Back to School - Cheerleading Injuries and Your Child's Back

Photo: Doug Benc Getty Images

Pyramids, back flips and basket tosses - cheerleading moves have become increasingly risky in the last 25 years. Whether or not cheerleading is done competitively, it can be very physically demanding, requiring a strong core and an escalated level of teamwork. And cheerleading injuries are on the rise. According to ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­a press release issued by the National Cheer Foundation, they now account for about 2/3 of all catastrophic injuries to high school and college female athletes. This may be explained in part by the fact that the number of cheerleaders is on the rise, too. Still you probably don't want (your child) to be the one who sustains a dislocation of a vertebra in the neck, or a fractured vertebra or skull. These types of injuries sometimes result in permanent disability or worse, death.

According to The Physican and Sports Medicine, in the 1990s back injuries made up 12% of all cheerleading injuries. Overall, gymnastic type moves resulted in the highest number, but injuries during partner stunts were the most severe.

The repeated hyperextension of the spine can result in an overuse injury called spondylolysis.

With all the risk, how do you know your child's training is safe?

Safety Guidelines for Coaches, Program Administrators and Parents
The American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators (AACCA) has published safety guidelines for high school cheerleading programs on their website for the 2008-09 season. The information is stunt specific and also includes general guidelines for practice and coaching. Last year's college safety guidelines are also available on their site.

Academics and the industry are still deciding if cheerleading is a sport. According to press materials, Dr. Fred Mueller, professor of Exercise and Sport Science at University of North Carolina and Founder and Director of the Catastrophic Sports Injury Research Center says cheerleading should be considered a sport and as such should have qualified coaches, safe facilities, pre-participation physical exams, sports medicine care, and safe travel. Cheerleading will then receive the recognition it deserves, and injury prevention will play an important role".

The Parent's Guide to Safety, also published by the AACCA, will give you 5 questions to ask the coach or administrator of the program you are considering. While you are at it, here is a link to a the National Cheer Foundation's Rehersed Catastrophic Emergency Plan. And you can never be too prepared - learn what to do for a suspected neck injury.

Conditioning for Cheerleading
According to Valerie Ninemire, About.com's Guide to Cheerleading, it takes strength, stamina, balance and flexibility to be a cheerleader. She says,

"You need really strong legs, abdominals, shoulders, arms and wrists. Flyers need to learn to stay very tight in a stunt and they also need to learn not lean or put too much weight on their bases. A lot of squads will have their fliers take a pose on the ground and hold it as long as they can. When she's good at that, they might ask her to do the same thing with her eyes closed.

Most squads do the following exercises for strength building: crunches, V sit-ups, squats, lunges, and pushups. They also do a lot repetitive jumping and sometimes add ankle and/or wrist weights."

Below are links to instructions for a few of them:

• Toe Touches
• Toe Touch Drills

_Sources:
Reports Mark R. Hutchinson, MD. Cheerleading Injuries: Patterns, Prevention, Case. THE PHYSICIAN AND SPORTSMEDICINE - VOL 25 - NO. 9 - SEPTEMBER 97
Mueller, F., PhD., Cantu, R. MD, Twenty-Fifth Annual Report. Fall 1982-Spring 2007. National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research
The American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators website. Accessed Aug. 2008.
Press release. National Cheer Safety Foundation Discover 30 Unreported Catastrophic Injuries to Cheerleaders Since 1982. August 08, 2008.
Email Interview. Valerie Ninemire, About.com Guide to Cheerleading. Aug 2008.