Outdoor winter activities can be fun and glorious, but they can also be very dangerous, depending on the circumstances. To protect your health, exercise caution when engaging in sports like skiing, sledding, skating, or hockey. If you have pre-existing medical conditions, or if you’re not in good shape, consider forgoing these sports or doing them gingerly or under supervision. Let’s take a brief tour of common winter sports dangers and how to sidestep a trip to a sports injury specialist.
Skiing is awesome fun, particularly for Northern Californians blessed with righteous nearby peaks. But the sport is risky. Protruding rocks buried just under snow can cause awful tumbles. And those who venture outside of resort trail boundaries can get lost or stranded in bad weather or fall victim to surprise avalanches.
Snowmobiling is likewise a romantic sport. But when you snowmobile, you risk getting stranded out in the cold with few supplies. Frostbite, hypothermia, or worse could follow.
Ice skating is delightful and aesthetically appealing. But even experienced skaters can break bones and twist ankles.
Even simple winter activities, such as sledding, snowshoeing, or even tumbling down a snowy hill, can lead to orthopedic surgery for the underprepared or out of shape. Each year, thousands of Americans suffer heart attacks, sprained backs, or nasty slips doing winter maintenance and sports.
If you or someone you love recently got injured outside, you may need to seek the advice of a sports medicine doctor. At IASM, we treat a variety of injuries and conditions that arise from winter-related activities. Please contact us at at 415-923-0944 to schedule a consultation about how to recover from your accident.
