doing skills, and that visual reinforcement of the biomechanics helps athletes to maintain when they are off for injuries.

Regardless, the key question for the doctor is when she is cleared to bear weight on the former injury. With DD, that was a very simple bright line. As soon as she was able to bear weight, she was shifted immediately from just conditioning to full workouts, and it really only took a week or so of readjustment before she was able to manage full workouts.
 
A few years ago, DD had a bad fracture of the humerus, completely displaced, that required pinning and then removal of the pins. To make things worse, she had nerve damage, leaving her unable to move the thumb, index, and middle fingers much at all. She was only able to condition for three months and was in physical therapy, first to regain mobility in the elbow and then to retrain the hand as the nerve damage healed, from late May into September (the accident happened in April). Amazingly, not only did she come back, but she moved up a level and I vividly remember watching her compete bars at the new level in November. (At that point, she had complete mobility in the hand again but still could not feel the bars. It took about a year for the full capacity to feel to return.) What Munchkin said is right -- with a broken bone, the time frame for healing is pretty straightforward, and once it's healed, it's healed and as good as new.

Reassure your daughter that the human body is a remarkable thing. She may be frustrated at first when she starts back, but those hard-earned skills haven't gone away. She just needs to recall the muscle memories and regain the strength to do them again. If you can encourage her to start coming in for short periods, I have a pet theory that kids train in part by watching other kids doing skills, and that visual reinforcement of the biomechanics helps athletes to maintain when they are off for injuries.

Regardless, the key question for the doctor is when she is cleared to bear weight on the former injury. With DD, that was a very simple bright line. As soon as she was able to bear weight, she was shifted immediately from just conditioning to full workouts, and it really only took a week or so of readjustment before she was able to manage full workouts.[/
 
Thanks prof mo,good advice . Sorry to hear your daughter had nerve issues,at least we haven't had that to contend with.
 
Just to say thank you for all the advice back in
September . My daughter went back to gymnastics at the end of
October once we had seen the consultant. All seems well and she is so happy to be back. When you are waiting for injuries to heal time passes very slowly or seems to and it's heartbreaking for them when they can't do what they enjoy. Anyway thanks again.
 
Hi
Just wandered if anyone had any similar experiences and could give any advice. My daughter broke her medial epicondyl in May and had surgery on her elbow. She was heartbroken as she wasn't allowed to do sport at school or go to dance as well as missing her beloved gymnastics. In August she had a procedure to remove the metalwork from her elbow and the wound healed quickly . When I asked the doctor if she could do sport again he just said to build it up gradually. As this conversation took place just as she was on her way into theatre there wasn't really enough time to chat. It has now been 16 weeks since the initial injury and I am allowing my daughter to do sport at school and dance at weekends. However I am unsure as to when to allow her back to gymnastics. Medical advice is vague and to be honest the risk of further injuries fills me with dread.

mom...time to have her go back to gym if she likes it. :)
 

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