Injuries
Common injuries, how to prevent them, and what to do about the injury
If you are a gymnast or are planning to become one or even if your child has decided to become a gymnast, you need to learn your safety facts and especially to be responsible in what you do for and in gymnastics. Some common injuries are caused by irresponsibility, forgetfulness, or not paying attention to what your coach says. An example of a minor injury caused by one of these faults would be a torn muscle. To prevent this, you simply must stretch well before you begin your gymnastics. But there are also injuries that can happen accidentally. A common "accidental" injury is called a sprain that is usually caused when a person lands on the side of their foot. Sprains often occur in ankles and can be told they are there when the area is swelled, painful, bruised, and the injured person is unable to move or use the joint. Here is a common, useful strategy used to help your sprain heal faster.
R.I.C.E.
R.I.C.E. stands for rest, ice, compression, elevation. When you use this strategy, to help sprains or even strains and severe bruises, you calm down the swelling and help the injury heal faster.
R: rest
When you are in pain, it is your body's way of telling you that you need to rest. Limiting the use of the appendage that is hurt will help prevent further injury and help it heal faster.
I: ice
When you apply ice, the cool temperature keeps the swelling down and reduce pain. Ice must be applied directly after the injury but must not be directly placed on the skin. You should put the ice in a pack or a bag and cover it with a thin cloth. It is best to ice for you to keep the ice on for ten minutes and repeat this every three hours. Never keep the ice on for more than 20 minutes.
C: compression
Just like when you put ice on the injury, compression prevents swelling but also provides support. To apply compression to the injured area, wrap the injury firmly with an elastic bandage. If the area begins to tingle, becomes discolored, or starts to feel cold, unwrap the bandage because it may be to tight. All you simply must do is wrap the bandage again but a bit looser this time. Be sure to wrap the bandage again if it starts to come, or feel, loose. Do not wear the bandage over night.
E: elevation
To help reduce swelling, pain, and throbbing, keep the injury elevated to keep a good amount of blood away that might create these things. If you elevate the injury higher than the heart, it is more effective.
R: rest
When you are in pain, it is your body's way of telling you that you need to rest. Limiting the use of the appendage that is hurt will help prevent further injury and help it heal faster.
I: ice
When you apply ice, the cool temperature keeps the swelling down and reduce pain. Ice must be applied directly after the injury but must not be directly placed on the skin. You should put the ice in a pack or a bag and cover it with a thin cloth. It is best to ice for you to keep the ice on for ten minutes and repeat this every three hours. Never keep the ice on for more than 20 minutes.
C: compression
Just like when you put ice on the injury, compression prevents swelling but also provides support. To apply compression to the injured area, wrap the injury firmly with an elastic bandage. If the area begins to tingle, becomes discolored, or starts to feel cold, unwrap the bandage because it may be to tight. All you simply must do is wrap the bandage again but a bit looser this time. Be sure to wrap the bandage again if it starts to come, or feel, loose. Do not wear the bandage over night.
E: elevation
To help reduce swelling, pain, and throbbing, keep the injury elevated to keep a good amount of blood away that might create these things. If you elevate the injury higher than the heart, it is more effective.
It is good to know common injuries in gymnastics and what to do about them, but is even better if you know how to prevent a lot of different injuries. the rest of this page is dedicated to helping you learn about different injuries and how to prevent them.
As you may know, gymnastics requires flexibility, strength, and agility. Some gymnast are naturally flexible and while that may be a good thing, it can also be a disadvantage. If the gymnast were to exercise the flexible joints to much, especially in the shoulders, they can become to loose. If the ligaments or tissue become to loose, they can not hold the bones in the correct position. This could, for instance, lead to dislocation. Dislocation could lead to serious injuries. For example, if a gymnast were to stretch the ligaments in the shoulder to much, they would not be able to hold the arm in its socket thus leading to dislocation as was said earlier. To prevent this from happening, a gymnast must strengthen the muscles around the joint, because, once the muscles are strong enough, they will hold the joints together even if they are stretched.
When it comes to the spine, there are many skills, such as back bends, that can damage that area. If a young gymnast (5-7 years old) is doing one of these activities, it is possible the gymnast could get a fracture in the spine but it will not cause problems because of the gymnasts young age. Though, as the years pass and the fracture goes unnoticed, problems will start to arise. The now teenage gymnast, still doing gymnastics, may complain of back pain because of the early fractures and may have to get a brace or even surgery. The best way to prevent this is to not allow the young gymnast to do deep back bends or other activities that include having the spine bend backwards until the child has reached at least 7 years of age.
Another common injury is a hyper extended wrist when in tumbling or when on the event vault (see the acrobatic gymnastics page for more). What is happening is the gymnast is bending the bones in the wrist back farther than 90 degrees or farther than normal. Having this happen over and over can be very painful and cause that area to become sore. So, when doing vault or tumbling the activity is very painful. Many gymnasts wear wrist splints to prevent this from happening.
As you may know, gymnastics requires flexibility, strength, and agility. Some gymnast are naturally flexible and while that may be a good thing, it can also be a disadvantage. If the gymnast were to exercise the flexible joints to much, especially in the shoulders, they can become to loose. If the ligaments or tissue become to loose, they can not hold the bones in the correct position. This could, for instance, lead to dislocation. Dislocation could lead to serious injuries. For example, if a gymnast were to stretch the ligaments in the shoulder to much, they would not be able to hold the arm in its socket thus leading to dislocation as was said earlier. To prevent this from happening, a gymnast must strengthen the muscles around the joint, because, once the muscles are strong enough, they will hold the joints together even if they are stretched.
When it comes to the spine, there are many skills, such as back bends, that can damage that area. If a young gymnast (5-7 years old) is doing one of these activities, it is possible the gymnast could get a fracture in the spine but it will not cause problems because of the gymnasts young age. Though, as the years pass and the fracture goes unnoticed, problems will start to arise. The now teenage gymnast, still doing gymnastics, may complain of back pain because of the early fractures and may have to get a brace or even surgery. The best way to prevent this is to not allow the young gymnast to do deep back bends or other activities that include having the spine bend backwards until the child has reached at least 7 years of age.
Another common injury is a hyper extended wrist when in tumbling or when on the event vault (see the acrobatic gymnastics page for more). What is happening is the gymnast is bending the bones in the wrist back farther than 90 degrees or farther than normal. Having this happen over and over can be very painful and cause that area to become sore. So, when doing vault or tumbling the activity is very painful. Many gymnasts wear wrist splints to prevent this from happening.