Parents Anyone with experience with stress fractures in back?

[VanessaJV]

We have a little more information now. When DD was diagnosed with the stress fracture it was at urgent care. It was very clear on xray. I met with her doctor yesterday and he said the full radiology report was back and along with the spondylolysis she has spondylolisthesis at the l5-s1 level. She is now going to a pediatric orthopedic surgeon who specializes in spines, specifically spondylolisthesis.

Most of that still makes little sense to me. I am hoping to find out a lot more information once we see the specialist. Everything is moving quickly, so that is nice. Meanwhile, my DD is struggling. She is very sad missing gym. Today she declared, "normal kids have very boring lives." ‍

Just trying to keep her spirits up at this point. Thanks for all the information and support.

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

If BWO's and bridges bother her, stop them.

She hasn't done these since she first injured her back. But nothing else bothers her (twists, front flips, etc..). We are seeing a specialist on Thursday, one that works with all of the gymnasts at our gym and is recommended by our coach.

 

[bogwoppit]

We have a little more information now. When DD was diagnosed with the stress fracture it was at urgent care. It was very clear on xray. I met with her doctor yesterday and he said the full radiology report was back and along with the spondylolysis she has spondylolisthesis at the l5-s1 level. She is now going to a pediatric orthopedic surgeon who specializes in spines, specifically spondylolisthesis.

Most of that still makes little sense to me. I am hoping to find out a lot more information once we see the specialist. Everything is moving quickly, so that is nice. Meanwhile, my DD is struggling. She is very sad missing gym. Today she declared, "normal kids have very boring lives." ‍

Just trying to keep her spirits up at this point. Thanks for all the information and support.

That is exactly the diagnosis my DD had. The 'lysthesis has grades of slippage, that is helpful to know. I am sure more will be explained at the doctors app.

 

[IreneKa]

We have a little more information now. When DD was diagnosed with the stress fracture it was at urgent care. It was very clear on xray. I met with her doctor yesterday and he said the full radiology report was back and along with the spondylolysis she has spondylolisthesis at the l5-s1 level. She is now going to a pediatric orthopedic surgeon who specializes in spines, specifically spondylolisthesis.

Most of that still makes little sense to me. I am hoping to find out a lot more information once we see the specialist. Everything is moving quickly, so that is nice. Meanwhile, my DD is struggling. She is very sad missing gym. Today she declared, "normal kids have very boring lives." ‍

Just trying to keep her spirits up at this point. Thanks for all the information and support.

Good luck at the doctors. Keep us posted!

 

[profmom]

I hope your daughter heals fully and quickly. You should know that coming back to gym after a 'listhesis diagnosis is very difficult, even more difficult than coming back from 'lysis. I just want you to be prepared in case the doctor advises retirement. I'm so sorry your daughter has this injury. I very much hope it is a mild case.

 

[SeaActually]

Best of luck to your daughter @VanessaJV! Back injuries are scary stuff.

 

[Midwestmommy]

With the level of hours you describe, she has spent many many structured hours--with where to be and what to do all determined by the adults (coaches). She probably has not had time or energy to pursue too many other interests, and has not needed to learn to do this or to really to do independent play as much as other kids. She might need some nudging to trying a few different things to see what she enjoys. I'm sorry this happened, I hope her healing goes very well-- back injuries are so tricky and require lots of patience. Maybe a sliver of a silver lining could be discovering something new... Encourage her to dip her toe into something new (music, art, etc...).... Maybe she'll find something she loves that outlasts her time in gymnastics. Or at least a distraction to help cheer her up a little during healing...

 

[thefellowsmom]

I'm so sorry to hear about the lysthesis diagnosis. My dd has no slippage. She is monitored regularly and we have an agreement that should it start to slip that likely would mean the end of gymnastics for her. This is a much more difficult diagnosis and really listen and if you can learn what you can. I would highly recommend getting multiple opinions and make sure you have someone who understands a gymnast body and what is at stake for her.

Our ortho told her to find a different sport, but she wasn't ready to just give up so I promised her I would see if I could find someone to help her and I am so grateful we did. Just thinking about all the work and help we have received and the investment and belief and support we have received brings me to tears. Unfortunately our story doesn't seem to be the common one. And remember, she had no slippage, so the conversation was very different.

