WAG Sever's Disease

[mom2agymnast]

Help!! My dd has a severe case of Sever's Disease. We recently just started a new gym training level 6 and right now she cannot vault or tumble, they need her to score out of level 4 and 5 within the new few months and I don't see that happening. She comes home from practice crying every night and can hardly walk during the day. I did buy the X brace and that should be coming in the next few days. Besides ice and ibuprofen is there anything else we can do?

 

[All Chalked Up]

If she is coming home crying and can barely walk, she should probably take a break from gym for awhile. She should still focus on ab & arm conditioning, even whatever legs/cardio she could manage without pain such as swimming.

 

[Amber]

In our gym, girls with severe cases of Sever's are put into a boot which immobilizes the foot. They only take it off for gym, and they wear sneakers for vault and floor. It usually works in 2 weeks. I would get her to an ortho doc, quick! Good luck!

 

[bogwoppit]

She needs to see a doctor and she needs to rest.

 

[motigymnasticsmom]

I had a physical therapist tell me to let my dd use a tennis ball while she was watching tv. Roll the offending foot on a tennis ball. If you have a trampoline, it helps. Because they are still excercising, but, they are not pounding the offending foot/feet on the ground, the tramp is absorbing the shock and softly flexing the tendons/muscles. Salt baths, massages, physical therapy excercises at home, cheetah cups, heel cups in the shoes during the day. Bars, bars, bars and then more bars!!! My dd had a severe case of it twice. The first time, it was a longer time because I didn't know what to do; fortunately, it wasn't so severe. But, the second time, we had to go to the Dr. We caught it and it took her a little over a month for it to calm down. That was after all of the hard work stretching 3x's a day, massages, salt bath every day, remind her to use tennis ball, use the tramp, bars, no floor or vault today..., bars, no floor or vault today.., bars today also.

 

[wheezy]

Her health comes first. If she is in such a state when she gets home, then her pain and feet are first. Poor thing.

 

[Short Balding Guy]

An excellent vid to demo stretching and massage for treating the syndrome is embed below. Dr. Joshua Eldridge has a ton of excellent resources at his website, Gymnast Care ( http://gymnastcare.com/severs-disease-treatment ).



Ok the resources and treatment protocol are said. What to expect: Recently, this spring, I have had gymnasts working thru Severs. I have experienced recovery (Dr. approved gymnastics, no pain lighter impact workouts) within 3 - 5 weeks. Each gymnast is different and universals like recovery rates do not apply. During the recovery time we went to NO impact workouts. Boots, braces or taped feet were their to protect the athletes and coach staff from any impatience in recovery. Uneven Bars, conditioning, drills, side stations, flexibility, and team activities were de rigor in the gym. Make advantage of injury recovery!

8 weeks after thumbs up from Dr. for impact commencement, we are back to full gymnastics workouts. I see that the gymnasts are happily back training. We check each practice for the tell-tale signs of any reoccurrence. Their fitness/conditioning is superb! Their motivation for upgrade skills is superb! They benefited greatly from the recovery process at the gym.

Truly best wishes for your gymnast. I am confident that with a smart recovery modality, coordination between Dr. and coaches, your gymnast will be recover and be back to impact gymnasts in a short time.

Best, SBG -

 

[mom2agymnast]

Thanks everyone. She did see the "team doctor" at our the ortho and she dx it, but it has now gotten worse. I did make an appt for her to go back next week.

I'm going to try the other things you guys mentioned. Thanks!

 

[gasrgoose]

Everything above. The best result for us came from spending 10 minutes at night massaging her achilles, heel and foot. Then we have a brace that she sleeps in that keeps the foot/feet flexed and prevents the achilles from becoming tight while she sleeps. We also use Voltaren (prescription) that helps when it flares up significantly. Unfortunately it's not usually something that will just go away quickly and you will end up being an expert yourself. Good luck!

 

[Iwannabemargo]

just be careful with Diclofenac (Voltarol) if you take it orally. My hubbie had acute gastritis because of that as it eats through your stomach lining and the GP said that it should not be taken for extended periods of time.