All-Star Lasting Cheer Injuries

[My3KidsMom]

The only serious injury my daughter has had to day was the awful broken femur. While she healed rather quickly (less than 5 months when she threw the double without a spot again) We have recently found out that the Femur did heal with a slight bend in it due to her growing some after the injury. They say it shouldn't really cause a problem but that is the reason she can not straighter her leg completely. Her knee is also quite a bit larger than the other one and always will be. She can definitely predict the weather better than the news stations :) I know this injury will bother her for the rest of her life and that makes me sad but she LOVES this sport and to her it's all worth it.

 

[AlaskanAssassin]

i got a bad back from tumbling on gym floors in middle school.
it effected me even at all star on the spring floor and got pulled out of tumbling..
it still bothers me 6 years later

and last year my knees started going and my very last performance they hurt so bad i fell in a standing handspring tuck and iced forever after i walked off the floor. they both feel just as bad as day 1 and getting worse

 

[cheergirl09]

I tore my meniscus my senior year cheering simply doing standing tucks. It healed pretty well after everything and it really hadn't been giving me any issues up until this past december I was skiing in Colorado and fell and tore it again so now I'm just repeating the process again :)

 

[kyyyyyyxo]

Ive had 3 ACLs and I have had all of my meniscus taken out. I will never recover. I fractured my back when I was 15 and I still get that pain back sometimes. But the biggest issue for me is just the overall wear and tear. Its not just those joints. Its every joint. I can pop my wrists, elbows, hips, back, knees, and ankles all instantly on command - I am 20 years old that shouldnt be the case. I started at age 8 so that was alot of years of pounding on the mat. I will be interested to see if it makes a difference for the next generation that they all got to to start on spring floor. I didnt get any spring floor until I was 14/15.

 

[monicanicole]

Torn cartilage in left hip, due to 10+ years of competitive dance and cheerleading (should of had surgery my senior year, but put it off, and should probably call the dr. to get that scheduled) and back pain pretty much constantly.

 

[lilpapsgirl]

I'll be 24 in August. I have had a bad knee from a blowout since I was about 12 from a standing tuck. I also have a bad right leg from being in one squatted position as a backspot for so long. I had an MRI two years ago and have arthrirtis all in my back as well as not being able to walk without sounding like a creeking door. Somedays I feel as if I am in an 80 year old woman's body. But it was all worth it. Every injury, all the blood, sweat, and tears, not to mention all the things my mom and dad gave up for me, which I will be forever greatful for!

 

[Rusty]

Ive had 3 ACLs and I have had all of my meniscus taken out. I will never recover. I fractured my back when I was 15 and I still get that pain back sometimes. But the biggest issue for me is just the overall wear and tear. Its not just those joints. Its every joint. I can pop my wrists, elbows, hips, back, knees, and ankles all instantly on command - I am 20 years old that shouldnt be the case. I started at age 8 so that was alot of years of pounding on the mat. I will be interested to see if it makes a difference for the next generation that they all got to to start on spring floor. I didnt get any spring floor until I was 14/15.

How did you fracture your back? Stunt, pyramid tumbling or basket toss? Base, Spotter or Performer?

 

[kyyyyyyxo]

How did you fracture your back? Stunt, pyramid tumbling or basket toss? Base, Spotter or Performer?

We dont really know. It was like stress fractures. I just started to get this really bad back pain, which continued to get worse and worse. I cheered that way for about a year. My legs would go numb. I had every symptom of back fractures yet when they took x-rays, MRIs, CT scans... No fractures. Finally, like 14 months later a bone scan found the fractures. The assumption was just basing, jumping, tumbling combined just continuous pounding since the age of 8.

 

[ctgatormom]

Next time there is a "is cheerleading a sport" discussion someone please post a link to this thread....;)

 

[Rusty]

We dont really know. It was like stress fractures. I just started to get this really bad back pain, which continued to get worse and worse. I cheered that way for about a year. My legs would go numb. I had every symptom of back fractures yet when they took x-rays, MRIs, CT scans... No fractures. Finally, like 14 months later a bone scan found the fractures. The assumption was just basing, jumping, tumbling combined just continuous pounding since the age of 8.