For the other posters that are experiencing intermittent pain, this is exactly what it was like for dd. It only hurt at practice and only during bwo, fwo, and limbers. She stopped all of this and to this day, doesn't limber and does very few of the others, just enough to keep the skills clean. Elite is still part of her conversation and the compulsory beam routine has a bwo and she does the front handspring rather than walkover so she works those only a couple a week to keep them. Going fast never bothered her so she moved onto BHS on beam (she was training level 6 when this started)

Don't mess with it, get it checked out right away.

These injuries are all about creating strength and stability around that part of the spine and addressing the underlying root cause of the problem. For my dd this was caused by blockages and restriction in her hips causing misalignment in her pelvis, misfiring in her glutes and tightness all down her back side.

We fixed this and then tons of core pt, which she still does several times a week three years later and will continue to do at least as long as she is doing gymnastics. So far she has been pain free for years and going strong but it was a long and scary process and we live with it still every day. But the good news is I have learned so much about how to take care of her and she knows her body so well now. We aren't only able to take care of her back but also all of the nagging pains and keeping the overuse stuff at bay.

Good luck and big hugs.

 

[Aussie_coach]

On a positive note, we have had students who have had slippage and reached a similar point to you and have been able to return to full training. Now, fully grown or almost fully grown teenagers the risks of further slippage are much less of a concern.

You need an amazing physiotherapist who understands the sport, to work closely with yiu and a coach who is willing to be flexible for a long time to make it work.

Our gymnasts never stop coming to the gym during these types of injuries. We put together a list of exersices with the physio that they can do, as they do these in the gym where the coach can monitor that they are being done and even more importantly that they are being done correctly. They remain a part of the team.

 

[GymBeeMom]

My dd was diagnosed with same and has Grade 2 slip. She was diagnosed at 9 years old. She is now a 13 year old 2nd year Level 10. Every road is different but good care can allow return in some instances. We took her to a specialist at Johns Hopkins and it made all the difference. Pm me if you want to know more about what we dealt with.

 

[VanessaJV]

Can I ask what her symptoms were? My DD is dealing with some back pain, going on about 3 weeks now. First was diagnosed as a deep bone bruise and then diagnosed as a lumbar sprain (had an xray done and it was clear). She says it only hurts when she does certain skills (BWO, bridge are the 2 main ones). We have an appt on Thursday with a back specialist to possibly get an MRI done. If it was a stress fracture would she have constant pain? I'm so worried that it's something more serious but am hoping that it's just muscular at this point, since it doesn't hurt her all the time and she explains the pain as a tightness feeling.

How did your DDs appointment go? I know of her from Regionals/super team last year. I hope everything turned out well! She is an amazingly talented young lady!

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

How did your DDs appointment go? I know of her from Regionals/super team last year. I hope everything turned out well! She is an amazingly talented young lady!

Thank you so much for asking! We met with the back specialist on Thursday (he was AMAZING!). He scheduled her for an MRI for this coming Tuesday, he wants to rule out spondylolysis. We are hoping that she doesn't have a fracture or spondy, but if we find out that she does it should be a very mild case (based on his evaluation of her) and shouldn't impact her career. We will get the results from the MRI on Thursday, trying not to freak out too much in the mean time! She has been at practice everyday since she first hurt her back 3 weeks ago, she's not doing any skills that cause her any pain (no back walkovers, back handsprings, basically nothing that would cause her to arch her back backwards), so they have already changed up some of her routines, but hopefully she will be able to start working on those skills again within 6-8 weeks. She has worked so dang hard this past year and is so looking forward to competing level 10 and HOPES, so hoping that the results of the MRI won't derail anything and she can continue with her training and be ready to go at her first meet in January!!

 

[VanessaJV]

Only two more days until we meet with the orthopedic surgeon. These days could not move any slower. I go from being very optimistic to being convinced it is all over for my DD. DD cries every day and she still only knows about the stress fracture and believes she will be back at the gym in a couple weeks with no restrictions.

