Any orthopedic guys

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My kid fractured his thumb a few hours ago 9 years old.regular doctor says we need to see a orthopedic specialist.the general practitioners says he guesses two to three weeks out.i have made the mistake of goggling it.now im paranoid.we dont see the specialist till sometime next week.playoffs start in four weeks.is it possible to be back that soon?if not no big deal.i was more surprised at the two to three week estimate.my kid thinks he will be back in two weeks.im more worried about the long term.thanks jeff and lil'geoff

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I would probably not listen to the medical prognosis of a 9 year old kid unless his name is Doogie Howser. I would pay attention to your doctor.

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Originally Posted by wavedukefan70s

i have made the mistake of goggling it.

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Did you "beer goggle" it? If not, you're probably OK.

Sorry, couldn't resist. No advice, I'm not a doctor, I'm an engineer, darnit (insert Star Trek/McKoy reference here), but I wish the best for your son and a rapid and complete recovery for his thumb! :cool:

I knew it after i posted it. i really shouldn't type from a phone.

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Originally Posted by wavedukefan70s

Attachment 2631
My kid fractured his thumb a few hours ago 9 years old.regular doctor says we need to see a orthopedic specialist.the general practitioners says he guesses two to three weeks out.i have made the mistake of goggling it.now im paranoid.we dont see the specialist till sometime next week.playoffs start in four weeks.is it possible to be back that soon?if not no big deal.i was more surprised at the two to three week estimate.my kid thinks he will be back in two weeks.im more worried about the long term.thanks jeff and lil'geoff

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Interesting, my 13 year old fractured his thumb on Friday and was told he's out for 4 weeks at least. He did crack his growth plate as well, not sure if perhaps that is the reason for the difference. He sees a specialist on Thursday. We're right in the middle of travel baseball season, so I feel your pain.

Hoping for a speedy recovery for your son and mine!

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Originally Posted by riverside6

Interesting, my 13 year old fractured his thumb on Friday and was told he's out for 4 weeks at least. He did crack his growth plate as well, not sure if perhaps that is the reason for the difference. He sees a specialist on Thursday. We're right in the middle of travel baseball season, so I feel your pain.

Hoping for a speedy recovery for your son and mine!

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I expect the specialist to make the final call.i hate to see him put in the work and lose the reward. Good luck with ball.

I'm not understanding the question.

What difference would it make if an orthopedist tells you that the bone is healed--that is, that it will not break in the same place again if your son were to come "back" three weeks after he broke his thumb playing the very sport to which you are asking for advise about whether you should allow him to return. What can other people tell yo?

The thumb that your thum broke is what makes a hand a "hand," that distinguishes your son from every other species of animal. What is it that you are trying to tell your son, playing a game is worth more than what? What will your son learn from your okay? Does your son's thumb function independent from the rest of him. Does it's having been broken destroyed his innocence? Does the rest of him protect that thumb in ways that change the athlete in him? Is the pain that he experienced most acutely during the first several days after the injury, linger, in his brain. Does he need time to heal, feel safe again after breaking a thumb doing what he loves.

Who will your son be if he comes "back" as soon as the doctor gives the "okay." Who will your son be if you do not say, we need to take care of you, we need to give this a rest, there will be lot's of games in your life, let's give us all time to adjust to what happened to you, to give you time, to take care of all of you, not just that finger.

Are you willing, wanting, your son to "get back" for him, or for you, or for both. Or are you looking at that thumb as if it was not used only because what the rest of him is doing, how the rest of him functions, and that that includes the all the rest of him, not just how he uses other parts of his arm to move the thumb, how he uses the shoulder, hip, rotation of spine, shift of weight, how his mind controls all of this, no not just that, but also how he "feels" about himself, the injury that befell him because he was playing a game, a game that adults were running, and that adults were willing and wanting him to "come back." What about that little boy; a thumb is just a concept we use to discuss what has befallen to the all of that kid. It is not some kind of generic part like an alternator on your car.

Too, too many parents forget about these things. I'm not judging anyone. It's just that, having been on all sides of the issue you face all too many times, and having thought it through as aparent when there was still time, I'm not understanding your question.

I thought two weeks was rather quick .being that I have no medical training. I would guess a specialist may have a better understanding than a G.P. no further damage is formost .no its not for me .I actually hated baseball until .he started playing it .the last game I saw was Kirk Gibson hitting a pinch hit hr in the world series some years ago. I had planned a football career for him .he chose different. If he chose not to play again that would be fine its his choice. As of now he loves it and is very good at it. He wants to play. So my duty as a parent would be to get him healthy .then playing if he chooses. So I'm trying to find out as much info as possible. No more no less.my apologies my phone is posting random periods.

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Originally Posted by wavedukefan70s

I thought two weeks was rather quick .being that I have no medical training. I would guess a specialist may have a better understanding than a G.P. no further damage is formost .no its not for me .I actually hated baseball until .he started playing it .the last game I saw was Kirk Gibson hitting a pinch hit hr in the world series some years ago. I had planned a football career for him .he chose different. If he chose not to play again that would be fine its his choice. As of now he loves it and is very good at it. He wants to play. So my duty as a parent would be to get him healthy .then playing if he chooses. So I'm trying to find out as much info as possible. No more no less.my apologies my phone is posting random periods.

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By all means, getting the "go" from an orthopedist is essential. I post here alot about injuries; have actually been writing about the issues of injury in sport at all levels for the past 25 years. The incidents of injury in all sports have been escalating at an ever increasing rate, alarming I call it, among young people.