Wow! Have you found relief by not being Cheer active?

 

[soFIERCE08]

My right knee is still entirely numb to the touch and it's difficult to bend it past 90 degrees due to nerve damage from a bust on a hard mat when I was 16. I'm 20 now.

I had bad wrists too and sometimes if I'm pushing myself up out of a chair or leaning on a table or something I get a sharp shooting pain in them. Sometimes it's unbearable and it literally feels like I broke it. But I move it around and it's usually ok after a minute or two.

I blame high school cheer. Those dead mats were not my friend. I don't ever think I had an injury in allstar other than minor bumps and bruises.

i've recently realized that i am having a similar issue. this is so weird, but i was shaving my legs and i realized i couldn't feel the razor going over the outside part of my left knee. also, i'm starting to notice that other parts of my shins have similar issues. can you explain anything about your injury to me? the fact that i can't feel parts of my body is starting to freak me out!

in addition to this knee, my left ankle is permanently damaged from a nasty sprain where i tore all my ligaments and then never let them heal. i have bone spurs in this ankle so it loses feeling when i bend it certain ways.

 

[kyyyyyyxo]

Wow! Have you found relief by not being Cheer active?

Kind off. I finished my season Sophomore year with the back fractures and then took about a month or two off before starting for the next season on 3 teams for the summer. At the beginning of that break, I couldnt sit up out of bed.. I either had to roll out or my mom had to sit me up, and but the end of the 2 month break I was decent. Then that fall, I tore my ACL for the first time so I had 8 months off for that. My back doesnt bother me now really other then at random times I will feel a pinch of that pain, I think it isnt really that it does it, but that my knee just hurts worse. I am going to HotCheer Open 4 open gym tomorrow... time to get hurt again. hahahah

 

[aquarider]

What about other back problems that could be caused by bending fliers backs? Or the heavy lifting bases do? Interesting study...

Well, call it coincidence or what you may, but my CP was a side base for years. Started developing scoliosis. Next season she was a main base and guess what? Her back evened out. I think when kids are still growing if you continue to tweak your body into the same position all the time, how can you not end up with a problem? Just a thought...

 

[cheerKT]

i've recently realized that i am having a similar issue. this is so weird, but i was shaving my legs and i realized i couldn't feel the razor going over the outside part of my left knee. also, i'm starting to notice that other parts of my shins have similar issues. can you explain anything about your injury to me? the fact that i can't feel parts of my body is starting to freak me out!

in addition to this knee, my left ankle is permanently damaged from a nasty sprain where i tore all my ligaments and then never let them heal. i have bone spurs in this ankle so it loses feeling when i bend it certain ways.

The weird thing is that the doctors didn't really give me a diagnosis. They were like well all your ligaments are in tact, here is some Lyrica and you should be better by Monday. (This happened on a Thursday.....over 3 years ago) I had a few follow up appointments and they basically just said it's nerve damage and there really isn't anything they can do for it. You might should go to the doctor especially since you don't know of a specific instance that caused it....that's a little odd. Shaving is the weirdest part for me. Or if I wear tight jeans or something it rubs that part funny and it's uncomfortable. For me it's the inside of my right knee.

 

[soFIERCE08]

The weird thing is that the doctors didn't really give me a diagnosis. They were like well all your ligaments are in tact, here is some Lyrica and you should be better by Monday. (This happened on a Thursday.....over 3 years ago) I had a few follow up appointments and they basically just said it's nerve damage and there really isn't anything they can do for it. You might should go to the doctor especially since you don't know of a specific instance that caused it....that's a little odd. Shaving is the weirdest part for me. Or if I wear tight jeans or something it rubs that part funny and it's uncomfortable. For me it's the inside of my right knee.

yeah, i really can't think of a specific instance where i really messed up my knee. in fact, it's never really given me much of a problem. and, it's not like it hurts. i work out all the time on it and it's perfectly fine. it's just completely numb in some parts...i think i'll ask the doctor about it when i go for my next physical. ugh, i hate stuff like this.