Skitching Potentially The Most Dangerous Says Orthopaedic Surgeon
Newswise — MELROSE PARK, Ill. – Winter officially ends on Saturday, March 19, but many states will experience a month or more of continued snow and ice. Broken bones due to snowboarding and sledding top the list of common causes for visits to the Emergency Department (ED) during the winter months. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) one quarter of all ED visits are attributed to snowboarding accidents, and half of all cases were broken bones and sprains.
“Chicagoans embrace winter with gusto largely because of the great love for hockey, sledding and ice skating,” said Gottlieb Memorial Hospital orthopaedic surgeon Daryl O’Connor, who formerly cared for U.S. Olympic ski and winter sports athletes in Salt Lake City, Utah. Dr. O’Connor is board certified in orthopaedic surgery and now specializes in sports medicine in the Orthopaedic Department at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, part of Loyola University Health System.
Here are Dr. O’Connor’s top five injury-producing winter sports:
1 – Sledding – “More than 700,000 injuries are reported each year in the United States due to sledding. More than 30 percent are head injuries, caused by collisions.”
2 – Hockey – “Lacerations, as well as neck, shoulder and knee injuries are common in hockey. Many injuries are caused through contact with another player, the ice, a puck or actual skate blade.”
3 – Ice Skating – “Injuries to the wrist as well as head and neck are most common and most injuries are caused by falls.”
4 – Snowboarding – “Wrist and elbow injuries are caused by falls on outstretched hands.”
5 – Skiing – “Knees really take a pounding and injury is often caused by extreme twisting force propelled by the skis.”
Snitching on Skitching
“This is not even a sport; it’s just being foolish,” said Dr. O’Connor of the practice of grabbing hold of a car’s rear bumper and sliding on the soles of the shoes , or by being pulled by ropes on innertubes or sleds through icy streets. ‘In addition to broken bones, neck and shoulder injuries, young people can suffer fatal head trauma. Please, resist the skitch at all costs.”
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