WAG How to prevent OCD?

[Yuenling]

I know of 5 girls at two different gyms with OCD. 4 of them were diagnosed during or after their level 8 season. One of them just after her first year as a level 10. They all have faced long recoveries.

Can someone tell me, is this purely genetic, bad form, or overuse ? What is the best way to minimize the chances of my DD of getting this?

 

[LJL07]

I feel like competitive gymnastics is a breeding ground for ocd. They are scoring these kids on how far from perfect their routines are...lots of details and minutiae. I'm sure some kids are higher risk than others.

 

[Yuenling]

I feel like competitive gymnastics is a breeding ground for ocd. They are scoring these kids on how far from perfect their routines are...lots of details and minutiae. I'm sure some kids are higher risk than others.

Thank you! Actually, I was referring to osteochondritis dissecans, which is an elbow injury. And I agree that gymnastics is a breeding ground for obsessive compulsive disorder, too.

 

[GymDad9.9]

Thank you! Actually, I was referring to osteochondritis dissecans, which is an elbow injury. And I agree that gymnastics is a breeding ground for obsessive compulsive disorder, too.

I hope my daughter gets neither!

 

[2gymmies]

OCD can occur in the knees too and my understanding is that it is an overuse type injury but their is an anatomical component so that might mean that genetics could factor in. Did the gymnasts you know have surgery?

There are so many of these scary injuries that just make my head spin with worry - I think sometimes you just have to get lucky...

 

[Yuenling]

OCD can occur in the knees too and my understanding is that it is an overuse type injury but their is an anatomical component so that might mean that genetics could factor in. Did the gymnasts you know have surgery?

There are so many of these scary injuries that just make my head spin with worry - I think sometimes you just have to get lucky...

Yes, they all ended up getting surgery. 2 of them waited 3 months first to see if it would just go away with rest...

 

[B&M's mom]

It's my understanding that there is no sure way to prevent it. The medical experts aren't sure why some kids (and adults) develop it so they can't begin to tell you how to prevent it. The best advice is to catch it early when it has a chance to heal without surgery.

 

[Aussie_coach]

You can't totally prevent OCD, but being vigilant as a coach about the way you structure your practices and load the joints.

Classes should be structured so pressure on arms versus legs are well alternated, not arm skill after arm skills after arm skill.

Also use drills with less impact to train and reinforce body shapes instead of always doing the skills on harder surfaces. Tumbling should be alternated between the floor and softer surfaces (like the tumble track).

 

[bookworm]

My daughter had OCD and it was a total overuse issue, as 14 others in our gym (at the time) had it or had had it...we were in a gym run by Eastern Europeans back then when the mantra was "if 10 reps are good, then 100 must be better"... the numbers that these kids did were insane. Our coach tried to say it was "genetic" but we had girls of many different back rounds (Caucasian, African American, Korean, Chinese etc) and the only common denominator for all was that gym and their training there...

My daughter had the surgery and didn't set foot in the gym for 7 months ( per doctor's orders because we knew her coach would make her practice) and she is the only one of the 14 that did not have any sequelae ( another surgery, OCD again) and continued in the sport...about half had a second surgery on the same elbow because they rushed back into the gym before it was fully healed, the other half didn't have another surgery but had long bouts of "resting their elbows" such that they left the sport...many of these girls dive now..

Our surgeon told us that resting only really works if they have no plans to return to their sport at the level they were at (i.e. maybe a college senior who is finally done)..

 

[calli]

My daughter is currently recovering from OCD surgery. She is two months post-op now. We are working with a physical therapist who sees a lot of gymnasts with OCD and she said having hyperextended elbows is a risk factor to developing the condition. She said it is rare to see an OCD lesion on a gymnast who does not have hyperextension in their elbows.

 

[B&M's mom]

Well, she should meet my daughter. Not only does she have an elbow lesion but her elbows don't straighten all the way. Thankfully that lesion is stable right now. The knee lesion not so much.

 

[calli]

B&M- your dd has both OCD on knee and elbow right now? Discovered about the same time? How old/what level is she, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Yuenling]

My daughter had OCD and it was a total overuse issue, as 14 others in our gym (at the time) had it or had had it...we were in a gym run by Eastern Europeans back then when the mantra was "if 10 reps are good, then 100 must be better"... the numbers that these kids did were insane. Our coach tried to say it was "genetic" but we had girls of many different back rounds (Caucasian, African American, Korean, Chinese etc) and the only common denominator for all was that gym and their training there...

