The Most Common Ski Injuries & How to Avoid Them This Skiing Season
Skiing is one of the most common and popular winter sports around the world. It’s a great way to stay fit and enjoy the winter months – as a family or by yourself – but the skiing fun can quickly be ruined if you don’t prepare and take the proper precautions.
Common Ski Injuries
The most common injuries in skiing affect the lower limb, with one third of injuries involving the knee. Most often these are leg fractures and sprains, such as anterior cruciate ligament injuries, medial collateral ligament injuries or meniscal (or cartilage) injuries.
While on the ski hill, always be sure to take frequent rest breaks, know your limits and skill level, monitor your energy levels, stay on the correct level ski hills, keep in touch with your fellow skiers and make sure you stay focused and concentrated.
Anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries
These occur when a skier lands badly and twists the knee; often the binding will not release. The person may feel a popping sensation and have difficulty weight bearing on that leg due to pain or instability with the feeling that your knee may give way. The ACL helps to keep your knee stable by preventing hyperextension, that is it prevents the top of the tibia from sliding forward on the bottom of the femur. About 50% of all ACL injuries occur with another knee injury, such as a meniscal tear or strain or a medial collateral ligament tear or strain.
Medial collateral ligament (MCL) injuries
MCL injuries are common (especially in beginner skiers) and are often associated with the snow plough position (also called the pizza stop). It can also be caused by a landing or fall.
Meniscal or cartilage type injuries
These types of injury can cause the knee to lock if a piece of cartilage gets torn and gets flipped into the joint (bucket handle tear). This prevents your knee from fully extending and straightening. Meniscal tears are treated with physiotherapy but some require arthroscopic surgery.
How to Identify If Your Knee is Injured
If you are suspecting a knee injury ask yourself the following questions; if the answer is yes to any of the questions you’ve likely strained or torn a ligament in your knee. Instability or an inability to bear weight on the leg could also indicate a potentially significant injury.
- Have you taken a fall?
- Did you hear a popping sound?
- Do you have significant pain?
- Is your knee swollen?
- Is it stiff?
- Do you have problems weight bearing on it?
How to Prevent Injury
Keeping your knees and lower extremities as strong as possible are key to reducing the risk of injuries. When the muscles are strong, the collateral and cruciate ligaments are second line of defense to the torsion and strain that the knees are put through when skiing.
When muscles are weak the ligaments are at a higher risk of strain and therefore an increased risk of injury. Knees are under a significant amount of stress during jumping, turning, stopping and falling. Increasing the strength of your hip, knee, ankle and core can significantly reduce your risk of injury. Whether you are a seasoned athlete or weekend warrior the following strength exercises can get your season started right and reduce your risk of injury for the entire season.
- Single leg squats and squats
- Walking lunges
- Walking lunges down a hill and lateral hops
- A stretching program to keep the back, hips, knees and ankles flexible