That's a really fun way to
Osgood-Schlatter disease can cause a painful lump below the kneecap in children and adolescents experiencing growth spurts during puberty. Osgood-Schlatter disease occurs most often in children who participate in sports that involve running, jumping and swift changes of direction — such as soccer, basketball, figure skating and ballet and GYMNASTICS (caps added). Osgood-Schlatter disease typically occurs in boys ages 13 to 14. The condition usually resolves on its own, once the child's bones stop growing.
Sitting in the office waiting for the doctor. Still smiling, not knowing what's coming.
The sports therapist informed Justin that he would have to quit gymnastics for 6-8 weeks. Justin was NOT happy about that and begged to know what he COULD do. He could do any upper body or ab work but nothing with a run, jump or landing on that leg for at least six weeks. Then we could check in again to see how he was healing.
He came home and sat down for a bit, thinking over his options. Then stood, declaring, "I'm going to go crazy" and went out to the trampoline. I wanted to warn him but left the decision up to him. As I watched him start jumping, my heart went out to him. He is good at gymnastics and the energy and motivations for it and he loves it. Then I noticed he was jumping on one leg. His love of the sport and determination to continue was not going to slow him down.
He was very careful to not jump or land with his injured leg but it took a lot of focus and was twice the work for the healthy leg. I was worried about him injuring the healthy leg but because he would get tired so fast he could only do it in short spurts. This gave him time to rest both legs and more time for reading, his other great love.
He also spent time teaching Nathan and Hyrum how to do flips on the trampoline and handstands in the house. He found that he actually likes teaching and spotting and would possibly consider a job in that area as he gets older. The younger boys loved the extra attention from Justin and showing off their new skills to the rest of us.
Some of the upper body training that he came up with was crazy hard. This technique on the trampoline uses some momentum, some legs, and every ounce of abs he's got.
After six weeks we went back in and he still wasn't cleared 100%. The therapist tried to emphasize that though he could go back to gym now, there was a chance that he could make the injury worse and even end up needing surgery with the possibility of never doing gymnastics again. He was trying a bit of a scare tactic because he knew that Justin was not a quitter and was determined to get back. It's his first year on the competition team and he doesn't want to get behind. With a band to protect his knee and specific instructions for ice therapy he continued with upper body and was given permission to do trampoline work but still no floor landings. He tried going back to the gym a couple of times but it was just too difficult to not do what the rest of the class was doing so he kept his training at home. He was actually a great coach for himself.
After a full three months away from the gym he was a little nervous but extremely excited to go back. He found that he had actually made considerable improvements on the parallel bars, high bars and rings. Even though he hadn't actually been on them for three months he had built incredible upper body strength. He was amazed to see that he could now do 13 rotations on the mushroom (a big, hard piece of equipment that teaches how to do pommel horse circles without the risk of hitting the handles on the pommel) instead of just 3-5. That was all because of upper body strength and the determination to not be behind the rest of the team.
Altogether, the experience from having the injury and the restricted training has turned out to be a great teaching tool. Justin is already very health conscious because he wants to be in top shape for competition and he knows that he can't do what he would like to if he's off in nutrition. He avoids soda and keeps his sugar intake low. He drinks plenty of water and eats healthy, making sure to get proteins in. But this experience taught him another part of health. He learned to listen to his body. He will need to use the knee band until he is about 15, or basically is done having growth spurts, and will always need to pay attention to soreness and pain and treat it immediately so it doesn't lead to injury. Even though the injury is one of the most common in gymnasts, and especially kids his age involved in any sports, he has learned to take care of his body so that he can continue to do what he loves and be strong for many years to come.
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