WWYD? Should I Pull Her Out of Gymnastics for the Season Because of Back Pain?

As an ex-gymnast, this is my opinion: She's only 8, and 8 year old bodies heal very quickly. There is only one more week of gymnastics. If she wants to participate in Olympic Week, I think you should let her. If she strains her back again, she will have ample time for it to heal after next week.

Pain and sprains are a part of sports, especially gymnastics. I agree with Cheerful.

I'm a gymnastics teacher, and I've dealt with my own pains as well as those that my daughter might get.

A muscle strain usually happens when the gymnast is attempting to do a trick that she is not strong enough for. The muscles can't take it and then small tears appear in the muscle fiber. Now, the good news is that this is how muscles work, and that having a sore muscle means that when the muscle heals it will be stronger. That's why we get sore muscles when we work out. It's also due to a build up of lactic acid in the muscles.

I would venture a guess that back pain is probably from doing bars. Many gymnasts don't have very strong stomach muscles so they use their back muscles instead. Strengthening her stomach muscles will help.

As far as muscle strains go, ice the area and use ibuprofen until the pain goes away. When the pain is gone, then she is FINE!! She should just ease back into the activity, making sure to warm up and stretch properly.

I wouldn't keep my daughter out of gymnastics if the pain was gone! And if you're going to be in gymnastics, expect lots of sore muscles, sore backs, sore knees, sore ankles, bumps and bruises.

Also, doctors aren't very good with sports injuries. They just recommend you stop the activity for a week. You'd need to go to a chiro or a sports specialist to get a better diagnosis and treatment.

I would bring your daughter to class and explain what happened. If the instructor is good, she will give your daughter extra help and keep an eye on her. Your daughter should be instructed to stop and tell the teacher immediately if she feels any pain.

Kids come to my class all the time with injured muscles, hurt ankles, etc. They are eager to participate and we just go gently with them and help them do the things they can do.

Your daughter needs to STRENGTHEN her muscles, not stay away from class! If her back hurts, then the rehab would be to work on her abs.

Good luck!

I personaly would fine a chiropractor. My son is a competative gymnist and he's gotten hurt a few times and that's what we do. And they can tell you if gymnastics will agrivate it more. But when you do take her to the dr they need to know all those kind of activitys that she does. I am sure she dosn't want to sit out of it because she's worked hard for it.

Add: You said if it keeps up you will have them test her pee. There are test strips that you can get at CVS that will test for UTI's that are over the counter. I use them regularly as I get UTI's easy. You could do that and save money on the dr doing it if not nessasary.

I would have her sit out of gymnastics. I know when my son pulled a muscle in his back he kept thinking it felt alot better and would try to do stuff too soon. That would reaggrevate it and it took so much longer to heal. If I had forced him to slow down then it wouldn't have been so bad. She is too young to mess up her back by not letting it heal properly.

Better to be a mean mommy than the mommy sitting in the ER.

If the pain is gone, then let her go back to gymnastics. Not doing something to prevent a pulled muscle just does not make sense to me. You don't even know if it was a pulled muscle and if it was that gymnastics caused it.

If you follow the logic of not going because she may pull/strain a muscle then she should not play on the playground because a boy could jump on her again and the father should be told not to swing her anymore.

I'm not so sure the doctor will say what ever you want but if he does isn't that an indication that he's not concerned about her doing it. He's the expert. I suggest he may say, if the pain is gone, it's OK to go. Or he may say for her to not go, in which case you're off the hook for making a decision. smile I would trust the doctor. I'm glad you called the doctor.

I would be on the side that says she needs to sit gymnastics out. If PE is out, so should all other physical activities that could cause additional stress/strain including gymnastics and playing in the backyard on the swingset or whatever. In my book, I just would not mess with ones back, especially for someone so young - it can lead to long term damage.

That said, you need to determine if this is truly an injury or if this is "mental". I am not accusing your daughter of lying, but at 8YOs, what on earth was she doing that she hurt herself so badly? I know at our gymnastics center, they take great care at warming up and stretching and spotting and will notify a parent immediately of any falls/injuries. Or did she get hurt at school and did they notify you? Maybe it was while playing all by herself? (Mine have pulled some insane stunts!!!!)

I would want to get to the bottom of the source of the injury and work to prevent future repeats (whether this be a fall or more bolstering of her esteem so she is comfortable playing in PE).

Follow your instincts. You are her Momma and you are the best one to determine her ability to participate.

