IreneKa
Proud Parent
Some background first. Most of you know my DD's struggles with her back. It's been going on for almost 2 years now. Stress fracture first, then stress reaction. Her back pain is still on and off. We switched her to Xcel this season, because she hasn't been completely pain free since March. Her last MRI was mostly clear, so the doctor gave her okay to continue gymnastics on DD's current schedule (only 5 hrs\week), but said to try and limit the repetitions of the back skills, and avoid the skills that make her back hurt. It's been going pretty well, since Xcel allows for skills flexibility, so she was able to avoid the worse skills, like BWO and such.
Last week after one practice DD was particularly glum and said her back hurt. I asked what made it hurt, because I always tell her to pay attention, and if her back starts hurting after a particular skill, to try and avoid it in the future. She said it started hurting after conditioning, particularly after something she called "arch up". That didn't sound good to me. I'm not a gymnast myself, but that sounded like something to do with back arching, which we are trying to avoid as much as possible. I asked, why didn't you tell the coach you can't do that? She said, whenever I tell him something like that, he says "don't tell me your back hurts, just do it".
I was pretty upset by that comment, and by the fact that DD's back was hurting more again. I was planning to talk to that coach after the next practice, but he wasn't there that day. I kept thinking about it, and thought maybe it wasn't that bad, maybe I'm overreacting. So I did a quick google search on "arch up" and "back pain", and of course the first article that comes up is the one from http://www.hybridperspective.com/ which is my go-to site for everything back related, and the author of this site is actually DD's current PT.
Here is the article:
http://www.hybridperspective.com/20...ioning-contributing-to-back-pain-in-gymnasts/
After reading it I got even more upset. Not only this sounded like an awful exercise for someone still recovering from the back injury, but sounds like it's something that should be avoided all together.
So, I decided not to wait until the next practice. I sent e-mail to team manager, and asked her to forward it to all DD's coaches. I explained what happened, and told them that DD should avoid any exercises that make her back hurt, and listen to her if she tells them she can't do something. I also included the link to the article. I thought they should know that this it not the best conditioning exercise for anybody. And I also mentioned that the person who wrote the article is DD's PT, and if they have any questions they could email him, and gave his email address (he did give me his permission to share his email with DD's coaches).
Anyways, last night after practice DD was upset with me. She said, mom, you overreacted with that email, now they won't let me do anything.
So, I wanted to ask other parent, what do you think? Did I overreact? Do they now think I'm a crazy mom, so let's just not let her DD do anything, so the mom won't get upset again?
Or is it my fault, and I should have communicated more with them sooner? I tried to keep them informed on DD's condition as much as I could, but I didn't want to bother them too often. I assumed it was clear that a kid who spent the last two summers in a back brace should not be doing too much back arching.
Last week after one practice DD was particularly glum and said her back hurt. I asked what made it hurt, because I always tell her to pay attention, and if her back starts hurting after a particular skill, to try and avoid it in the future. She said it started hurting after conditioning, particularly after something she called "arch up". That didn't sound good to me. I'm not a gymnast myself, but that sounded like something to do with back arching, which we are trying to avoid as much as possible. I asked, why didn't you tell the coach you can't do that? She said, whenever I tell him something like that, he says "don't tell me your back hurts, just do it".
I was pretty upset by that comment, and by the fact that DD's back was hurting more again. I was planning to talk to that coach after the next practice, but he wasn't there that day. I kept thinking about it, and thought maybe it wasn't that bad, maybe I'm overreacting. So I did a quick google search on "arch up" and "back pain", and of course the first article that comes up is the one from http://www.hybridperspective.com/ which is my go-to site for everything back related, and the author of this site is actually DD's current PT.
Here is the article:
http://www.hybridperspective.com/20...ioning-contributing-to-back-pain-in-gymnasts/
After reading it I got even more upset. Not only this sounded like an awful exercise for someone still recovering from the back injury, but sounds like it's something that should be avoided all together.
So, I decided not to wait until the next practice. I sent e-mail to team manager, and asked her to forward it to all DD's coaches. I explained what happened, and told them that DD should avoid any exercises that make her back hurt, and listen to her if she tells them she can't do something. I also included the link to the article. I thought they should know that this it not the best conditioning exercise for anybody. And I also mentioned that the person who wrote the article is DD's PT, and if they have any questions they could email him, and gave his email address (he did give me his permission to share his email with DD's coaches).
Anyways, last night after practice DD was upset with me. She said, mom, you overreacted with that email, now they won't let me do anything.
So, I wanted to ask other parent, what do you think? Did I overreact? Do they now think I'm a crazy mom, so let's just not let her DD do anything, so the mom won't get upset again?
Or is it my fault, and I should have communicated more with them sooner? I tried to keep them informed on DD's condition as much as I could, but I didn't want to bother them too often. I assumed it was clear that a kid who spent the last two summers in a back brace should not be doing too much back arching.