All-Star Bad Backs In Cheer..?

[Ashay]

Heres a tip for all the athletes out there, Use your legs to lift NOT your back!!!! trust me I have done a lot of basing and backing in my day and I wasnt trained properly how to use my legs and at 27 I am paying for it !! We always tell our kids to lift with there legs!!!!!

 

[addict2cheer]

I'm not a coach and I'm only 16, but after 9 years in cheering I'm sure I can help! I have the same problem with a weak core. Usually at gyms I have been to, we always work core everyday after practice. However, this has been lacking. So for your daughter, I wouldn't rely on the gym conditioning, she should work her core whenever she can to help our with her back problems. She can to sit ups, running, arm workouts, planks, anything to help strengthen the core. I know tons of workouts to do from my personal trainer and from training in circus arts. She probably won't have fun with them, but it'll be better for her in the long run.

Totally agree!!!! Back pain is caused by weak core muscles!!!!! I have been down and out with back pain caused by cheer and it STINKS!!! After RESTING...I started working my core, and the pain didn't return. I'm O-L-D now, no longer cheer or coach, but can still tell a big difference in my back when I slack in my core conditioning. Flat stomache doesn't mean strong core..... When your back starts feeling better, start working your core. Do not rely on your coaches to condition this for you. Your coaches condition your team, but you need individualized conditioning to help with your back pain. Good luck!

 

[XoxLibertyallstarsxox]

Best advice I can give you is to stretch it out alot, and if you have siblings make them massage it for you. I have a little brother and I made him massage my back for me.

 

[ddelpha13]

I have a really bad back too. I have spondylolysis or a pars defect in my L5 S1 vertibres. It is from all the tumbling and arching of my back as a flyer. I had to get a back brace for like 3 months and i just started cheering again since august. Also I have very uneven hips from only stretching my left side for scorps. I did PT for 4 weeks and now i go to the chiro and get massages and it helps soo much! taking the time of really helps and dont put off an injury because it will take longer to heal! when i did cheer i used like 8 our heating wraps on my back to keep my muscles loose and D.M.S.O...its like a chemical you put on your skin to relax the muscles and its awesome!! thankfully i have amazing coaches that were supportive all the way and are helping me get back to cheer

 

[cheeromgbre]

I have a really bad back too. I have spondylolysis or a pars defect in my L5 S1 vertibres. It is from all the tumbling and arching of my back as a flyer. I had to get a back brace for like 3 months and i just started cheering again since august. Also I have very uneven hips from only stretching my left side for scorps. I did PT for 4 weeks and now i go to the chiro and get massages and it helps soo much! taking the time of really helps and dont put off an injury because it will take longer to heal! when i did cheer i used like 8 our heating wraps on my back to keep my muscles loose and D.M.S.O...its like a chemical you put on your skin to relax the muscles and its awesome!! thankfully i have amazing coaches that were supportive all the way and are helping me get back to cheer

this stuff works miracles, though it's very stinky.

 

[FAB5NJSE]

ugh my lower back always hurts when i do my jumps to back because my back cracks, and then it makes it really hard to breath. I HATE IT! jumps to back is THE most annoying part of a routine

 

[cheer-1]

You should try to see a physio. Doctors just say you need rest, but if you've done serious damage you need to have a physio to help you build your strength up.
Last season I found out I'd been training with two stress fractures and a slipped disc in my spine for 4 months, I didn't think much of the pain though!
My coach forced me to see a physio.. as my doctors said there wasn't anything wrong, but the pain was unbearable by then.
So in May.. I finally got to see a physio and had x-rays done on my spine where they found the fractures and slipped disc.
I was gutted, I couldn't stop crying! I was out of cheer for 5 months to rest it to heal the problems. I had to drop out of nationals and another regional competition 2 weeks before we were supposed to compete.. I wasn't a happy cheerleader!
My physio helped A LOT to speed up my recovery.. one of the only things I could do to help my back was strengthen my core. Not my 'six pack muscles' but deeper and around my back too. She gave me loads of exercises to do and massaged my back every week. At first.. I couldn't understand how stopping cheer would help.. because my back just seemed to get more and more painful.. standing up and walking hurt. But then slowly, very slowly my bones started healing and I was getting more confident.

I went back to cheer that September.. and was absolutely pain free for about a month and a half.. then it got worse again. I went back to my physio and had different exercises to do.. these helped. From then on, I understood that I wouldn't be pain free forever! Backs are unstable and uncertain. I have my bad days and good days.

Recently my back has been very bad again.. and it was this time last year that the impact of a stunt falling on top of me caused me to fracture part of my spine. 2 weeks away from competition too.. just a tad annoying! And this pain has been set off by yet again a stunt falling awkwardly on me. BUT I will not give up on my back, I'm determined to make it stronger so it can keep up with my life-cheer.

