Parents New and Hoping

[Tralliam]

Hi, I'm new here and I think I'm in the minority as I'm a proud Dad of a 7 yo DD. I'm so glad I found this site. Here's why I'm hoping I won't need advice from y'all next week about a frustrated little girl.

About a week before Christmas my DD finally got her RO BHS BHS. The next week she went all out and was string 5,6,7 in a row. And then, .... Handstand, snapdown, BHS and misplaced her hand. She broke her right index finger. Not bad but she's been in a cast fingertips to elbow for 3 weeks. She's hasn't missed a workout and her conditioning looks great because of it. I know everybody is different but does anyone have experience on how long after coming out of a cast will the skills return?

I think she's expecting everything to be right like it was before but I want to be able to give her some realistic timeframe when it's not.

 

[profmom]

She won't go out there and immediately start doing everything she was doing before the injury, but you'll be surprised at how quickly the skills come back. If she's been in a cast for three weeks, she will have lost strength and flexibility in the casted arm and hand, which will take a little time to recover. Depending on the severity of the break, she may need a little PT to get the finger back in shape -- that's an important finger! But when she gets frustrated, remind her that the skills are in her head, not her arm, and they will come back. Trying to remember my DD's time frame, she had an injury in April 2011 when she was a Level 5 that sidelined her from all tumbling and weight-bearing for three months. By I'd say September, she had everything back and then some, and that with a vacation in the middle of the return. When her teammate broke her finger last year (a more mild break than your daughter's), she really didn't look like she'd missed a practice after the first week. I think she was out for two weeks or so.

 

[sglemon]

She will get the skills back, but the bigger problem she may face is psychological. My dd hurt her hand 2x doing BHS, even with bruising and swelling, it was just a sprain both times. All she did was put her hand down with her fingers curled under. Another time she just popped out of a second BHS, and landed on her back. The first time she hurt her hand and when she landed on her back, she was scared to try a ROBHS. Both times it took about week for her to do the skill. She never lost the ability, mentally her brain put up a block. What I did to help her was sign her up for a couple of 30 minute privates immediately, and her coaches worked the skill, starting on a tramp spotting, then a light spot, standing next to her, then taking a step away, etc... The one on one really helped build her confidence back up. I would suggest, if needed, to get help immediately, the longer it takes, the stronger the mental wall gets. Dd has a teammate who popped out of a ROBHS last Feb and landed on her back, and she still can't mentally connect the skills.

 

[clrmom]

My dd broke her foot at the end of September and was in a walking boot for 4 weeks. She went to every practice for conditioning as well. After they took the boot off, she was given limited release. She wasn't allowed to do anything with pounding. When she finally was fully released, it took her a little bit to get some things back. Because it was her "good" foot that was broken, she needed to build back the strength. She was back at a competition though 3 weeks after she returned to full workouts and received better scores than she did before the break. Another girl at our gym broke her finger last year and she returned to full workout immediately after her cast was removed and competed 2 weeks later. I guess it depends some on the girl and the injury.

Good luck to your dd!

 

[gymgal]

Welcome! Cbone will love to have another dad on board. His dd is around the same age too.

As for the break, it will depend on the rehab plan. I have seen some girls come right back after the cast is off and have seen others put in a brace after the cast for a couple weeks then very gradual buildup to full workout that could last another month.

When dd broke her wrist (buckle break, not full through) she was casted for 4wks, braced for 2 weeks, then another month to reach full workout. She had been learning the bhs before the break (but broke it on a cartwheel - go figure). It happened just before meet season so when the cast came off, they were in competition mode with no uptraining. So she basically didn't work on the bhs again for months. By then, she was ready to work it mentally/physically.

I know its different because my dd was a wrist but your dd has a cast from finger to elbow. So its likely the break was close to the wrist or affected tissues at the wrist.

Sent from my ADR6400L using ChalkBucket mobile app

 

[JBS]

I know everybody is different but does anyone have experience on how long after coming out of a cast will the skills return?

Welcome...I have a 7 year old daughter and a 5 year old daughter.

The typical answer that we give at the gym is 2x the amount of time that they were out of regular practice. If she's been in a cast for 3 weeks...then 6 weeks from now would be a safe estimate.

At 7 years old...there is a good chance that the skills will be there immediately.

 

[magymmom]

Everyone is different and you need to listen to the docs, but my own experience with Level 7 dd is she broke her hand(metacarpal) in Sept. and did as much workout as she could, 4 weeks in cast, 2 more in splint, and once released went to tumbling within 2 weeks with no issues, competed everything except bars(giant not back) at a meet 3 weeks after release. Just finally got all skills back within this last week or so and hoping to finally compete AA at meet next week. Her biggest problem was the loss of grip strength and muscle in hand and wrist from being in cast, and then some mental blocks as well. Hoping for a speedy recovery for dd.

 

[Tralliam]

Thanks to everyone for the quick and helpful replies. I'm so glad I've found this community. Her break happened the same as a PP. Finger tucked under when placing her hands. It was also only a buckle fracture right at the base of the finger before the palm. We think the Ortho was aggressive with the cast to force her to slow down and let it heal. The reason I'm apprehensive is she was moved up to the competitive team from the performance team during this. Same gym, different location and she loses her coach whom she has an awesome relationship with. So lots of changes and she's never worked with these coaches before.

Thanks again for the advice and I'll remember the twice the time of the cast idea if she starts getting frustrated.

 

[gymmomtoo]

My experience (through my daughter) is with foot/ankle breaks and harder skills (level 9) but she had to ease back into things based on what PT said. The estimate her doctor gave us at the initial break(s) was optimistic--the PT had her take it slower, but she was still back up to doing regular skills within a few weeks. With your daughter breaking an arm/wrist/hand area, I would guess she'd get that RO-BHS back fairly quickly--if not immediately. Just prepare her for some pain initially. And don't be surprised if she has some unexpected fear when the cast finally comes off.