My daughter had the surgery and didn't set foot in the gym for 7 months ( per doctor's orders because we knew her coach would make her practice) and she is the only one of the 14 that did not have any sequelae ( another surgery, OCD again) and continued in the sport...about half had a second surgery on the same elbow because they rushed back into the gym before it was fully healed, the other half didn't have another surgery but had long bouts of "resting their elbows" such that they left the sport...many of these girls dive now..

Our surgeon told us that resting only really works if they have no plans to return to their sport at the level they were at (i.e. maybe a college senior who is finally done)..

Wow! What was the age range and level range for these 14 girls? What percentage of the optional gymnasts did that represent? And finally, how long was it from the start of your daughter noticing an achy feeling in her elbow to the time you took her to the doctor and she was diagnosed with OCD?

 

[LizzieLac]

We had both an ankle OCD and an elbow OCD at our gym two different kids, two years apart. IMO, it was classic overuse, but there could have been a genetic component. Not sure if this means anything, but the gymmie with the ankle OCD was pigeon-toed.

Both tried rest, but the child with the ankle OCD ultimately had surgery and recovered beautifully and returned to gym after recovery and PT. The elbow OCD did not have surgery, but the rest did not completely reverse it and she has since left the sport.

 

[calli]

In retrospect, the best ways to try to avoid OCD in the elbow would be: to be especially vigilant and proactive if your dd has hyperextended elbows and is being fast tracked, or beginning to work level 8 skills ( beam series, yurcenkos, pirouettes on bars all put extra stress on the elbows). Monitoring reps at practice if your dd has the hyperextended elbows risk factor, and building up back, shoulders, biceps, and triceps to take the load off of the elbows.

 

[bookworm]

Wow! What was the age range and level range for these 14 girls? What percentage of the optional gymnasts did that represent? And finally, how long was it from the start of your daughter noticing an achy feeling in her elbow to the time you took her to the doctor and she was diagnosed with OCD?

There were 2 Level 6 girls and the rest were optionals at the time of diagnosis...they were all in the 11-12 age range at the onset of symptoms for their first episode of OCD.

Well my daughter had noticed "grinding" in her elbow in March and April but she qualified to Nationals so she didn't say anything until May, after they were over...we went to the ortho that month and she was diagnosed. I had no idea her elbow even hurt until the practice after Nationals when she came out crying, saying it had been killing her since States...at the initial ortho appt, the doctor asked if we "noticed any grinding" and simultaneously I said, no and she said " oh it's been doing that since states too"...so it was a 3 month time frame but I only knew about it in the last month..

 

[bookworm]

Monitoring reps at practice if your dd has the hyperextended elbows risk factor, and building up back, shoulders, biceps, and triceps to take the load off of the elbows.

This is easier said than done.... our former gym just had a routine that was reps, reps and more reps, and modification of a workout was never done. I spoke to our coach at the time and he appeared to understand the problem, but while her teammates did 10 reps of everything, she would do 9....yes it was less but...

We ended up having to switch gyms to basically keep her in the sport, and that turned out to be a great move so it all worked out. If the EE gym had been the only game in town, not sure she would have lasted with her elbow..

 

[B&M's mom]

Actually my daughter has OCD in both knees and one elbow. Yes, it's horrible. She was 13/L10 when they found the first knee lesion. It's possible that the elbow lesion was there earlier but not diagnosed. She had surgery on one knee and will have surgery on the other after season. It's possible to come back from OCD, it's not easy but it's possible.

 

[Yuenling]

This is easier said than done.... our former gym just had a routine that was reps, reps and more reps, and modification of a workout was never done. I spoke to our coach at the time and he appeared to understand the problem, but while her teammates did 10 reps of everything, she would do 9....yes it was less but...

We ended up having to switch gyms to basically keep her in the sport, and that turned out to be a great move so it all worked out. If the EE gym had been the only game in town, not sure she would have lasted with her elbow..

I was wondering exactly how she prvented the problem from recurring after her 7 months recovery. Now I understand. It sounds like if you had not changed gyms and continued doing the same thing with the same coaches, the problem would have returned.

 

[Yuenling]

Actually my daughter has OCD in both knees and one elbow. Yes, it's horrible. She was 13/L10 when they found the first knee lesion. It's possible that the elbow lesion was there earlier but not diagnosed. She had surgery on one knee and will have surgery on the other after season. It's possible to come back from OCD, it's not easy but it's possible.

Your poor daughter! But level 10 at age 13! Wow!