Parents wrist update

[Panda-girl's Mom]

I am crossing my fingers daughter will make it to her State meet in less than 2 weeks. The orthpedic doctor reluctantly let her go back to tumbling and vaulting. I think we kind of pushed her it to letting her go back but tonight at practice she was fine. She did fronthandsprings and her vault without any pain. The doctor wants her to get an xray after states to check things out but she told her if she has any pain she has to stop and get the xray earlier. The only problem is I do not think she will say anything until after her State meet is over. Oh well there is only so much I can do! She is still going to physical therapy and her coaches are going slow. They only let her do backhandsprings on the tramp tonight. I was surprised that she still has her kip, backwalker over on the high beam and stuff after not doing it for 6 weeks. She was happy and amazed how good everything felt without the pain. Unfortunately I think she was competeing for a while with the pain, she admitted she thinks it started back in Janurary, luckily everthing seems to be working out. I am glad we finally went to the doctor.

 

[mariposa]

Glad she is doing well! Hope she continues pain free and has a great State meet!

That said, I would talk to her about the fact that it is extremely important that she tell you if she has ANY pain. She is old enough to be responsible for her body and her health. States is just ONE meet, if she injures herself more, she might miss next season. I have given Abby worst case scenarios (which are very true) and told her that she MUST tell me if her wrist hurts even just a little. With your daughter, you can show her her own situation, she had pain, didn't say anything and it probably would have been better much sooner and she wouldn't have probably missed as much, had she told you right away.

I ask my daughter after each practice if her wrist hurt, even a little. I talked to her about how much MORE practice and meets she will miss if she lies to me and that she could do permanent damage to her bones and cause them not to grow and need surgery, etc. I wanted her very clear that pain is not something we ignore, ever.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

Thanks Mariposa, but she is doing fine. She is actually annoyed that the coaches keep asking her how her wrist feels, they have been great with her.

 

[mariposa]

The doctor wants her to get an xray after states to check things out but she told her if she has any pain she has to stop and get the xray earlier. The only problem is I do not think she will say anything until after her State meet is over. Oh well there is only so much I can do!

Glad that she is still pain free!! And I hope it continues that way. I would be glad that her coaches keep asking her, better than them ignoring it and pushing her to the limits.

I was just responding to what you had said about your worry that she wouldn't say anything until after the meet and that there was only so much you could do. I think she is old enough to be talked to seriously and explained to that her health is much more important than any gymnastics meet, period. There is plenty we can do as parents, educating our kids about injuries and the sport of gymnastics and to report pain right away, treating injuries seriously, etc. Kids take our lead. I find the fact that many parents of athletes let their kids keep training when injured (not talking about when they are injured, have been checked and are doing conditioning, etc) and don't get persistent pain checked out immediately very concerning. It seems so common and that is very sad.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

Thanks for your concern, her recovery has been very quick and she is getting ready to do States this weekend (her coaches feel that she is ready)! She also still insists that she is pain free and comes home amazed from practice telling me everything feels so different from before because there is no pain when she tumbles. She stills has all her skills she was doing backwalkerovers on the high beam and was working backhandsprings on the low beam. Funny think I think the injury was effecting her school work because she had trouble concentrating now she is back to her normal self. Honestly if I would of know I would of took her to a doctor sooner, but after talking to her I think she thought that the pain was normal until it got really bad.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

Daughter finally got cleared from the orthopedic doctor is done physical therapy. Luckily her recovery was fast enough that she was able to compete at states. I hope her luck continues through training in the summer. An interesting thing the doctor told me of young girls who train alot while there growth plates are open leaving them more prone to injuries. She said look out when she is having a growth spurt one way to tell is that there shoe sizes are increasing during this time they should decrease the length and intensity of training also make sure they are getting enough sleep and nutrition.

 

[mariposa]

That is great news!! Hope she has lots of fun training this summer. Let's cross our fingers for injury free summer and seasons!