8 Year Old Competitive Cheer Injury

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Apr 7, 2019
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Hi

I’m a new mom to the competitive cheer world. My daughter is 8yrs old, she’s a flyer and this is her first year on a competitive team. She broke/dislocated her forearm about 3 was ago during a private lesson attempting a back handspring on the wedge mat. I’ve been devastated for her ever since and full of worry. Doctor first said 4 weeks in a long cast then 2 was in the short one. However since we had some movement with the bone during the first couple weeks (which seems to have now settled) he’s decided to keep her in the long cast for the full 6 weeks instead (2 weeks to go). Not there there is ever a good time for this but her team is going to summit about a week and a half after her cast comes off.. she thinks she’s going to be good enough to at least dance, Jump and hold a heel stretch. I don’t think anything is a good idea a week later. My main concern is when she can actually get back to back wall overs, front walk overs without the possibility of another break. When is she in the clear (truly). How will she feel out of the cast and how long does that last?? I’m scared for my baby. I’ve never broken anything so I have no idea really what to expect.
 
My oldest CP had a similar injury at that age her first year of all stars. She got hers doing a back walkover though. They said 6 weeks took the cast off and cleared her, exactly 1 month later it broke again because it wasn’t actually healed. That time required a temporary rod put in. Once the rod was taken out and the cast removed she wasn’t cleared to tumble for 6 months and could only do jumps and dance, she wasn’t allowed to stunt at first either (she was a base) and by the time her doctor cleared her to stunt the season was over.

Whatever you do make absolutely sure the arm is healed before letting her do anything. My daughter’s arm was sore both times after getting her cast off since she hadn’t used the muscles in a while. She also went through mental block with tumbling.
 
My daughter broke her upper arm at age 9, but she fell/was dropped out of a stunt so not tumbling. She was out 6 weeks, but was cleared for all activity at 6 weeks. She was level 3 at the time, and I was sure she would have to be re-taught everything! But she was in the gym the day she was cleared and immediately did a BHS. By end of the class she was doing her BHS tuck and I really think it helped her immensely with her standing tuck. She got her standing tuck without a spot a few days later, and I think it was bc she didn’t have to worry about her arm at all , lol.
So anyway, just make sure your orthopedist knows that she is an athlete in an intense sport and follow their advice. Kids bones usually knit back together very cleanly.
 
My kiddo broke her elbow falling from a one man stunt. In a cast for 6 weeks approximately, then she had to do several weeks of PT to gain strength back and to be able to get full range of motion and straighten her arm. She broke it Jan 12th and did not get cleared until near the end of May. It's really all up to her doc and her PT and her healing time. Ask them LOTS of questions, show them pics of what she does so they understand what PT exercises to give her. There is really no way to tell if she would be ready or not. So sorry this happened.
 
My oldest CP had a similar injury at that age her first year of all stars. She got hers doing a back walkover though. They said 6 weeks took the cast off and cleared her, exactly 1 month later it broke again because it wasn’t actually healed. That time required a temporary rod put in. Once the rod was taken out and the cast removed she wasn’t cleared to tumble for 6 months and could only do jumps and dance, she wasn’t allowed to stunt at first either (she was a base) and by the time her doctor cleared her to stunt the season was over.

Whatever you do make absolutely sure the arm is healed before letting her do anything. My daughter’s arm was sore both times after getting her cast off since she hadn’t used the muscles in a while. She also went through mental block with tumbling.
I’m so sorry to hear this! It’s also my biggest fear (re break). How long did the soreness last? And how long before she was able to resume “normal” activities comfortably? I think I will keep her out of cheer over the summer. August will be about 5 months since the incident (not sure that’s enough time) but I will definitely discuss with the doctor. How is your daughter doing now?
 
My kiddo broke her elbow falling from a one man stunt. In a cast for 6 weeks approximately, then she had to do several weeks of PT to gain strength back and to be able to get full range of motion and straighten her arm. She broke it Jan 12th and did not get cleared until near the end of May. It's really all up to her doc and her PT and her healing time. Ask them LOTS of questions, show them pics of what she does so they understand what PT exercises to give her. There is really no way to tell if she would be ready or not. So sorry this happened.
Thank u for your response and I’m so sorry this happened to your baby. I hope she’s doing doing better now.
 
My daughter broke her upper arm at age 9, but she fell/was dropped out of a stunt so not tumbling. She was out 6 weeks, but was cleared for all activity at 6 weeks. She was level 3 at the time, and I was sure she would have to be re-taught everything! But she was in the gym the day she was cleared and immediately did a BHS. By end of the class she was doing her BHS tuck and I really think it helped her immensely with her standing tuck. She got her standing tuck without a spot a few days later, and I think it was bc she didn’t have to worry about her arm at all , lol.
So anyway, just make sure your orthopedist knows that she is an athlete in an intense sport and follow their advice. Kids bones usually knit back together very cleanly.
Thank you so much!! I’m sorry that happened to her. Sounds like she was able to bounce back pretty quickly.
 
I’m so sorry to hear this! It’s also my biggest fear (re break). How long did the soreness last? And how long before she was able to resume “normal” activities comfortably? I think I will keep her out of cheer over the summer. August will be about 5 months since the incident (not sure that’s enough time) but I will definitely discuss with the doctor. How is your daughter doing now?
Also what was she doing when she broke the second time?
 
Thank u for your response and I’m so sorry this happened to your baby. I hope she’s doing doing better now.
Oh yes. This was several years ago. The PT actually made her stronger than she was before she broke it and her tumbling improved a LOT especially the height of her round off tuck, handspring tuck, etc. Prayers for your baby
 
Oh yes. This was several years ago. The PT actually made her stronger than she was before she broke it and her tumbling improved a LOT especially the height of her round off tuck, handspring tuck, etc. Prayers for your baby
Thank u so much for taking the time to respond. I’m glad to hear this!! Gives us some faith through the process...
 
