All-Star Allstar Education For Medical Professionals

[MomOf2ThatsMe]

Has USASF ever considered providing some sort of inservices at medical conferences, even if it is just to explain what exactly it is that these kids do. I know some of you saw my thread from earlier this week on concussions. Well, today her pediatrician fully released her back to allstars. Yep, one week later, no restrictions (which I think is INSANE!). After me trying to explain to him what exactly it is that she does (no rah-rah & pompoms) he said:
"If it's really as rough and tumble as you say it is nobody would blame you for keeping her out for another week. From my standpoint she is fine."

She is not fine. She got bumped in the head with a backpack on the bus ride home, and got another headache. He said that's "normal". No, it's not. She is still coming home dizzy from music class. My blood is just really, really boiling right now because it is blatantly apparent that some medical personnel just have NO idea what goes on when these kids hit that blue mat :mad: The worst part- I have to send that note to school, and she will not be excused from anything after today's date.

So, yes, I would love it if somehow the medical community could be reached out to and taught what it is that these kids do. I doubt that he would have released a gymnast, or a hockey or football player. So why my kid? Cause she's a "cheerleader".

Rant over.

 

[Hi! It's me!]

I almost think that we need to take our kids to sports medicene specialists. And help educate them as a sport. Too many GP's don't even listen to parents about run of the mill illnesses even though we are with our kids all the time and know what is normal and not for them. So yes I agree with you, now who knows how to make that happen?

 

[Labegg]

I agree that there are a lot of uninformed medical professionals out there with regard to cheerleading...I learned my lesson. Our last pediatrician's daughter was an all star cheerleader so when my CP went in after an injury to her ankle he promptly referred her to an ortho and told me to be sure to tell them that she was a "competative gymnast" because in his experience "they" just don't get it when it comes to all star cheer. He felt that if I said she was a cheerleader the ortho would dismiss the injury and tell her to just stay off of it for a week. Turned out to be a stress fracture and a required a bit longer recovery period.

 

[Twinklilstarsmom]

I feel the same way but I also tell the dr/orthop that my daughter is a gymnast. I've been looking for a pediatric sports med dr. Just to keep as a reference in case I need them.

 

[coachbd]

Has USASF ever considered providing some sort of inservices at medical conferences, even if it is just to explain what exactly it is that these kids do. I know some of you saw my thread from earlier this week on concussions. Well, today her pediatrician fully released her back to allstars. Yep, one week later, no restrictions (which I think is INSANE!). After me trying to explain to him what exactly it is that she does (no rah-rah & pompoms) he said:
"If it's really as rough and tumble as you say it is nobody would blame you for keeping her out for another week. From my standpoint she is fine."

She is not fine. She got bumped in the head with a backpack on the bus ride home, and got another headache. He said that's "normal". No, it's not. She is still coming home dizzy from music class. My blood is just really, really boiling right now because it is blatantly apparent that some medical personnel just have NO idea what goes on when these kids hit that blue mat :mad: The worst part- I have to send that note to school, and she will not be excused from anything after today's date.

So, yes, I would love it if somehow the medical community could be reached out to and taught what it is that these kids do. I doubt that he would have released a gymnast, or a hockey or football player. So why my kid? Cause she's a "cheerleader".

Rant over.

I sometimes just say I do gymnastics... I get sick of trying to explain what I do, and them not taking it seriously.

 

[thecheermoma]

Has USASF ever considered providing some sort of inservices at medical conferences, even if it is just to explain what exactly it is that these kids do. I know some of you saw my thread from earlier this week on concussions. Well, today her pediatrician fully released her back to allstars. Yep, one week later, no restrictions (which I think is INSANE!). After me trying to explain to him what exactly it is that she does (no rah-rah & pompoms) he said:
"If it's really as rough and tumble as you say it is nobody would blame you for keeping her out for another week. From my standpoint she is fine."

