WAG Knees...

[Vincati]

Wow. DD can compete state... then she wakes up with knee pain. She was at a birthday party at a trampoline park yesterday. She says she did a side aerial and her left knee landed on the trampoline pad and hyperextended it. DD has double jointed knees too. To the side of her knee there is swelling but that is the only symptom other than pain when bending it. What do you think she did? She really wants to do state. Please help us if your DD has double jointed knees.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Double Jointed is a quack term over here but my Pink and Fluffy suffers from Hypermobility in her joints.

Joint hypermobility - NHS Choices

she has problems with the ligaments in her knees and so performs exercises set by her physio daily to strengthen her quads, hammies and hips to support sthe knee joint.

She also uses K Tape for extra support.

The diagnosis came about when she injured her Medial Collateral Ligament.

Apparently a large proportion of gymnasts have hypermobility and its hereditary.

Hope she gets better soon

'Margo

 

[Vincati]

Looks like the description in the article is acurate. DD can get her feet to go 3 or 4 inches off the floor by straightening her legs completely.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

when she stands up straight and "locks out" her knee joint is her leg straight or bent backwards ? Physio told us that dd has to work on keeping the knee stable and straight, and needs more strength in her legs to keep it there. If she doesn't improve her strength then its likely that she will continue to have knee problems.

 

[aerialriver]

No one other than a doctor can advise you what do do. None of us have xray minds. When is states? No one has "double jointed knees" that would mean you have 2 knee joints. She may have hypermobil knees meaning her knees can extend backward further than normal. I would highly suggest if it is swollen she get in to see the doc.

 

[Vincati]

Yep, her knees go backwards. We bought a knee sleeve and will hope it works.

 

[Vincati]

Well, she has hypermobil knees. At our gym, we call it double jointed. State is in 3 weeks. I don't think it is swollen but I think we are seeing a doctor later this week.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

trampoline parks are evil...you could have used better judgement.

 

[GymSurvivor]

Not sure what happened but I can say that I'm always leery about Side Ariels on trampoline! I don't teach my kids them on a tramp, I take it straight to the floor.

I've had two friends tore their meniscus both doing side ariels on trampolines!

 

[krisnkids]

Take her to the doctor and find out what the problem is, no one other than a medical professional (with xrays) can tell you what is wrong with her. A knee sleeve is a band-aid, band-aids are not for swollen joints.

A few weeks ago my gymmie woke up with her wrist hurting. She said she was fine and did not think it was broken, so she did the motrin thing, modified workouts. I didn't push the issue because she had meets coming up and I didn't want her to miss out. After two weeks of it not getting better I took her to the doctor, they did xrays; said she had a fracture in her wrist and referred her to ortho. She has now been in a cast for two weeks, missed two meets and the chances of her going to states in 2 weeks are slim to none. Even if she can she won't be able to do floor because of the pounding on the wrists.

What I am trying to say is that when it comes to gymnasts and injuries, let the professionals check it out and tell you there is nothing wrong; here's a bandaid. Don't do it yourself.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

and then, never go to a trampoline park again...

 

[Vincati]

Just to clear things up, DD is going to the doctor tomorrow morning. I was just asking your opinion. DD is also very anxious about tomorrow morning, she is very worried this is a meniscus tear. Her best friend at gym just tore her meniscus which isn't helping.

 

[krisnkids]

Good luck to both of you.

 

[Vincati]

Just a sprain. (phew!) Doc wants us to see an orthro just to make sure. There aren't very many orthro doctors where we live, so if the orthro can't see us for a while, our pediatrician wants us to get x-rays on her hips. DD has "turned out" hips as the coaches say and there are hip issues that cause knee pain. Until then, DD can use as tolerated, so states will hopefully happen. Thanks to all for replying.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Just a sprain. (phew!) Doc wants us to see an orthro just to make sure. There aren't very many orthro doctors where we live, so if the orthro can't see us for a while, our pediatrician wants us to get x-rays on her hips. DD has "turned out" hips as the coaches say and there are hip issues that cause knee pain. Until then, DD can use as tolerated, so states will hopefully happen. Thanks to all for replying.

so long as you dunnofully stay away from those trampoline parks.<3

 

[Vincati]

Back from orthro. She has a muscle stain. The recurring knee pain is jumper's knee. She got a brace and is already feeling a lot better.

 

[iwannacoach]

Lot's of ice for 20 minutes as soon as possible after each practice.

 

[gymgurl]

Watch out for hypermobile knees - I have hypermobile everything except elbows pretty much and my knee hyperextends regularly. Also, standing with knees locked back when they are hypermobile tilts the pelvis and thus alters the position of the spine causing back pain so while she is young (I assume she is relatively young) I would get her to learn to stand with soft knees. I have a lot of back pain and poor posture due to my hypermobile knees. However glad to hear it is just a sprain and lots of ice should do the trick - that and no trampoline parks haha

 

[wallinbl]

Just to clear things up, DD is going to the doctor tomorrow morning. I was just asking your opinion.

Talk to the doc about exercises/strength training that will help with her various hypermobile joints. If the doc doesn't know, ask for recommendations for a good PT that can help. While the joints are held together with sinew, the other end of the tendons are the muscles, and having balanced, strong muscles significantly helps to stabilize joints. This is even more important if you're engaged in activities that stress the skeleton.

If you can get the coach involved/aware of the PT regimen, all the better.

 

[Copelscope]

My daughter was told to do leg lifts (seated on the floor) daily to strengthen her leg muscles for the same issue, and was excused from PE for a week to allow her to "save her knee for gym" (with a knee sleeve to help stability) while the pain went away by her sports med ortho -- she hasn't needed the support for a few months now . Hope she feels better soon!


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