Jumping rope is known to improve cardiovascular fitness and even support height growth in children, but a Taiwanese obstetrician-gynecologist, Dr. Chiu Hsiao-Chen, recently encountered two primary school girls who were rushed to the hospital with severe abdominal pain. After visits to pediatrics and gastroenterology yielded no answers, gynecological examinations finally revealed the real cause: ovarian torsion, requiring emergency surgery. Doctors warned that if treatment is delayed, the ovary can become necrotic and may need to be removed to save the patient’s life.
Dr. Chiu explained that both girls visited her clinic in the same month and shared a similar routine—they jumped rope daily, up to 1,000 skips, on their teacher’s instructions to help them grow taller. The intense movement caused the blood vessels around the ovary to twist together, triggering sharp abdominal pain.
While jumping rope is generally healthy, Dr. Chiu noted that both girls happened to have dermoid cysts. Since the ovary is held in place by ligaments between the uterus and abdominal wall, vigorous exercise combined with the weight of the tumor caused the ovary to rotate in one direction, leading to torsion.
According to Huang Chien-Pei, secretary of the Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology, dermoid cysts are relatively common—affecting about 3 to 10 out of every 100 people—and are difficult to detect without screening. Once torsion occurs, the ovary becomes stuck, and patients experience intense, oxygen-deprivation pain similar to a heart attack. Early detection can save the ovary, but delayed treatment can result in ovarian death, making surgical removal necessary.
Huang emphasized that while exercise is beneficial, any sudden and severe abdominal pain after physical activity should not be ignored. If ovarian torsion occurs, urgent surgery is the only effective treatment.