I am struggling a bit when I speak with others in our gym world. It appears we had girls in our gym a while back that had 'osis but probably not 'thesis. So I am getting information about how things went for them and so it "should" be the same for DD. It's all very frustrating. Wednesday can't come fast enough! I'm hoping to come out with more answers than questions.

 

[nycgymmom]

Only two more days until we meet with the orthopedic surgeon. These days could not move any slower. I go from being very optimistic to being convinced it is all over for my DD. DD cries every day and she still only knows about the stress fracture and believes she will be back at the gym in a couple weeks with no restrictions.

I am struggling a bit when I speak with others in our gym world. It appears we had girls in our gym a while back that had 'osis but probably not 'thesis. So I am getting information about how things went for them and so it "should" be the same for DD. It's all very frustrating. Wednesday can't come fast enough! I'm hoping to come out with more answers than questions.

Please let us know what happened. My DD was out for 3 months hard brace do 12hrs and the restricted for another 3. I was more of an emotional wreck than she was. Will pray you have better outcome.

 

[duyetanh]

Thank you so much for asking! We met with the back specialist on Thursday (he was AMAZING!). He scheduled her for an MRI for this coming Tuesday, he wants to rule out spondylolysis. We are hoping that she doesn't have a fracture or spondy, but if we find out that she does it should be a very mild case (based on his evaluation of her) and shouldn't impact her career. We will get the results from the MRI on Thursday, trying not to freak out too much in the mean time! She has been at practice everyday since she first hurt her back 3 weeks ago, she's not doing any skills that cause her any pain (no back walkovers, back handsprings, basically nothing that would cause her to arch her back backwards), so they have already changed up some of her routines, but hopefully she will be able to start working on those skills again within 6-8 weeks. She has worked so dang hard this past year and is so looking forward to competing level 10 and HOPES, so hoping that the results of the MRI won't derail anything and she can continue with her training and be ready to go at her first meet in January!!

How is she?

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

How is she?

MRI is tonight, will meet with doctor tomorrow afternoon to get the results.

 

[VanessaJV]

Update: Today went better than I had been expecting. In regards to the stress fracture (he kept referring to it as a break for some reason) the dr wants to have a ct scan to have a better look at it to determine the plan of action. That is scheduled for next Wednesday morning and we will meet with him that afternoon. He said she could be fully out 3 months, but it could be less. It depends on results of CT.

As for the 'thesis' diagnois, her slippage is minimal at this point (grade 1). He seems to be quite "gymnastics friendly." He thinks with continued monitoring, modification with skills when need be, and DDs willingness to stop when she has pain and take time off if needed, she can continue in the sport once we deal with the fracture.

So this is the info we have at this point. DD started sobbing when she heard 3 months. But we don't know for sure it will be that long. Since this afternoon, I have gone from feeling really relieved to wondering if trying to keep doing this makes sense. Then I went back and forth about 100 more times. We are aware the chance of continuous slippage isnt decreasing/stopping until she stops growing. She's 10... Her already intense training isn't going to get easier. Her goals are not changing. I guess Im just processing still and have a lot to think about.

 

[duyetanh]

MRI is tonight, will meet with doctor tomorrow afternoon to get the results.

Hoping for good news; let us know!

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

Our Update: Met with her doctor this afternoon to get the results from her MRI and all was clear, thank goodness! No fracture or spondy! Diagnosis is just a very bad muscle sprain. She will meet with the PT that comes to our gym once a week and will get some PT to do at home and at the gym and she can begin to work on her backward arching skills as soon as she feels she is ready (or basically when she is pain free). We have a follow up appt in 3 weeks, doctor expects her pain to be quite diminished at that time and if it's not then we will re-evaluate. I'm so relieved!!!

 

[duyetanh]

Our Update: Met with her doctor this afternoon to get the results from her MRI and all was clear, thank goodness! No fracture or spondy! Diagnosis is just a very bad muscle sprain. She will meet with the PT that comes to our gym once a week and will get some PT to do at home and at the gym and she can begin to work on her backward arching skills as soon as she feels she is ready (or basically when she is pain free). We have a follow up appt in 3 weeks, doctor expects her pain to be quite diminished at that time and if it's not then we will re-evaluate. I'm so relieved!!!

Whew!