Coming Back from a Stress Fracture in my Back, mean gym owner!

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A few months ago I began feeling a huge amount of back pain in my lower back, especially when i was tumbling. I ignored it, telling myself to suck it up and stop being a wimp. I eventually told my mom and she took me to a physical therapist who diagnosed it as a stress fracture in my lower back. I literally started crying right then and there because I could not even imagine being away from gymnastics!!! Now i am FINALLY clear to start arching a few times each practice and building up, but the thing that bothers me absolutely most is no one believes that i am hurt. They come up to me and say stress fractures shouldnt last more than a month and that i just want to get out of stuff.

I try to tell them that "no, if i just wanted to get out of stuff, I WOULD QUIT." Apparently no one realizes that. This gym is kind of new to me and i hate it. They think they are all AMAZING when this gym is really no more than a rec gym. I want to switch but there are no other gyms in my area and the closest gym is one for little elite gymnasts. Older girls arent really... they dont really fit in, and also i would have to have my level 10 skills to go there.

The other day the owner of the gym (he hates me and i swear just wants me gone, but wont kick me out because he wants my money) yelled at me for never trying hard enough. This is ridiculous because the physical therapist said "no gymnastics WHATSOEVER". I even had a note. I am always doing strength and am always with my team...

My coaches know i work hard and even talked to the owner about it, but he wont even listen to them. He lies and though he is fifty has the maturity level of a 5 year old. I am miserable, but I love gymnastics too much to quit.


Sorry, I really needed to vent!! Thanks for listening :)
 
A few months ago I began feeling a huge amount of back pain in my lower back, especially when i was tumbling. I ignored it, telling myself to suck it up and stop being a wimp. I eventually told my mom and she took me to a physical therapist who diagnosed it as a stress fracture in my lower back. I literally started crying right then and there because I could not even imagine being away from gymnastics!!! Now i am FINALLY clear to start arching a few times each practice and building up, but the thing that bothers me absolutely most is no one believes that i am hurt. They come up to me and say stress fractures shouldnt last more than a month and that i just want to get out of stuff.

I try to tell them that "no, if i just wanted to get out of stuff, I WOULD QUIT." Apparently no one realizes that. This gym is kind of new to me and i hate it. They think they are all AMAZING when this gym is really no more than a rec gym. I want to switch but there are no other gyms in my area and the closest gym is one for little elite gymnasts. Older girls arent really... they dont really fit in, and also i would have to have my level 10 skills to go there.

The other day the owner of the gym (he hates me and i swear just wants me gone, but wont kick me out because he wants my money) yelled at me for never trying hard enough. This is ridiculous because the physical therapist said "no gymnastics WHATSOEVER". I even had a note. I am always doing strength and am always with my team...

:)

Those who say "stress fractures shouldn't last more than a month" aren't worth listening to, and (hopefully) don't have a medical backround. I would listen to your PT person because that IS a person with medical backround. Do not despair...my daughter had stress fractures (thoracic and lumbar areas) several years ago and her sports med doc put her in a hard brace for 12 weeks , with no gymnastics...she could do some core and conditioning but no arching or events...and she came back at the end of the season and ended up making it to JOs and winning! So my advice to you is to take all the time you need to let it heal and it will pay off going forward. Knock on wood, never had another back issue...
 
Wow, that's great for her to come back and win JOs!!
Im so glad and thankful that there are people out there with similar experiences. At this gym most of the girls aren't raised with the same teaching of respect like at my last gym; the change of atmosphere is getting to me, but thanks so much for sharing, it made me feel a lot better about everything!
 
Wow, that's great for her to come back and win JOs!!
Im so glad and thankful that there are people out there with similar experiences. At this gym most of the girls aren't raised with the same teaching of respect like at my last gym; the change of atmosphere is getting to me, but thanks so much for sharing, it made me feel a lot better about everything!

It's funny that you mention this because the gym my daughter was at at the time had a similar attitude ...according to her eastern European coaches, anyone with an injury was (in no particular order): "fat, lazy, afraid to compete, faking, an embarassment to the gym, whiners, crybabies etc"...you get the drift...unless they were in a cast (and for them a hard back brace that was removable didn't count!!), "nothing is wrong". Their mantra was always "your daughter never complained to me so she must not have anything wrong" (with attitudes like theirs, can you blame them?) My daughter was a lot younger at the time so i had to step in and advocate for her health and safety because the coach wanted her to compete because she always did/scored well. So again, take all the time you need because the pain will get better if allowed to heal:)

And because it healed, she continued to compete and is headed to college (Div 1) on a full gymnastics scholarship!!
 
yes, my gym is the same way... in fact that is exactly what the owner of the gym told me when he pulled me aside out of practice. Even including the "you are embarrassing to the gym" comment as well as others. All I want to do is prove them wrong. Thanks for giving me this advice and congrats to your daughter, my sister is also going to college on a gym scholarship! But its nice to know that i am not the only one being harassed by coaches and gym owners... thanks :)
 
Mmmmm....he says you're an embarassment to the gym...Mmmmm....me thinks he is 3 letters together in that word embarassment. i'm just sayin...:)
 
You need to tell your mom how you feel about this owner and about how you really don't like the gym and how they don't believe you are hurt now. Your Mom is on your side and will really handle alot of these issues (I know I would). Also your mom might also know of other gyms around that she would be willing to drive to that might be further than you think she would drive to. but for our kids you would be surprised what we mom's will do.

Start with your mom.

Dunno I agree with you too.

Unfortunatly I've been at and seen gyms that don't know what to do when a gymnast has a back injury. There is no outward signs like a cast and crutches and there are times when it feels fine but isn't. Take care of your back or you could be like my DD's friend who ignored the DR orders and ended up 6 months in a back brace 24/7. By the time she was able to come back she lost alot of skills and ended up quitting.
 
gymbee97 -- i talked to my mom, and there is another gym about 25 minutes away. I want to switch, but this gym is very strict on age limits and it is a FABULOUS gym, it is my dream to go there again (I went there a long time ago before i quit and lost most of my skills). I might switch over, but unless i get my level 10 skills i will have to train in the Eagles group. Thanks for the advice though, a lot of people are just telling me to switch and im beginning to think its time... my mom hates this guy probably more than i do, so we'll see what happens... :) thanks!
 
If you're in high school and even have a chance of getting level 10 skills any time before you graduate, I'd find it strange if a gym said you'd be taken out of a level 9 group. They may let you do it. What skills do you need? I am a bit confused because of your name/state info would lead you to be connected to a certain gym, but it couldn't be described as mainly a rec gym, so I am guessing that this is the move that you refer to. I would at least schedule an evaluation/tryout at the other gym, again if you are level 9 then even if all the girls above a certain age happens to be level 10, they may let you train with them.
 

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