Delaney, 12 of Lewisville, has been tumbling and flipping her whole life, well almost. Starting around 18 months old, this level 7 gymnast practices 20 hours per week. She is so happy to be back in her normal rhythm after a season of modified training because of a wrist injury. Delaney credits her occupational therapist, Lindsey Williams, O.T.R., C.H.T., with helping her focus on new goals to work toward while she was getting better.
 
After a teammate and her mom described the gymnast’s wrist pain and treatment plan, Delaney and her mom took their advice to see someone at Scottish Rite for Children about her similar complaints. Pediatric sports medicine physician Jane S. Chung, M.D., confirmed that Delaney also had gymnast’s wrist, an overuse injury, in one hand and was showing signs of it developing on the other. The treatment plan started with immobilization, a cast on one arm and a removable splint on the other, and a new approach to training while protecting her wrists. Delaney was committed to this plan. At one point, Delaney even opted to extend her time in the cast just to be sure she didn’t go back too soon. “I wanted to be sure my wrist was ready, so I listened to Lindsey and kept working on my other goals like stretching for splits.”
 
“We were very concerned when we learned this could affect her growth. She had only complained of pain for a couple of weeks, we are glad that we received the advice to get it checked out.” Delaney’s mom recalls their initial surprise and hopes others will learn to watch out for signs of gymnast’s wrist.
 
Delaney, and sometimes her brother Luke, have enjoyed the activities that Lindsey has given her to increase the use and strength in her hand, wrist and arm. Delaney and her mom appreciate that Lindsey can talk-the-talk. Her mom says, “she knows gymnastics lingo, and she knows the demands of the sport.” Lindsey worked her magic with Delaney, getting to know her as an individual, looking for her motivations and challenging her to find ways to keep moving forward even when she was ordered to “rest.”
 
Lindsey says, “I’m excited to see Delaney ready to graduate from occupational therapy and return to her sport. I love my job and seeing kids getting to do what they love makes me love it even more.”

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 Learn about overuse injuries in gymnasts wrist.