Gymnast's Wrist

Gymnastics is a unique sport in that it requires weight-bearing on the hands. Because of that, injuries to the upper extremity is very common especially in elbow and wrist. Even though the most of the injuries are chronic in nature, acute injuries are also common such as ankle sprain. They start the sport really early and training can be extensive and long, which causes overuse.

Gymnast's wrist is an injury to the growth plate in the wrist. Radius is the main weight-bearing bone at the wrist and prone to injury from repetitive stress placed on it from tumbling and other weight bearing activities. Salter-Harris classification is often used to classify the severity of the injury with I being the least severe and V being the most serious. Athletes with this injury may complain of pain, swelling, loss of range of motion/strength, inability to weight-bear, etc. This condition should be treated with eliminating stress to the wrist, activity modification, rest, ice, NSAIDs, and sometimes physical therapy. She may return to sport when x-ray is normal and she is symptom-free. 

X-ray film of gymnast's wrist