My older daughter has been a gymnast since she was a baby (she is now 13), having grown up in the gym while I was coaching. It actually amazes me that she has not had a major injury in all these years. She did have a scary fall off the bars when she was 7 or 8, but she wasn’t hurt. Two weeks ago she was tumbling and second guessed herself for a split second. That split second was enough to put her in a precarious position and she came down hands first from a forward tumbling pass.

She said she heard her arm break, yet some how she just walked off the floor and collapsed near some mats. Most of the gym didn’t even know something had happened. Her teammates and coaches got her arm elevated and on ice, but when I walked in the gym I took one look at her elbow and the very obvious swelling and said let’s go, it’s off to the Emergency Room for you.

I went back into x-ray with her and stood behind the glass with one of the x-ray techs. The new radiology technology is amazing. They took a picture and slid the films into a think that looked like a giant CD player and the x-ray immediately came up on the monitor in front of us. It was so obvious from that first slide that her arm was broken. She ended up with a displaced medial fracture in her humerus bone (she says its not funny though) and they soft casted her right there in the ER.

The next day we headed an hour south to the orthopedic office that specializes in pediatric sports injuries. If your athlete is ever injured – look for a doctor that deals with kids who are athletes on a daily basis – it makes all the difference in the world. The orthopedic doctor took a look at her films and determined that surgery was needed immediately to pin the piece of bone that had broken completely off back onto its rightful place. She broke the arm Monday, we saw the specialist Tuesday and were in surgery Thursday morning. Crazy!

The surgery went very well and she was able to go home that afternoon. She will be in the cast a few more weeks, but since she did not do any soft tissue (muscle, ligament or tendon) damage, they expect the arm to be stronger after the cast comes off than it was before.

The most difficult part of the injury has not been the injury itself rather the fact that she has not been in the gym. The weekend after she broke her arm was the team’s first competition of the season. She didn’t seem to be overly concerned until we walked into the meet to support her friends and then it hit her. That was the very first meet ever that she had not competed in since she was 6. And that was the hardest thing for her to handle. I just wonder if it will be a motivating factor once she is given the all clear to return to training.

We went back to the doctor this week to follow up on the surgery and the cast will stay on until December 13. But at least she has been cleared to go back in the gym and do conditioning – which makes her happy. Gymnasts are a little crazy that way!

Here is a short intro to the piece – click to watch below or view via YouTube:

From the press release:

In collaboration with the University of Minnesota’s Tucker Center for Research on Girls and Women in Sport, Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) Channel 2 has produced a ground-breaking, one-hour documentary on the untold story of female athletes and concussion injuries airing at 8 p.m. on Sunday, October 16.

Concussions and their devastating consequences affect athletes in all sports and at all levels. However, while sport-related concussions have ignited a national conversation and public debate about this serious brain injury, the majority of attention has focused on male athletes. Critical issues surrounding the impact of concussion on female athletes have been largely ignored. Through the personal stories and experiences of coaches, athletes and their families, as well as in-depth interviews with nationally recognized scholars and medical experts, this documentary examines the causes underlying concussion and offers practical solutions to help prevent and treat sports-related concussion injuries in female athletes.

“This partnership with TPT allows us to fulfill the core mission of the Tucker Center—to engage in research that truly makes a difference in the live of girls and women, their families, and communities,” says Tucker Center Director and Professor Mary Jo Kane. “We are also deeply committed to educational endeavors and community outreach that provides knowledge to a vast audience. In the case of serious brain injuries such as a concussion, this documentary could save lives.”

In a unique arrangement, TPT has granted the Tucker Center rights to distribute the documentary as an educational tool to a broad constituency, including high school and college coaches, along with scholars, educators, policy makers and the general public.

“Having the ability to widely disseminate the video will make a difference and impact those who need the information the most,” said Nicole M. LaVoi, associate director of the Tucker Center.

Former U of M President Robert Bruininks, who appears in the documentary, states, “Sport-related concussions are a much more serious issue than we thought just a few years ago. There is no better place than the Tucker Center and the U of M to have a serious conversation about the implications of this injury on the long-term health of girls and women who participate in exercise and sports.”

More on girls in sports and concussions:

• Dealing with the aftermath of a serious sports injury
• Study shows girls more susceptible to concussions than boys
• Girls Soccer: Concussion Risks
• Mouthguards are a must for field sports
• Kids and Head Injuries
• Female Athletes Bear Brunt of Concussions
• Girls Suffering More Concussions in High School Sports

Ali Krieger from the US women's soccer team in a Gaithersburg, MD Dick’s Sporting Goods store, helping spread the word about the new PACE program (Protecting Athletes through Concussion Education).

