Young Gymnasts’ Acrobatic Antics Raise Risk of Arthritis

A new study has warned young gymnasts that their stressful pursuit of perfection in those impossibly difficult handsprings, somersaults and headstands, could actually put them at increased risk of arthritis and injuries.

Scientists claimed that adolescent gymnasts are developing many types of arm, wrist and hand injuries that are beyond the scope of previously described gymnastic-related trauma.

"The broad constellation of recent injuries is unusual and might point to something new going on in gymnastics training that is affecting young athletes in different ways," said the study's lead author, Jerry Dwek, M.D., an assistant clinical professor of radiology at the University of California, San Diego and a partner of San Diego Imaging at Rady Children's Hospital and Health Center.

In earlier studies, scientists found a large number of injuries to the growing portion of adolescent gymnasts' bones.

But, the current study has shed light on some injuries to the bones in the wrists and knuckles that have not been previously described. Besides, scientists also found that these gymnasts had necrosis, or "early death," of the bones of their knuckles.

"These young athletes are putting an enormous amount of stress on their joints and possibly ruining them for the future," said Dwek.

The radius is the bone in the forearm that takes the most stress during gymnastics. Due to damage to the radial growth plates, the bone does not grow in proportion to the rest of the skeleton and may be deformed.