She is not fine. She got bumped in the head with a backpack on the bus ride home, and got another headache. He said that's "normal". No, it's not. She is still coming home dizzy from music class. My blood is just really, really boiling right now because it is blatantly apparent that some medical personnel just have NO idea what goes on when these kids hit that blue mat :mad: The worst part- I have to send that note to school, and she will not be excused from anything after today's date.

So, yes, I would love it if somehow the medical community could be reached out to and taught what it is that these kids do. I doubt that he would have released a gymnast, or a hockey or football player. So why my kid? Cause she's a "cheerleader".

Rant over.

Go to another Doctor. Listen to your instincts when you have that feeling that something is just not right yet! Hope she feels better soon.

 

[yojaehs]

Has USASF ever considered providing some sort of inservices at medical conferences, even if it is just to explain what exactly it is that these kids do. I know some of you saw my thread from earlier this week on concussions. Well, today her pediatrician fully released her back to allstars. Yep, one week later, no restrictions (which I think is INSANE!). After me trying to explain to him what exactly it is that she does (no rah-rah & pompoms) he said:
"If it's really as rough and tumble as you say it is nobody would blame you for keeping her out for another week. From my standpoint she is fine."

She is not fine. She got bumped in the head with a backpack on the bus ride home, and got another headache. He said that's "normal". No, it's not. She is still coming home dizzy from music class. My blood is just really, really boiling right now because it is blatantly apparent that some medical personnel just have NO idea what goes on when these kids hit that blue mat :mad: The worst part- I have to send that note to school, and she will not be excused from anything after today's date.

So, yes, I would love it if somehow the medical community could be reached out to and taught what it is that these kids do. I doubt that he would have released a gymnast, or a hockey or football player. So why my kid? Cause she's a "cheerleader".

Rant over.

The concussion tests are the same regardless of the sport, it sounds like you need a new Doctor!

 

[kykycheermom]

Maybe if a group of highly regarded, highly influential medical professionals in Sports Medicine, neurology, internal medicine, osteopathy, etc. came to Worlds with specific VIP seating to watch. That way they could get an up close & personal look at what exactly this sport requires physically and the ramifications that could occur along with any injuries. if they have a specific "scoresheet" to look over as they watched each team, so then each element could be broken down and "scored" on the risk potential. Gives both USASF what they want but couldn't prove (though it could work against them since they claimed that the tumbling was the most dangerous, when in my experience, it's stunting gone wrong that incurs the most traumatic of injuries), the medical profession as serious understanding of the dangers of the sport, and maybe result in better care for our young athletes.

 

[StarshipTrooper]

After 14 years of observing and treating in all circumstances I have a few of rules for cheer injuries.

Rule #1. It is best to observe the injury and the mechanics when giving an opinion. If not seen or taped, assume the worst.
Rule #2 Most injuries occur at practice obviously as that is where the majority of activity occurs.
Rule #3 All true cheer injuries, meaning those that are not an athlete that has made a mistake and needs a moment to recover, are more severe than they appear, need to be observed by a trained professional, and need close evaluation and treatment and are almost always worse than they first appear but rarely require emergency room visits and can be effectively triaged at the competition or practice safely and evaluated more extensively in the outpatient setting by most sports medicine experienced providers. I always suggest ice, non weight bearing and immobilization until the next day if there is not an obvious reason for emergent care. If no professional is on site at practice or the competition, seek emergency care if any question.
Rule #4 If a cheer injury results in a painful bone, xray it, and if a cheer injury results in a swollen tender joint after rest and a good icing there is probably an injury to a bone, ligament or cartilage. The forces associated with cheer injuries are similar to jumping out of 2 story buildings or greater and need to be treated with respect.

 

[yojaehs]

After 14 years of observing and treating in all circumstances I have a few of rules for cheer injuries.

