My daughter has been cheering since 5 (she is 11) and when she was 8 began complaining of lower back pain. During her team's first competition we say her grimace while pulling her scorp. We took her to the Sports Medicine clinic; they did an Xray and followed up with a CAT scan. Turned out she has a complete fracture of her left L5 and partial fracture of her right L5 vertebrae. At 8! She spent 3 months in a back brace, no activity. Happily, she went right back into cheering and flying (although her spine never fully healed). She continues to have lower back and glute pain, but her issues are all muscular. We are taking her to a medical massage therapist, and those treatments definitely address the issue. These are massage therapists which have specialized training and licensure. My daughter's MMT attributes most of the issue to tight hamstrings and psoas (muscle that connects the spine to the hip/leg). Whatever she does during sessions works miracles! My daughter goes about every other month during competition season, whenever the pain gets bad. Usually the pain is completely gone at the end of the session. I highly recommend a MMT if these symptoms sound familiar!
