Parents Anyone with experience with stress fractures in back?

[SeaActually]

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!!!

Good news!

 

[VanessaJV]

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!!!

Glad to hear her MRI was clean!

 

[profmom]

Very happy for both of you! Encourage your DDs to take it slow coming back. Better to get things completely healed up and get a good prehab program in place!

 

[GymmieC]

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.

This is exactly my DDs diagnosis. She was 11 at diagnosis now 13. It has been a rough comeback as her body changed in the 7.5 mos she was out. She will repeat lvl 9 but as long as she is pain free that is a plus.

 

[thefellowsmom]

Great news!

 

[VanessaJV]

UPDATE: Well... CT scan and appointment did not go as I was expecting. This situation has seriously been a roller coaster. Now I have a lot of questions for those who have been theough this. First the update. So Dr pulled out images (which in my opinion look like an inkblot test) and showed us. The first injury that we we were told at urgent care was a stress fracture he is saying is a clean break. Then there is a second injury that did not show on xrays that CT scan picked up. That one is a stress fracture. These are both on vertebras. So now DD will be braced for three months. So absolutely no gymnastics during this time. She next step is an hour and a half appt at another clinic for brace fitting.

I honestly was shocked. My brain seems to have been missing in this entire process tbh. I only asked one question at the appointment. My head was kind of swimming. At the last appointment things seemed so positive.

So now I have questions for those of you who have done this. A lot are my daughters questions. My first is, what were your kids brace like? Is it one of those big plastic ones from breast to butt? That is what my DD and I are imagining. How do they sit? Seems very uncomfortable. My DD is also worried about how she will look in it.... like with clothes on and stuff.

When they did come back, had they lost all skills? DD is imagining coming back and not being able to do anything. She thinks she will "forget." I dont think that will happen... but I guess I dont really know. I assume it will take time to get back to where she was. But I can't imagine she will be back to square 1.

On another note... DD got to experience her first hometown football game (homecoming). She never gets to go to those things because she has Friday night and Saturday morning practices. Should have seen her face light up! Also, her teacher is having lunch dates with her and other classmates to try to broaden her social circle. She has one close friend at school. But her best friends are gym friends and our gym is 40 minutes away and they all go to different schools.

 

[IreneKa]

UPDATE: Well... CT scan and appointment did not go as I was expecting. This situation has seriously been a roller coaster. Now I have a lot of questions for those who have been theough this. First the update. So Dr pulled out images (which in my opinion look like an inkblot test) and showed us. The first injury that we we were told at urgent care was a stress fracture he is saying is a clean break. Then there is a second injury that did not show on xrays that CT scan picked up. That one is a stress fracture. These are both on vertebras. So now DD will be braced for three months. So absolutely no gymnastics during this time. She next step is an hour and a half appt at another clinic for brace fitting.

I honestly was shocked. My brain seems to have been missing in this entire process tbh. I only asked one question at the appointment. My head was kind of swimming. At the last appointment things seemed so positive.

So now I have questions for those of you who have done this. A lot are my daughters questions. My first is, what were your kids brace like? Is it one of those big plastic ones from breast to butt? That is what my DD and I are imagining. How do they sit? Seems very uncomfortable. My DD is also worried about how she will look in it.... like with clothes on and stuff.

When they did come back, had they lost all skills? DD is imagining coming back and not being able to do anything. She thinks she will "forget." I dont think that will happen... but I guess I dont really know. I assume it will take time to get back to where she was. But I can't imagine she will be back to square 1.

On another note... DD got to experience her first hometown football game (homecoming). She never gets to go to those things because she has Friday night and Saturday morning practices. Should have seen her face light up! Also, her teacher is having lunch dates with her and other classmates to try to broaden her social circle. She has one close friend at school. But her best friends are gym friends and our gym is 40 minutes away and they all go to different schools.

To answer some of the questions:
DD's brace look something like this:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjO1-zj1srWAhXCKyYKHY2xAHoQjRwIBw&url=https://www.delatorreop.com/product/back-brace-lso-boston-overlap/&psig=AFQjCNFiqlHXR9DTaScDbqQS8uvO3g4Z3w&ust=1506784194186268

Yes, it goes from breast to butt. They try to adjust it so it's as comfortable as possible. We even went back to re-adjust it a couple times, until DD was comfortable enough.
It fits snugly, and if she wears a loose t-shirt, you can't even see it's there.