Rule #1. It is best to observe the injury and the mechanics when giving an opinion. If not seen or taped, assume the worst.
Rule #2 Most injuries occur at practice obviously as that is where the majority of activity occurs.
Rule #3 All true cheer injuries, meaning those that are not an athlete that has made a mistake and needs a moment to recover, are more severe than they appear, need to be observed by a trained professional, and need close evaluation and treatment and are almost always worse than they first appear but rarely require emergency room visits and can be effectively triaged at the competition or practice safely and evaluated more extensively in the outpatient setting by most sports medicine experienced providers. I always suggest ice, non weight bearing and immobilization until the next day if there is not an obvious reason for emergent care. If no professional is on site at practice or the competition, seek emergency care if any question.
Rule #4 If a cheer injury results in a painful bone, xray it, and if a cheer injury results in a swollen tender joint after rest and a good icing there is probably an injury to a bone, ligament or cartilage. The forces associated with cheer injuries are similar to jumping out of 2 story buildings or greater and need to be treated with respect.

I would like to add, if the knee is the issue, there are tests but an MRI is the ONLY way to KNOW!

 

[kyyyyyyxo]

Maybe I just have a great doctor/surgeon or maybe they are more informed then people believe. I have torn my ACL, MCL, medial meniscus, and lateral meniscus many times. In total, I had 4 surgeries from age 16 to right before I turned 19. I would rehab for 6 months, get back into it, and then retear it. Each time that I retore my ACL, it was 100% not my doctors fault. He told me to take it easy, he told me to rehab hard, he told me if I had any issues I needed to stop. Try explaining this to your coach. I had a college coach who believed that either you were hurt or you werent. If you werent going to do every last thing at practice, including running sideways which is god awful for a torn acl then you werent allowed to cheer a football game that noone even goes to. I think more of an issue then the doctors, are informing coaches better. On the other side of it, I did coach last year and yes, there are issues with kids faking injuries to get out of things, but im sorry, if I have MRIs, x-rays, and a 6" scar down my leg - cant you give me the benefit of the doubt that I have some real issues? I think that most of the time it is a coaches issue, not a doctor issue.

To add to it, my doctor is world renowned. He is the Pittsburgh Penguins doctor (wrote a dissertation on concussions in sports and is a big concussion safety advocate, big reason why Sidney Crosby sat out so long) while his partner is the Pittsburgh Steelers. He also has been apart of USA Olympic staffs. To make a long story shorter, when I had toremy acl all of those times I got to practice alot and then would tear my acl before I got the chance to compete again. Leaving my last real all-star performance at my sophomore year of high school. I really felt that I had some unfinished business, so this year for fun and for that final performance I decided to do HotCheers IO4. As much as I wanted to do an open 5 team, I knew that as competitive as I am, I would hurt myself again. With that team, I was able to relax, do what I could, and ease myself into it. I felt stronger in my knee then I had in a very long time. Not long into the season, Id say October, I started to get some weird knee pain. I went to my surgeon, who MRIed me and said nothing was wrong. He then took an x-ray of both knees, put then up side by side and said "thats your problem". They were clearly different, and one of which was clearly filled with arthritis. I responded by asking if he could give me a cortisone shot or anything to make it feel better. His response to me was this "I could... but I wont. I know you, I know that you do a dangerous sport and that you love what you do. I know that if I give you that, you wont feel the pain and you will go harder then you should. Pain is your body telling you to stop, so by me stopping that pain, all I am doing is setting you up to get hurt more and to be 30 years old in a wheelchair". He said I should rehab it as much as I can, and if I really want to do it then I deal with the pain. I finished the season and as much as I would like, I know my body can not take any more cheerleading. My point is this: there are doctors out there that know what they are doing. If you think that you doctor doesnt, get a knew one. I had to drive over an hour to see my surgeon and every time all these years, it was worth it!

 

[ryann3794]

whenever Ive gone to the doctors for a cheer injury and they ask what happened I have to dumb it down SO much. Once I even had a doctor as what "stunting" was..