By Miles Dyer – Physiotherapist
For those of us who are avid snow-goers, we’ve probably heard someone say something along the lines of, “If you haven’t injured yourself at the snow, you probably haven’t been doing it for long enough.” Unfortunately, there is an element of truth to this, it’s all too common to be cruising down the slopes and seeing someone clutching at their knee or shoulder, a friend tightening their knee braces, or the medics whizzing past with a human-sized burrito delivery to the emergency room. We may have even been in that position ourselves. Most of us are happy to accept this as the laws of the hill and take the risk on one powdery descent at a time. However, if we knew just how frequent these injuries really are, we might take the time and effort to reduce our risk.
A paper which reviewed all published literature from 1985 to 2018 on alpine sports injuries found:
- “The MCL or ACL is described as the most commonly injured ligament, accounting for 10% to 33% of all skiing-related injuries.”
Another study which observed all skiing-related injuries presented to a hospital in a 5-year period found:
- “… of all skiing injuries, 25% were knee ligament damage.”
For those (like me) who are more drawn to the board than the skis, the same study found:
- “Distal radius/ulna fractures and clavicle fractures combined accounted for 1%, followed by ankle sprains which accounted 10.6% of all injuries”.
If you’ve felt weaker, unstable, or sore lately, then these stats may concern you. We all know days on the slope are long and that injuries happen when fatigue sets in, when that annoyed knee or ankle has had enough. Don’t let this be the case for you! Here at Higher Function Physio & Pilates, our physiotherapists are just as snow crazed as you and we want to keep you ski for longer days through the season without injury. Building stronger, more stable legs, core, and upper body is the best way prepare your body to handle the forces of skiing or snowboarding and to reduce those high-velocity falls.
Over the next 10 weeks, we are excited to offer a Snow Fit class focussed on getting you ready to handle all that Kosciuszko can throw at you. This is a guided class aimed at improving your strength, power, balance, and endurance – specifically for snow sports and reducing your risk of snow sports-related injuries.
Don’t let the slopes conquer you this season, book into our Snow Fit Program now!
Book your Snow Fit Assessment here, call 6262 9664 or email [email protected]
Read more about our Snow Fit Classes here
References
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10464917/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6299353/
