As a girl who was a competitive gymnast for nearly 13 years of her life, there are sure to be lasting impacts of the strenuous sport. Most of those things have been really positive, including things like time management skills, teamwork, individuality, and hard work. Some of the effects are surprising, like the fact that I can still do a backflip five years after I decided to hang up my grips for the last time. But there is one thing that really sucks and causes problems every day, and that is chronic pain.
Most gymnasts walk away from the sport with major joint and back pain. For me in particular, my back gives me the most problems — I built up a large knot under my shoulder blade several years ago that I haven't been able to get rid of. Often times, you can catch me twisting in my chair in an attempt to crack my back. Sometimes it'll pop if I just breathe deep enough.
Unfortunately, though, that's not the limit of my pain.
Almost all of my joints ache daily, and I have to take the time and often ask for help to relieve the dull, or sometimes sharp, pains I feel throughout the day. The worst has to be when my hip locks and I am unable to stand or walk properly without significant pain. And this is only my story.
Most of the people I know who suffer from chronic pain are gymnasts or long-time athletes. While injuries are to be expected when playing sports, chronic pain usually hits after the fact and most people don't realize that. Chronic pain is also something that can't just get fixed in one day. I can't tell you how many times I have heard, "Take some Advil," "You should get a massage," or "a chiropractor would probably be a good thing." I used to take painkillers so often for my pain that they won't even touch a headache now.
The moral of this story is that if I (or anyone who deals with this) express that I am physically in pain, don't scoff and roll your eyes.
There are ways you could help. I often ask other people to crack my back or help me get some Icy Hot on my shoulder. It could be something as simple as offering to carry their bag or even offering to stop and take a break on the move. Just please don't tell us to stop complaining, we are just trying to express what we are feeling.