As for gymnastics, DD's case wasn't that bad. She was allowed to go to gym and condition, and work on some skills while in a brace, and she was only level 3-4, so not that many skills to get back. But when she did go back full time, she had most of her skills almost right away.
The biggest issue was, because she wasn't allowed to arch her back for so long, she was having a mental block on her BHS for a while.

But all of that is too far ahead for you. For now you and your DD need to concentrate on getting better. And as was said before find out the underlying issue of this injury and make sure to correct it before even attempting to go back to gymnastics.

Good luck!

 

[sce]

So sorry to hear this. I hope you continue to find special activities to fill the time over the next 3 months I do agree about following with physical therapy to retrain her to move differently, so that when she is back in the gym she does not repeat the things that caused the injury.

 

[VanessaJV]

So sorry to hear this. I hope you continue to find special activities to fill the time over the next 3 months I do agree about following with physical therapy to retrain her to move differently, so that when she is back in the gym she does not repeat the things that caused the injury.

Oh yes. We are definitely going to continue with anything needed after the brace. The doctor seems to explain one step at a time with us. And of course it doesnt help that I basically lose my ability to speak in the moment and don't ask more questions. We will not meet with this dr again until December for a check up. I am assuming we will know more then what the process will be after the brace comes off.

 

[thefellowsmom]

I'm so sorry you are going through this. I know how scary and confusing it is. My dd wasn't braced and never missed any practice so I can't help from personal experience too much on the bracing thing. Our experience definitely seems to be the exception and the one you are having more of the rule. Our ortho was very against bracing unless absolutely necessary and we immediately started PT, seeing a chiropractor and she did not do anything at gym that caused any pain at all. She never had any pain outside of specific things at gym.

It still was something we dealt with for almost two years and she still does and will continue to do her PT and see the chiropractor as long as she is doing gymnastics and maybe even beyond. But, the good news is that she is fine, there are positive outcomes out there. My dd will be competing level 10 this season and is completely pain free and this is no longer a problem for her, just something that is there and her/our responsibility to care for ongoing so that she doesn't have any more issues in the future.

I have two stories of back fractures from dd's former and current teammates that were braced and out of gym. Both very talented gymnasts.

1. Braced and no gym at all for 3 months. Out from July to October. Was diligent about PT and followed all instructions and conditioned whenever possible. Came back slowly and was able to compete (repeated level from last year) about half way through the season and ended up winning all around in her age group at regionals.

2. Braced and has been out of the gym since last october. Was not as diligent with PT and following directions and has not been to the gym at all to condition in almost a year. Kept going back to the doctor and not getting cleared due to ongoing symptoms. She will be starting back at gym in the next few weeks and from what I understand will do nothing but condition for like months and no competing this year at all. Hopefully can get back to where she was before and progress from there for next year. Hoping for the best for her but this seems like a long road back so we will see.

I guess my biggest piece of advice would be to make sure you have the right team of people. The person that does her PT will be critical to her recovery. We went through three before we found the right person. Generally I have found that even some who treat athletes don't know what to do with a gymnast, especially a young one. Be diligent and trust your gut. Just because someone is a medical practitioner or even a doctor doesn't mean they know everything or are the right doctor or practitioner for her. If it feels wrong, trust that and find someone who feels right and is ready to learn and work hard to help your daughter get better. If there are other parents that you know or at your gym (parents of older gymnasts?) that have successfully returned to gymnastics from back stuff at your gym seek them out and see who they went to.

Good luck and feel free to PM me at any time with anything you feel I might be able to help you with, even just support. Please keep us posted. Hugs!

 

[nycgymmom]

My daughter wore her brace for 23 hrs for 3 months. It was the plastic one that sat right under the breast bone and and right above the lower back. She wasn't allowed to do gym or any activities. After a month she was allowed to do PT but absolutely no gymnastics. She wore a tank top under brace and loose fitting t-shirts. She hated going to the bathroom at school so I made arrangements with school for her to go to nurse. She wasn't allowed to play recess, so she spent her time at the library with a buddy. She went back to gym after 3 months on restrictive. I can answer more questions pm

 

[txgymfan]

I saw and once posted an awesome picture of a girl who decorated her brace to look like a top, sort of a fantasy armor type thing. She wore it over a shirt and looked strong instead of injured.