Common Gymnastics Injuries

Gymnastics can trace its roots all the way back to the ancient Greeks, and has been included in the Olympics since the first modern Games in 1896. Gymnastics is a demanding sport that requires strength, flexibility, balance and control in order to perform optimally. There are many subcategories of gymnastics, with the competitive artistic gymnastics being the best known of these. In this form of gymnastics, the women’s events are the vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise, whereas the men’s events are floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, and the high bar. Other disciplines include rhythmic gymnastics, trampolining and tumbling, and aerobic gymnastics.

Participants can include children as young as 20 months old doing kindergym and children’s gymnastics, recreational gymnasts of ages 5 and up, competitive gymnasts at varying levels of skill (1-10), and world class athletes.

Due to the strenuous and repetitive nature of the sport, overuse injuries to the shoulder and back are common. Acute injuries, such as elbow dislocations and ankle sprains are also commonly seen in all levels of gymnastics.

Head

  • Concussion

Back

  • Stress Fracture (Spondy)
  • Facet Joint Pain

Knee

  • Medial Collateral Ligament Sprain (MCL)
  • Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) Tear
  • Patellar Tendinitis (Jumper’s Knee)
  • Osgood-Schlatter Disease
  • Meniscus Tears

Ankle

  • Lateral Ankle Sprain

Shoulder

  • Multi-Directional Instability (MDI)
  • Shoulder Dislocation

Elbow

  • Osteochondritis Dissecans (OCD) of the Elbow
  • Elbow Dislocation