Although we practice in Florida, we treat many winter sports injuries. This is because many Central Floridians travel to participate in snow sports such as alpine skiing, cross country skiing, or snowboarding. Some are injured, and they seek initial or follow-up treatment when they return home.
The most popular winter sports are alpine skiing, cross country skiing, and snowboarding. Each of these sports has specific types of injuries.
Alpine skiing, also called downhill skiing, is the most popular winter sport, with some 18 million participants in the USA and over 200 million worldwide. It involves descending a hill or mountain on skis in a type of “controlled sliding”. In alpine skiing, the ski is attached to a boot with bindings. Prior to the 1970’s, many lower extremity injuries were due to faulty binding design. Since the binding designs have improved, such injuries have decreased by over 50%. Now, most alpine ski injuries are sprains of knee or shoulder from falls. Tibial fractures also occur from falls. The head or neck are injured in 18% of injuries, but the use of helmets has decreased the severity of such injuries. Foot injuries include nail injuries such as ingrown nails, and bleeding under the nail, both usually from a tight ski boot. This tightness can also cause pain in the forefoot joints.
Cross-country, or Nordic, skiing is a completely different sport, with 5 million participants in the USA. It is usually done on flatter surfaces and is a very strenuous cardiovascular exercise. Cross country skis are considerably longer than alpine skis. They are attached to the boot only in the forefoot area. The heel lifts off of the ski and when it comes back down, propels the ski forward. Also, in contrast to alpine skiing in which the poles are used for balance and turning, the poles in cross country skiing are used to forcefully propel the body forward.
The most common cross country skiing injuries are sprains of the knee and thumb (from pole use). More overuse and cold injuries (hypothermia and frostbite) are seen in cross country skiing than in alpine skiing.
Snowboarding is yet another popular winter sport, with 9 million participants in the USA. This sport differs from both types of skiing in that no poles are used. The boarder balances on the snowboard and glides down the mountain, somewhat like surfing or skateboarding on snow. Snowboarding has less knee injuries than skiing, but more ankle and wrist injuries. Wrist injuries usually occur when the boarder falls backward and lands on the wrists. Shoulder and clavicle injuries are also common from falling. Interestingly, 8% of snowboarding injuries occur from loading or unloading on the ski lift.
Most winter sports injuries are treated conservatively. The exceptions to this would be certain types of fractures.
The doctors at Melbourne Podiatry Associates are themselves winter sports enthusiasts and have considerable experience and expertise in the treatment of winter sports injuries. Call us for your appointment.