How she got the muscle pull doesn't matter at all-- some posts seem to indicate that if she didn't GET it at gymnastics she somehow should be allowed to do gymnastics despite the pain. Not the case at all! If she re-injures the muscle it will take even longer to heal -- and could end up being more prone to further injury later on. And the idea that "kids have played etc. through the pain for years" is a very bad idea -- kids do continue sports and dance and gymnastics "through" the pain and that sets them up for worse injury. My child dances extensively and her studio is very cautious about any kid who is injured (whether it's in dance, from gym class, etc.) because they know that "working hurt" is a recipe for potentially ongoing problems.

Giving her ibuprofen is fine but also give her time. Meds can mask the pain and make her think she's fine enough to participate. Be sure the pain's not being masked and that it really is gone.

Does her gymnastics class teach the kids about safe landings? Does it have them warm up and stretch appropriately and enough? Those are vital to preventing injury. Again -- even if she did not get injured AT gymnastics, her body will benefit from proper warm-up and stretching during gymnastics.

If she is not able to do a show or even a class, she can sit in and watch. That is what any good dance school would require. And when our niece was injured in gymnastics, and could not perform for months, she became the team statistician and kept all the records -- it made her part of the team and helped her feel involved, and she kept seeing her friends. That may not be an option in your kid's class but if she has to sit out, she could still attend; ask the coach or teacher how she could be an assistant somehow so she stays engaged if she's not able to participate.

By the way, if she continues with gymnastics or any sport, or dance, or martial arts, or any physical activity -- you will have to get used to being a "mean mommy" on occasion to protect her from her own eagerness to get back to her activity. Don't let your fears of her disappointment -- which will be temporary-- cloud your judgement when it comes to her health.

I think she should go to class with the information that the doc told you. The owner/teacher/aid should be able to help her stretch and move to help the muscle get looser. Not a whole big thing of course but the warm up time would be a good time for her to stretch and build that muscle memory. It is likely the new movements her body did in class but the owner should have enough experience to be able to let her participate in a limited way and help her stretch it a bit.

She'll still learn just by being there. There is a lot of terminology and visual learning that occurs in these classes that she could still get.

It's entirely possible that she just pinched a nerve, and that it's worked itself out...thus no more pain.
For only one week left...I'd leave her in if she really wants to go.

If she's up and walking around and says it doesn't hurt anymore, it's unlikely another week in gymnastics is going to do any damage.

My daugher is a competitive dancer and has knee pain. We've been to two doctors and about 6 weeks of PT. What will make it better is for her to give her knee a rest, but dancing more won't hurt it anymore either (this from a sports pediatrician).

You have to go to the doctor and ask them - because it's really them who have the knowledge. I would tell her to sit out if it hurts, but if she can do it, let her do it. But that's just ME as a mom. And a back and knee are very different body parts...so call the doctor.

I'd call the pediatrician and ask your question to the him/her. Be sure the pedie understand your daughter wants to go.

I'd also find a good chiropractor and take your daughter to get his/her opinion.

Then, I'd go with my gut

Back pain can be from many different things - including kidney pain. But most likely she strained a muscle. Ibuprofen may have done just fine. I finally learned form my experience tehat kids have these phantom pains that "hurt so much" that really don't hurt all that much except when they're bored or don't want to do something, or are looking for a little attention. I can't tell you how many times I dragged my daughter to the pediatrician over odd pains that weren't anything. Kids have odd pains, their bodies are growing, they move in wierd ways and fall, bump into things, etc.

If she's felling better I wouldn't hold her back from the gymnastic presentation. The doc said do keep her out of gym becuase there was nothign else for him to say. If her back hurts when it's time to do the exercise presentation she'll favor her back and will be less aggressive. Kids have pains all the time - growing pains are real - and kids ahve played, climbed, run and danced through them for eons. If it hurst they won't do it.

If she is still having back pain after 7 days - she needs to go back to the doctor and find out what is wrong...

is she running a fever at all? Any other pain?

It's not a stupid question. Really. It's hard being a parent. You want your child to participate...yet you want to ensure they are safe and healthy...

What does the gymnastics teacher say?
What does your daughter say? Yes, she said she's upset - but is she still in pain?

If it's been a week and she is better? Let her participate. IF she is still in pain? Nope. Don't want to make it worse.

I'm with the moms who say, have her sit it out. Every parent has times when they have to think of alternate treats to soften disappointment, and this is one of your times.

I really wanted to post, though, to double-check. Have they ruled out kidney damage? My understanding is that they should take a look at the kidneys any time there's one-sided lower back pain. You might check back with her doctor, just in case.

Just double check with the Doctor.

"Muscle" strains, of which there are many types, can take a lot of time... to fully heal/recover.

Once when I was a kid, doing gymnastics... my back hurt. While the Coach was 'helping' me along with a move. But even today, it will still hurt sometimes.