Common Snowboarding Injuries & Prevention

Severe head and spinal injuries have occurred when snowboarders have lost control of their board at high speed. It is important to note that a fracture of the lateral process of the talus (LPT) can masquerade as an ankle sprain and is frequently undetected on plain x - rays. This is due to the feet being strapped into the board and both feet pointing in the same direction, which localizes knee movement and prevents twisting. Ankle injuries are very common such as sprained and fractured ankles, also known as snowboarder’s ankle. Snowboarding injuries occur mostly in the upper extremities of the body and the ankle, the most common being sprains followed by fractures and contusions. Contusions are common on the head, face, chest, abdomen and pelvis, lacerations on the head and face and dislocations in the upper extremities. This leads to sprained wrists, wrist fractures, elbow, shoulder and head injuries.

It is better to rather have body bruises than a fractured wrist! Lower body injuries are rare and occur mostly in the ankle and knee area. Misdiagnosis of this fracture may lead to severe degeneration of the joint, disability and pain. Aerial maneuvers also present more abdominal, chest, spine and head injuries.

With a forward fall, snowboarders will protect themselves by stretching their arms outwards to stop themselves from falling. If a snowboarder falls backwards mild head as well as coccygeal injuries can occur such as bruising to the tailbone. Upper body injuries are common as snowboarders usually fall forwards or backwards.

However, as the level of snowboarding expertise increases so does the risk of knee injury due to the frequency of aerial maneuvers and the use of hard boots. When they fall snowboarders are advised to try and keep their arms tucked in and to roll with the fall therefore distributing the impact of the fall over a larger portion of their body.

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· Filed Under Safety