My own experience informed my initial passion around the subject. As a hgh school basketball player, I can't tell you how many times that guys from freshman to varisty players hurt their ankles, went to an orthopod, no brakes or tears, as soon as the pain was tolerable, tape it and play, if only in practice (bench sitters like me loved practice). Real problems later on. If the ankle doesn't absorb the force imparted from the ground in the same way as before, the force, sometimes at a vector that puts more strain on the very vunerable sides of the knee will. You hurt your thumb, you "learn" how to alter your delivery, your throw, how you swing a bat, how you hold the bat and ball, I could go on. Baseball is all about rotation and how the movement of the pelvs, rotates the spine, the ball or bat which is over your right should and up, starts to drop down and then the hips rotate muliplying the 32 feet per second acceleation of down by centrifical force with the arm or bat swing out (in the arm's cae also down," and when the rotation wants to have the bat or the ball go flinging out to the right (assuming a righty) the body keeps turning left, elevating the force, the deliverer of that force, the hand, in particular the thumb.

I blew out my right knee the summer before my senior year, came back as soon as I got the okay, was getting a real chance to play during winter break when we scrimmaged other teams, boom, tore ligaments in my ankle and the doc put me in a cast. Came back to practice the next Monday and the coach, who really didn't need my services, asked why I had not consulted with him before I let them cast me. I was back a week after the cast went off, practiced the rest of the year even though the ankle really hurt. The next year playing freshman ball at Cornell, really blew out my left knee. Played ball for another 15 years, started doing Yoga, was sitting on a blanket, hanging with hands to the feet posture, (pillows between by lap and chest to help each the pressure of trying to approximate the posture, slipped off the blanket, my hamstring and who knows what released and my head was practically on my knee; first time since my freshman year at Cornell that I had my old knee back. Then I saw, really felt, the loss. I was 16 again, and the injurywas the first real hit of "ufair" I had ever encountered with my body. I literally mourned for an hour or so for that 16 year old.

No one could have told me not to go back time and again in the face of these injuries; it probably would have been pointless to try. I was too invested in my personna as a ball player to bear even a short time away from the game, was sure "it" would get better, and, but none of them really did. Not one. They didn't hamper me from being a reasonably successful gym rat through my mid 30s.

The dangers out there are quite serious. If your son does not learn how to value his body, his ability to use all of it as best he once knew how, he will keep playing through them forever. Sure, he will adapt and play around them. but, he'll know, back in the recessesses he'll know, that it is different, something is less free, less smooth and satisfying. Whether he ever "gets" it that time would have given him his best shot at recapturing that ease, or really come to terms with what the injury had cost and take the time to explore without pressure in the same way he did when he was say 4-6 that made him stand out as a 9 year old, well, I can tell you is it will be a shame.

Even if this injury ends with little consequence (they all have consequence when you break a bone, especially one as important as a thumb), learning the discipline to honor himself, his body and himself to come to terms with what has happened to him, will serve him well as he navigates this ever more dangerous realm that they mislabel as "sports."

There is nothing easy about any of this. Letting your son make his own decisions about such a matter when he is 9, I'm not so sure about it. Letting him make the decision without seriously considering your views if you investigate this subject, that, to me, makes no sense. There are some Orthodpedic doctors out there who appreciate every single thing I've said and more. What I'd test is the hypothesis, why should I not stop him from playing," or "why should he not play," for the rest of the season. Work to disprove these hyptheses, seeking out all kinds of inputs, and see where you end up.

Me, I know what I did with both my children when they were your son's age and older. Best thing I ever did.

There is an organization called the Positve Coaching Alliance, devoted to teaching kids, coaches, and parents to be positive influences on kids who encoiuntered difficulties. I was involved from its early stages, was invited to try out as a trainer for the organization, and for years contributed some interesting stuff. The executive director of the organization is among the finest and constructive guys in sport. He' never let me post about issues of parents trying to infoluence the games that their kids play to make them more safe (girls have 8-11 times the incidents of ACL tears requiring surgery in basketball and soccer). I told Ed that as long as his organization fails to address the issue of injury in kid's sports (I use that through high school) it is out of integrity with its mission. Nothing. Meanwhile, the injuries grow at astronomical rates.

Difficult world to navigate. The best of luck.

I admit i didnt take into account.his flexibility and trying to compensate for it.we most likely will just call it a season unless something major happens.like a mis diagnoses or something to that effect.when hes a 100 percent .we will start back to work for next season.i just had the feeling that the gp wasn't confident in his assessment.as he deferred to the specialist.but that may be normal procedure.i appreciate your insight.you cant see different perspective when your in the situation sometimes.i bet i read your post twenty times.we have to look at the big picture not just a snapshot.thanks jeff.

Wise decision, wave! He'll get over the emotional scars pretty fast. :cool: Kyrie stayed off his toe, and look how well that turned out for him! May your son have championships in his future, too!

A little update.well jr made the allstar team as a bench player/ first base coach.the coaches say he earned it.no games played yet.he was released from the doc two weeks ago. his thumb was healed and his flexibility is fine as well now.the team won sub-district.we start district on the 12th of july.we are going to let him practice this week and see how it goes.if he looks good he will get some spot duty.i truly believe he is fine.hopefully we can win district.so everything worked out.

Good to hear, thanks for the update. My son, who broke his thumb at about the same time, is just about back as well. He took infield for the first time this past week and is cleared to swing the bat as of today. We're in Rocky Mount playing in the Top Gun World Series next week.

Good luck to your son and his team!