WAG Scared...

[flips123]

So some of you may know that i tore my ACL back in January with surgery in March. Im approaching the 6 month post-op mark on the 14th and I'm freaking out. I had been doing physical therapy at my normal place starting a few weeks after surgery, doing pool and just gaining everything back. I thought i was making alot of progress but my physical therapist was not happy. He said i was healing so much slower than other girls at this office who had surgery right around my time, and id take 1 step forward and 5 backwards. This was so frustrating because in reality i was doing EVERYTHING i could. So a few weeks ago he thought it would be beneficial for me to switch to a different branch of the PT office where he has a colleague who was a former gymnast/dancer who knows how to push you hard. Fast-forward to the last PT appointment I had. I have only had 3 appointments with this new physical therapist (improving my strength 50% since we met the first time!) and she thinks that im ready to start going back to gymnastics... Obviously not super intense training but this is still a start! I meet with the surgeon on the 6th and obviously we are going to do what he tell us to, weather it's being fitted for a brace or getting stronger and waiting a bit.

This is the part that freaks me out. I haven't done much gymnastics in the past 8 months (YES I KNOW EIGHT MONTHS!) Strap bar giants, kips, cartwheels, handstands and back walkovers is all. Im so scared that im going to go back and im either a)going to hurt myself again b)be in too much pain to do gymnastics ever again or c)have lost all of my skills and have no form. Now these may seem pretty irrational but my life has been pretty awful this past year. I haven't been able to train full time since June 2011. I had a bunch of back issues that sidelined me all summer 2011 and I was told i would never do gymnastics again and that the pain was all in my head. We were in and out of 8 doctors trying to figure out what was wrong when finally they said i could go back to training part time and see how it went. My back pain pretty much went away but in January 2012 we saw one of the best doctors gymnastics wise (thank god for gym connections!) who was in London and Beijing with the gymnastics teams (pretty awesome right!). He said that my core and glute muscles were way too weak for my body to be doing what I was doing. He prescribed me with PT and said I could start training normally again. Yay right!? Not really... the practice after I tore my ACL (also due to weak butt muscles). So as you can see this past year has been a giant let-down for me and thus why i am so scared to go back. I know the brace i am getting will prevent my knee from turning and tearing again, and the PT I have been doing has been focusing on getting my WHOLE body ready. I love gymnastics im just so nervous to actually go back. Maybe I just need some reassurance, i don't really know but these last few days have I been awful mess breaking down whenever I think about returning.

Wow if you actually got through this whole thing youre amazing. I think I just needed to vent and get it off of my chest. And I probably made no sense as I have been known to ramble on and on

 

[LiveLoveTumble]

Maybe when you go back you can just slowly ease into it. So just start off with easy stuff, like stretching, conditioning, and easy skills (cartwheels, walkovers, etc) that you know you will not get hurt on. Then when you get comfortable work back up to harder skills.

 

[sunshinegymnast]

I have been in your position and it's absolutely okay to be nervous! What i did was slowly ease back by starting with basics and eventually getting more confident to try my old skills. I was terrified to do the skill that caused my knee injury and my coach understood that and we slowly built up to it and now I'm trying to improve it! Don't over work your body and always listen to it! If it hurts, tell your coach right away and get some ice and rest it! All the best with training and I'd love to hear how it goes!

 

[iwannacoach]

I'm going to make two statements as if they were fact, so try to receive them as if each one was a command given that you couldn't refuse, and the course of each statement was irreversible.......

You have to quit! You're injury can't be rehabilitated enough for you to get back close to where you were, much less improve to where you want to be.


You have to rehab your knee!.....to the point it's as strong as medically reasonable, and then return to the gym for a few months of body optimizing, conditioning, and pt exercises....all under advice of your medical team. During the next two months you have to slowly return to impact activities to stregthen and acclimate your feet, ankles, knees, and hands, wrists, and hands, and at the same time work up to skills one level below where you were when the injury happened. After these four months of "re-enty" you'll spend another 2 months working on getting "back to where you were" with no guarantees of having all the same skills, but you'll have something to compete with to qualify to the state meet.

Ok....back to reality.....

Those two statements are scenarios at opposite ends of your choice spectrum, and while there are others you have to react to only these two to get started.

So tell me 123, which one made you melt furthest into a puddle of despair. I know which one would make me suffer the greates sense of loss and regret, but those are my emotionsn not your's. You your own emotions to work through on your own, with a little help from your parents and circle of supporters.

I know how tough of a time this is for you, but it's where you're at, and the only way out is to make your choice and move to support it........Good luck, and for once I really mean it!

 

[nicci1999]

The dreaded ACL. It seems when I tore mine a couple of years ago, there was a slew of us all having surgery at the same time for torn ACLs. Anyway.....you have to strength train some, then some more, then even more. And ease into things. TT will become your friend, low beams are a God-send. Always remember to BEND YOUR KNEES! It's scary going back and doing that element that caused your injury. It's more than scary, it's petrifying. But take it slow and steady, listen to your doctors, pt and coaches, and most importantly, listen to your body. If something hurts your knee, STOP. It may not be time to do whatever it is that is hurting it. Or try a different way of doing something if you can. Again, it's ok to be scared. It's normal. I remember watching when Shawn Johnson was making her comeback, and that landing she took for her bars dismount, where she landed with a straight knee, and wondering, how did she get over the fear of re-injury? But if she can get over it, so can I. Find yourself someone to look up to, it helps Good luck!!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

stop stressin...just get back to training and things will take care of themselves.