Are you a parent of an athlete, coach, teacher or school administrator at a middle school or high school? If so, this is a GREAT OPPORTUNITY to apply for some state-of-the-art concussion software which can help combat concussions in youth sports keeping your athletes playing safer and longer.

According to the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, up to 3.8 million recreation- and sports-related concussions occur in the United States every year – with concussions in adolescent age groups accounting for the majority.1 This is a serious issue.

That’s why Dick’s Sporting Goods created PACE, which stands for Protecting Athletes through Concussion Education. Through PACE, Dick’s Sporting Goods will supply up to one million young athletes across more than 3,300 middle and high schools nationwide with ImPACT software, the first, most-widely used, and scientifically-validated computerized concussion evaluation system. It is a computerized, neurocognitive assessment tool and service that is used by medical doctors, psychologists, athletic trainers, and other licensed healthcare professionals to assist them in determining an athlete’s ability to return to play after suffering a concussion.

But, schools NEED TO APPLY in order to get the software! Here’s how you do it: visit http://www.mydickssportinggoods.com/pace/ and click “Submit Your School” on the left-hand side.

It’s on a first-come, first-serve basis, so if your school qualifies and the application is approved, it could become one of the 3,300 middle and high schools getting FREE software in the largest concussion baseline testing initiative ever created.

Good luck, and stay safe this season!

US Women’s soccer player Ali Krieger signs autographs for fans during the PACE - Protecting Athletes through Concussion Education - event at Dick's Sporting Goods, Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2011, in Gaithersburg, MD. Krieger and Dick’s Sporting Goods have teamed up to raise awareness and provide baseline testing for concussions among young athletes. Visit DicksSportingGoods.com/PACE for more information. (AP Images for Dick’s Sporting Goods)

US Women’s World Cup Soccer player Ali Krieger joined fans at a free concussion screening and testing event in a Gaithersburg, MD Dick’s Sporting Goods store to help spread the word about the new PACE (Protecting Athletes through Concussion Education) program. Through PACE, up to one million young athletes across more than 3,300 middle and high schools nationwide will receive free concussion education and ImPACT testing, making it the largest concussion baseline testing initiative ever created.

From now through September 12, Dick’s Sporting Goods will donate $1 to the PACE program for every pair of athletic shoes purchased in any of its 449 stores or online at DicksSportingGoods.com.  In addition, they have pledged an additional $1 donation for consumers who post about PACE on the Dick’s Sporting Goods Facebook page, tweet about PACE with the #DSGPACE hashtag, or check-in to a Dick’s Sporting Goods location on Facebook Places or Foursquare.

For more information on the PACE program and concussion education, visit the PACE informational site.

As the debate as to whether cheerleading is a sport continues and as cheerleading statistically continues to be considered one of the more dangerous high school sports, it is important to note that many cheerleading injuries can be prevented. STOP Sports Injuries, a campaign started by famous sports professionals and well-known national organizations, has an entire section of their website devoted to sports specific injury prevention, treatment guidelines, videos, and resources. Cheerleading is one of the sports for which they have valuable information for parents, coaches and cheerleaders.

The information available on STOP Sports Injuries that pertains to cheerleading specifically, includes:

• What types of injuries are most common in cheerleading?
• How can injuries be prevented?
• How are cheerleading injuries treated?

Visit the site and download the printable cheerleading injury fact sheet for more information.

Remember jumping rope and playing hop scotch as a kid? Well, it’s time to think about those activities again, because hopping and jumping are great bone builders. As it turns out, bone strengthens in response to the load placed upon it, and high-impact activities like jumping load bone much more than low-impact activities like walking. Studies among children and adults show the bone benefits of this simple form of high impact exercise. Ten to 15 minutes of heel drops, hopping, or jumping three days a week helps to increase bone density and strength.

Coaches – you can help your athletes get 100 hops in by setting up return stations and drills that incorporate jumping, bounding,  punching through the feet and hopping on one foot. Make an obstacle course, draw a hopscotch field, or come up with your own version of Simon Says.

Athletes – you can certainly get hopping on those days off! Grab your jump rope, make your own jumping circuit or make a game of hopping everywhere a few minutes each hour.

Don’t forget to stretch before you start and your bones will thank you!

A gymnast's hand rip after it has been treated using tea bags.

At our gym when one of the pre-team girls comes to us with her first “rip”, the coaches usually make a big deal about it, letting her know she is now an official gymnast. Seems silly, but rips from swinging bars is part of the sport of gymnastics. But once a gymnast has a rip, how do treat it?