I’m so sorry to hear this! It’s also my biggest fear (re break). How long did the soreness last? And how long before she was able to resume “normal” activities comfortably? I think I will keep her out of cheer over the summer. August will be about 5 months since the incident (not sure that’s enough time) but I will definitely discuss with the doctor. How is your daughter doing now?

This was 4 years ago so I’m trying to think lol I want to say about a week after the 2nd time for the soreness. When it rebroke she was doing a back walkover again and it rebroke because it wasn’t actually healed. She’s doing great now it took her about 6 months after she was cleared to do a back walkover without being spotted, it was actually at a competition in warm ups she did a few and her coach told her if she felt like it she could do it in the routine instead of the cartwheel she was doing and to not worry about the counts and she did it and surprised me. It took a year after that to connect two back walkovers. She gets her front tumbling after then her back because she blocks on the back she has been working on a back handspring for a couple years now and goes between needing to be spot lightly and needing a heavy spot.
 
This was 4 years ago so I’m trying to think lol I want to say about a week after the 2nd time for the soreness. When it rebroke she was doing a back walkover again and it rebroke because it wasn’t actually healed. She’s doing great now it took her about 6 months after she was cleared to do a back walkover without being spotted, it was actually at a competition in warm ups she did a few and her coach told her if she felt like it she could do it in the routine instead of the cartwheel she was doing and to not worry about the counts and she did it and surprised me. It took a year after that to connect two back walkovers. She gets her front tumbling after then her back because she blocks on the back she has been working on a back handspring for a couple years now and goes between needing to be spot lightly and needing a heavy spot.
I’m glad to hear she is doing well. Im sure it has been quite a journey. I’m glad she didn’t give up. You have a go getter on your hands! This has been very helpful..
 
My kiddo broke her elbow falling from a one man stunt. In a cast for 6 weeks approximately, then she had to do several weeks of PT to gain strength back and to be able to get full range of motion and straighten her arm. She broke it Jan 12th and did not get cleared until near the end of May. It's really all up to her doc and her PT and her healing time. Ask them LOTS of questions, show them pics of what she does so they understand what PT exercises to give her. There is really no way to tell if she would be ready or not. So sorry this happened.

This.

Healing time has so many variables with injuries. Two kids can have SAME INJURY and have different recovery times.

I've always told people to always prepare for the LONG END of the timeframe given.

Ex: If the doc says 6-8 weeks, plan for the WHOLE 8 so you're not frustrated and sad when you go back and he says a few more weeks.
 
This was 4 years ago so I’m trying to think lol I want to say about a week after the 2nd time for the soreness. When it rebroke she was doing a back walkover again and it rebroke because it wasn’t actually healed. She’s doing great now it took her about 6 months after she was cleared to do a back walkover without being spotted, it was actually at a competition in warm ups she did a few and her coach told her if she felt like it she could do it in the routine instead of the cartwheel she was doing and to not worry about the counts and she did it and surprised me. It took a year after that to connect two back walkovers. She gets her front tumbling after then her back because she blocks on the back she has been working on a back handspring for a couple years now and goes between needing to be spot lightly and needing a heavy spot.
We have about a week and a few days left of the cast and then she will be wearing a brace. We decided not to allow her to participate in summit since it was less than two weeks out of the cast (even if it wasn’t involving tumbling or major stunts). It’s just too risky for RE break in my opinion. How long was your daughter cheering before she broke her arm? Was she learning the back wall over when that happened? I hope it doesn’t take my daughter a whole season to re learn these skills. She had triple back wall overs and front wall overs prior to the break. She was working on the back handspring when she broke it. We’re going to put that off for a while but I was hoping she would be able to get back to the level 1 skills this upcoming season. I guess I’m wanting to make sure I mentally prepare accordingly. Also did the doctor clear your daughter at four weeks when she went back and re broke it or did she just feel good enough to try it when it happened? Sorry for all the questions.. seems so far you’re the closest to the same time of break and age at the time. Other than going back to soon did u find it hard to keep her from breaking it with normal kid activity? I’m petrified that she will re break again..... I want to put her in a bubble for the next few months lol
 
We have about a week and a few days left of the cast and then she will be wearing a brace. We decided not to allow her to participate in summit since it was less than two weeks out of the cast (even if it wasn’t involving tumbling or major stunts). It’s just too risky for RE break in my opinion. How long was your daughter cheering before she broke her arm? Was she learning the back wall over when that happened? I hope it doesn’t take my daughter a whole season to re learn these skills. She had triple back wall overs and front wall overs prior to the break. She was working on the back handspring when she broke it. We’re going to put that off for a while but I was hoping she would be able to get back to the level 1 skills this upcoming season. I guess I’m wanting to make sure I mentally prepare accordingly. Also did the doctor clear your daughter at four weeks when she went back and re broke it or did she just feel good enough to try it when it happened? Sorry for all the questions.. seems so far you’re the closest to the same time of break and age at the time. Other than going back to soon did u find it hard to keep her from breaking it with normal kid activity? I’m petrified that she will re break again..... I want to put her in a bubble for the next few months lol

When she broke her arm it was her first year of all star cheer and had done 3 years of rec cheer. She had recently learned her back walkover and had permission to do it on her own without a spot for a little while at that point. The doctor had cleared her to tumble again but looking back it was a disaster waiting to happen. The doctor never xrayed her arm before taking the cast off and clearing her, he thought she was doing cheers on a sideline and I didn’t know better to show him a video, her coaches questioned getting cleared so quickly but I kept saying it was ok she was cleared, she also that month kept saying her arm hurt but the doctor said it would from not using it so I brushed it off etc.
 
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