Knee Injury

[gymnellie]

First let me say that I am taking dd to the dr in the morning! Ok, here is the short version. About 2 months ago she sprained her knee doing a fhs vault, she hyperextended it. She took about a week off. We stil went to gym, but she didn't do anything except bars. On Wednesday of this past week, when we got in the car, she said "Mom, when I was doing my flyaways, my knee felt funny." I said maybe you just landed weird. Well she limped on it from Wed. till Saturday evening. She didn't do anything except bars at gym on Sat. Then Saturday evening she was jumping on the tramp in the backyard and said it didn't hurt and she thought she could tumble at gym. Well tonight at gym, she did a dive roll and it looked wrong and I could tell that her knee hurt. but she continued. They then did punch fronts. She immediately started crying upon landing, but she landed on her butt. She said that the punch really hurt her knee, and she didn't think she could land it on her feet so she went to her butt. I am going to insist on a MRI, so that we can see what is going on. She is supposed to compete this Sunday, but that may not be happening! Does anyone have any ideas on what could be wrong with it? I keep thinking that it is probably just sprained again and I'm going to feel really bad if it is worse than that.

[bogwoppit]

First I am not a Doctor, but I have gone through knee hyperextension injuries with my DD. Always Rest it, Ice it, Wrap it and Elevate it. (R.I.C.E.) This always helps big time, keep her off it until you can have it assesed properly. When I say ice, I mean at least twice a day for at least 20 minutes.

It can take some time for knee injuries to resolve completely. But, I do feel for her, timing of injuries is rarely perfect, you cannot feel guilty as injuries do just happen. You can do your best by encouraging her to follow through on any treatment precribed.

Good luck, let us know how the Dr visit goes.

[gymnellie]

Well, I couldn't get her into see her dr today because unbeknown to me, he doesn't work on Tuesdays. So I told his nurse that I need a referral to an ortho. The dr has to give the referral and the nurse said getting her in before friday was going to be impossible. So I did a little research online and I believe it could be Jumper's Knee. I bought a brace for Jumper's Knee and dd said that it helps alot. She has gym again tomorrow and she said that she wants to try to tumble. If it hurts she is to not do it. She really wants to compete this weekend since it is the 1st meet of the season. I don't know if I should let her or not. What's yall's opinion?

[bogwoppit]

Is there a private sports therapy clinic in your town? They would be able to asses the injury enough to tell you if she can compete on it, they can also tape her knee if it is a patella problem. This is the route we went, it is as expensive as the gymnastics itself, but worth every penny.

The knee support will help whatever it is, but really get your DD to ice that knee as much as humanly possible, that will reduce the internal swelling and reduce pain. You can do a lot in three days to help, but some things are aggravating, maybe she can have her dismounts spotted into thick resi mats, tumble only on the tumble track and avoid the springboard and vault until the meet. She won't lose her skills in four days!!!

It would be better to know what the problem is before she competes, ligamants can be nasty, jumpers knee not as bad.

Good luck.

By the way we have been dealing with jumpers knee, achilles tendonitis and scoliosis for 18 months now, I do feel for you, my DD is just beginning to tumble and vault again after a six month break, it is very tough to lose skills and have to begin again.

[gym law mom]

We have been down the road with Jumper's knee x 2(same knee) which is actually a micro fracture of the patellar growth plate. If she is between 9 and 12 she would be ripe for such an injury. It usually starts as a tendinitis type pain which then progresses as the quads pull on her knee. I do have a medical background, but wouldn't want to say to you for sure that is what is wrong.

We went to see an ortho who specialized in knees. He was able to diagnosis it with x-rays and a quick exam----grabbed her knee as she was laying on the table and she flew off! At that time she was already limping and had swelling. She was told NO running, jumping anything for 2 weeks. She did need PT for about 7 weeks because her quads in that leg had gotten "mushy"(from not contracting like they should) and to get full painless range of motion back in the knee. 2nd time around she also needed PT to get the range of motion back, but also one of the quad muscles would not relax and the therapist had to manually massage/release it, ultrasound etc. over 2 wks before she could do anything. She did end up with a brace for a month or so and then tossed it once the knee was better.

As hard as it may be, I would hold her out this week until she has seen a medical professional to get a diagnosis. As a comeback, my daughter was only allowed some dance and leaps on beam, bars, but no flyaways and then the therapist gradually increased what she could do. She started back on floor just doing dance---tumbled on the tumble trak. Vault was the last thing added and even then she only did a few vaults at every other practice for a few weeks. They do recover pretty quickly from this if diagnosed early and I know its hard, but limit what is done in the gym, PE class etc. Also giving Motrin is recommended for a few weeks to help with inflamation/pain.

[audra]

I agree with GLM, until you have it checked I would leary on letting her work on it. Knee injuries are extremely hard to diagnosis, and there can be damage to ligaments or cartilage that you are not aware of. Working out on an injured knee can do more damage.

I'm sure you figured out tonight if it was even possible for her to do anything during practice tonight.

[gymnellie]

The dr. office didn't call me back today, so I am calling them first thing in the morning. She couldn't do much of anything on it tonight. Her coach seems to think that she will be ok by sunday, but I'm not so sure. He really wants her to compete but I'm thinking that I'm not going to let her. I'm hoping that someone cancelled at the dr.'s office and they can get her in. Even if it means no competition this weekend, she needs to be seen.

[gymnellie]

Dr.'s office called this morning and they couldn't get her an appointment until the 15th in Nashville. I don't live in Nashville and it is about an hour away. So I called a different ortho in the area that I live in and they can see her tomorrow! Yeah! So we will find out tomorrow what is wrong with her knee. I will update as soon as we get back to let everyone know what is going on. Thanks everyone for your advice and your concern. Chalk Bucket is a great place.

[TDiver]

I just wanted to say good luck at the doctors! I hope everything is alright with your daughter's knee. Injuries can be really frustrating so I hope it's nothing serious.

[gymnellie]

Ok, went to the dr. this morning. they did an xray and the dr said that it didn't show anything, but he feels there is something wrong with her knee because it is stil a little bit swollen and is tender to the touch. So......we do an MRI on the 17th, which means that she misses two meets! He said absolutely no gymnastics! She is very disappointed.