• Have the gymnast go to the bathroom and wash her hands to remove any chalk and surface germs. Yes,it stings, but it still has to be done. Pat the rip dry with a paper towel.
• Have an adult carefully trim any excess skin using sterilized scissors and apply Neosporin or similar antibiotic ointment. Cover with a bandage and then wrap the bandage with athletic tape to keep the bandage in place. This should get the gymnast through the remainder of practice.
• Once at home, we swear by tea bags to reduce the pain and speed the healing of the rip. Prepare a cup of black tea using a tea bag according to the package directions. Remove the tea bag and place it in the freezer for a few minutes to cool. Apply the tea bag directly to the rip and leave it on there for 20 minutes or so. The tannic acid that occurs naturally in the tea is an amazing pain reliever! The tea bag will discolor the rip area, but only for a few days. It also helps speed the development of the new layer of skin.
• Over the next few days be sure to keep the rip area moisturized to prevent cracking and reopening of the wound. My daughter uses vaseline or her favorite lip balm – like Carmex or Blistex Daily Conditioning Treatment.
• During practice, cover the rip with a bandage and athletic tape or make a tape grip so your gymnast can continue training. It really is good practice for gymnasts to learn to swing bars with a rip because undoubtedly at some point in their gymnastics career they will get a rip right before a meet and need to know how to work through it.

The tea bag method is not the only way to treat rips, however, it is the one that most of the gymnasts in our gym use. You can also treat rips with Vitamin E applied directly to the rip, Neosporin + Pain ointment, and some gymnasts will tell you that Preparation H works well (since it contains medication for pain and to reduce swelling).

Once your gymnast is ready for grips – don’t worry, her coach will let you know when – she still may get rips.  For some girls, working bars with hand grips (I only recommend dowel grips) makes a big difference in their ability to swing bars and cut down on the number of rips.

According to The Australian,

Bright was training in the half-pipe at Aspen, Colorado, yesterday to prepare for this weekend’s Winter X Games, when she missed the landing on one of her standard tricks, a switchback 720 (double spin), and struck the back of her head on the ice floor of the bowl.

She was taken to Aspen Valley Hospital for precautionary scans which cleared her of any serious injury, but she has withdrawn from the X Games, which was to have been her last competition before the Olympics.

Bright played down the mishap as “a bit of a fall” and said it would not affect her preparation for the Winter Olympics.

Let’s hope she has a speedy recovery with no long term effects from that fall and can show off her crazy new skill, the “double cork” in Vancouver later this month.

Here is a great documentary piece on Torah Bright for Roxy where she talks about riding the “White Wave”, her hopes, dreams and her worst snowboarding injury.

Cheerleading used to be all about the cheers, the chants, the jumps and if you had a former gymnast on your team, the tricks. Now, there seems to be a greater emphasis put on the stunting, tumbling and more difficult tricks. Many of the high school cheerleaders are training on basketball courts, hallways and backyards as opposed to training facilities with appropriate matting, training aids (like trampolines and pits) or trained/certified coaches.

If cheerleading is going to continue to grow and become more of a “sport”, then it needs to have the same types of guidelines for training, coaching and safety in place like other scholastic sports. Every sport has its risks and kids can get hurt doing any sport, however, the numbers revealed in the report are definitely alarming and should send up flags that cheerleading as a high school and college sport needs to revamped. I’m not saying it needs to be eliminated – because at the high school and college level, I think it is pretty cool. They just need to re-evaluate the programs to try and reduce some of the risk factors.

What’s your take? Here are some additional articles on cheerleading injury statistics and safety:

• Sports Injury Research – Cheerleading Riskier than Football
• Cheerleading changed by injury
• Cheerleading Injury Statistics
• Cheerleading Safety
• Preventing Cheerleading Injuries

We had a tragic event happen in our community this week. One boy was killed and another was gravely injured after being struck by lightning as they walked off the baseball diamond.  The league had followed precautions and had put the game on a 30 minute delay – even though it wasn’t raining and only one smal bit of lightning had been seen in the area.  This was definitely a freak accident, but one that reminds us of the dangers of outdoor sports and inclement weather.

Review the following safety tips from the NCAA’s Lightning Safety Guidelines:

• Designate a person to monitor threatening weather and make the decision to remove a team or individuals from an athletic event.
• Monitor local weather reports each day before any practice or event. Be aware of potential thunderstorms.
• Know where a close safe structure or location is to the field or playing area.
• Awareness should be heightened at the first flash of lightning, clap of thunder, or other signs such as increasing winds or darkening skies, no matter how far away.
• Avoid using land-line telephones, except in emergencies. People have been killed while using land-line telephones during thunderstorms.
• Cellular or cordless phones are safe alternatives to a land-line phone, particularly if the person and the antenna are within a safe structure and if other precautions are followed.
• Safety experts recommend waiting 30 minutes after both the last sound of thunder and last flash of lightning before resuming athletic activities.

Play hard, but play safe this summer!!