I hope this helps you a bit.. just take care of your back- it's very important! & don't ignore the pain like I did.. get it seen and get all the help you can for it! Otherwise you may not be able to cheer as much as you'd like! Believe me, sitting out at training for 4 months just watching is NOT fun!

 

[Num1Stunta]

Just curious because I've had back problems for a while but I have always managed to deal with it during cheer but I recently had a near-death experience which caused my back to get even worse, it's pretty much done for. I was wondering how any of you athletes out there with back problems help the pain, do you just take breaks from it during practice, ice it or what? I need help..uhg.

What kind of back problems? Lower? I had a big problem in college, and STILL see a chiropractor once a week for it, because I didn't rest and take time off when I was supposed to. Basically it was from getting too far under my flyer when backing double downs and tuck tosses. My back would be a little arched and then the impact of me catching a 145 pound flyer practically on my own was crushing. There was never a definitive diagnosis, despite months of seeing orthopedists and other specialists. They basically just said that it was a combination of bursitis, constant muscle spasms, and the muscles were pulling away from my spine, so I had no back support whatsoever. I couldn't walk, sit, stand, move, ANYTHING without pain. I had to be carried off the floor after our halftime routine one day, and my coach had to force me kicking and screaming to sit out for the rest of the game (don't try to be a superhero, honestly). I ended up wearing a back brace for 3 months (and tumbling in it, I might add lol). I don't know if this is the same problem as yours, but I can tell you that my daily self-care consisted of:

1hr in the trainer's office during my lunch- Ultrasound, Stim, Ice
45 min prior to practice (6am practice meant I saw the trainer at 5:15a, yikes!)- Stim, Heat
Ice after practice
Heat at night when I went to bed

The <3 STIM <3 was a miracle, I couldn't turn it up high enough, it just felt soooooo good. I used to be in there with the basketball guys having a contest to see who could turn it up highest (not recommended lol). I actually burned out a machine, and when we went on away games, I was like the show-and-tell circus freak to the other trainers because of how high I wanted it to go lol. You can buy your own pocket stim machine for at-home use, my Mom has one and it's not bad. But, you definitely want to consult an expert and get a full diagnosis before doing any of that! Good Luck, back problems suck, but if you take care of them, you can work through it and hopefully not end up like me!

 

[CIAgiraffe]

I have also struggled with back problems too. I usually ice and heat after practice. I used to go to physical therapy and there they had me work and my core muscles and my back muscles becuase both are very weak. I stopped that about a year ago but i still try to do the exercises they gave me. I also had the change how i did my standing tumbling so it didnt bother my back. I also take tumbling breaks at practice for like a week or 2 when it starts to get pretty bad.

 

[caobsession]

my back hates me from all the disgusting amounts of stretching i do for a disturbingly amazing spike. 10 years from now i'll be a hunchback with difficulties walking, but if it looks good in the air now i'm totally okay with it

 

[TXcheermom]

My daughter kayla has back aches all the time. she gets ajusted a couple times a month, and we have a personal TENS device that she will wear on her alot.

 

[Jaysway]

I heat before practice and after practice and ice after practice and stretch. Don't over work it. I've sprained my back before and I currently have a bulging disk so I was told to be easy on it.

 

[Raymond G McKee]

Just curious because I've had back problems for a while but I have always managed to deal with it during cheer but I recently had a near-death experience which caused my back to get even worse, it's pretty much done for. I was wondering how any of you athletes out there with back problems help the pain, do you just take breaks from it during practice, ice it or what? I need help..uhg.

I have a few methods to deal with this all of which help make the pain and stiffness bearable, but it never goes away.

1. Flexerol, it's a muscle relaxant and helps to loosen up the muscles in my back. I only do this when it's really bad one because I don't like to take medications and two because it's a strong drug.

2. Chiropractor, adjusts and aligns my spine to allow more movement and less stiffness.

3. Massage's, because this is one of the more expensive solutions I only do this after a competition or when my back gets bad.

4. Dough roller, it sounds weird, but it's almost a self massage technique, get a dough roller or anything cylindrical and hard, and lay on your back and roll it over your back to kind of smooth out the muscles and it's like a semi-massage. I would only do this if you can take a deep tissue massage because this technique uses the entire weight of your body on the roller.

5. Epson salt (about a cup) and a hot bath. Also helps with muscles.

6. Maybe consider going on a lose dose aspirin regiment which would help with the pain and to also relax the muscles. I don't do this only because I try to avoid medications as much as possible.

 

[LaurenCS1]

I have TERRIBLE back problems... Ever since fourth grade! Ice and Heat are my two best friends when it comes to back pain... I hope this helps

 

[RSbrittany]

Starting PT for my back soon did x-rays and my doctor found nothing wrong but its always in pain so PT for meee