WAG Wrist pain

[BarCoach]

Have an 8 year old who has been complaining her wrists hurt for a couple months now. We've been taping and doing some strength but with no effect. Is she too young for tiger paws? For those with experience with this,what has helped?

 

[bogwoppit]

Well she should get it looked at, growth plate issues are always possible. X-rays are needed to diagnose and rule this out.

Once you know what she is suffering from you can work on the tiger paws.

Mine used them to protect their wrists.

 

[Kiwi]

She should get a medical opinion - if x-rays are okay then a physiotherapist may be able to help. She is not too young for Tiger Paws but they are a prevention tool, they don't heal injured wrists. The wrists might need some rest to allow healing first. Then the Tiger Paws can be used to prevent reinjury.

 

[Nico]

If she would do an X-ray, they should look for ulnar variance (positive or negative). If the ulna is shorter of longer (>1mm) than the radius, than the balance of the pressure being disturbed over the two bones can be off balance. They are not sure if this variance is a cause or an effect of the growth plate being injured. It is possible that the growth plate is being injured due to this variance. One the other hand it is possible that this variance is occuring after the growth plate being injured (the bone grows less). Note that not all wrist injuries can be diagnosed on X-ray though.

The strength exercises are very important because the muscles of the wrist (and not the bony structures) can bear more of the weigt or impact on the wrist. Also the flexibility of the wrist is very important to reduce wrist pain and wrist injuries. If she has very stiff wrist, you should work on that to...

Good luck!

 

[BarCoach]

Nico, what strength do you recommend?

 

[Nico]

I'll try my best to explain a few exercises in English.

1) You could work with rubber bands, or weights doing extension's, flexion's, ulnar and redial deviation. The same exersises can be done with help of a coach applying 'pressure' in the opposite direction of the movement done by the gymnast.

2) Without weights or bands: From a hand and knee position, hands flat with fingers to the front, lift your palms off the floor (fingers remain on the floor). Add as much pressure by leaning more on the hands (and less on the knees). After some exersise you would be able to do this from a push up position.

3) Same position as in 2 but on your fists with palms opposing. Open your fists so the back of your hand touches the ground, than close them. Again, apply as much pressure as you can to finish your set (12x for example)

4) Push-ups on the fists, with elbows far to the side, rolling from the top of your fists (in support) to the side of your fists (when you bend).

5) If you're a bit handy you could make next 'device'. Take a small bar and slide a tube over it. Attach two cables (small ropes) on the side of the inner bar so you can hang it somewhere (ceiling, high bar?). Then attach (tape) a rope with a weight on the end in the center of the tube. Now you can turn the outer tube backward or forward so the weight gets up to the bar. Great way to train the wrists...
Hope this makes sense?

These are just a few ways to train wrist strength.
Make sure you build it up, because when you start some of these exersises can be hard.

Good luck!

 

[munchkin3]

Find a pediatric orthopedist. ASAP.
In the meantime, no impact.

 

[Flossyduck]

You need to get it looked at.

My daughter had wrist pain earlier in the year (she was 8 at the time). She saw the physio and it was Dorsal Wrist Displacement Syndrome (excuse spelling)- something to do with growth plates rubbing.

She was told to keep off handstand holds, straddle presses and things which put the wrist/hand in an l shape under pressure for longer than a few seconds. She also had some exercises.

It lasted a few weeks and mucked up her competition prep badly, as she needed straddle presses on range and beam, but she no longer has any pain at all and I'm very glad we got it sorted.

The physio may have been ensuring she did as she was told (and can be a bit of a joker), but he told her that she could cause the growth plate to stop growing and end up with one arm bone longer than the other if she didn't. I didn't let her take the risk!

 

[GYMMOM29]

My 9 year old daugher started complaining of wrist pain this past spring (in the middle of her level 7 season). We took her to the doctor and they diagnosed her with "gymnast's wrist", which is stress fractures of the growth plate. The doctor told her she could not use her wrist for 3 weeks and put her in a brace. He explained that if she kept pushing through the pain, she could completely break the growth plate which could lead to early closure. This would cause one bone to grow longer than the other and so they would have to do surgery to stop the other growth plate so her wrist/hand wouldn't grow funny. This would result in a shorter arm. We have a girl in our gym who did actually break hers and they are waiting to see if her arm will continue to grow. Very scary!

That being said, you should not treat this lightly and get her seen by an ortho ASAP! Also, I would recommend using tiger paws once the injury is healed so hopefully it doesn't reoccur. Hope this helps!

 

[Nico]

We are all listing up the possible wrist injuries now, but we don't even know where the pain is located in the wrist? It's is all good information though, and all relates to what I was trying to describe before.
The thing that concerns me is that the pain is already lasting for a few months.
If you go to a doctor, please find a hand/wrist specialist. The wrist is a very complex joint, and not all doctors have the knowledge needed to make the right diagnose...

 

[Kiwi]

5) If you're a bit handy you could make next 'device'. Take a small bar and slide a tube over it. Attach two cables (small ropes) on the side of the inner bar so you can hang it somewhere (ceiling, high bar?). Then attach (tape) a rope with a weight on the end in the center of the tube. Now you can turn the outer tube backward or forward so the weight gets up to the bar. Great way to train the wrists...

My hand specialist physio got me to make a slosh pipe to train the stabilising muscles. You can buy the pipe, end caps and glue from a plumbing supplies store. Glue one end cap on, half fill with water, glue the other end cap on and there you have it. Practice holding it steady for as long as you can, preferably at least 45 - 60 seconds.

 

[BarCoach]

Thanks for the strength ideas. I did advise her mom to take her to the doctor. Hopefully they will. She describes the pain as extending from mid thumb all the way down to about an inch below her wrist.

 

[raenndrops]

That almost sounds like carpel tunnel or another nerve issue would also be on the table as far as possibilities of problems.
Hopefully the mom takes your advice and gets her to the ortho.

 

[JoyAvenueMom]

My dd had some wrist pain that persisted after rest. X-ray and visit to ortho showed no problem. Ortho suggested more rest. Took her to my chiropractor. He discovered shoulder was out of alignment, which caused bones in her arm to be out of alignment, and therefore wrist was out of alignment. He corrected it on the spot. She was pain free in two days. I agree you should rule out all major issues with an ortho doc...your kiddo only has one body. However, I am learning there are particular situations in which a good doctor of chiropractic can truly be the expert....so don't rule out that option...even if your ortho doesn't bring it up. Our family ortho (we have a big, active family so, yes, we have a particular ortho we like to see!) is beginning to come around after seeing the benefits my family has experienced.

 

[tumbling1gymnast]

My physiotherapist diagnosed me with 'hyper mobility syndrome' around five years ago, as I had the same problem. he suggested doing wrist strengthening exercises and nothing worked, so for around four years I've been using tiger paws which help immensely! But then came an ankle injury, and I stopped training for a few weeks. After having that rest and coming back, my wrists are fine! Maybe she just needs a small break.