Skiing is a high-risk sport that, while exhilarating and fun, can result in serious bodily injuries. Among the most common are shoulder injuries, usually resulting from a fall or collision. While you can never totally prevent shoulder injuries, gaining an understanding of how they occur and identifying steps you can take to reduce their likelihood are good preventive medicine.
Causes
A study published in the "American Journal of Sports Medicine" names falling as the most common cause of skiing-related shoulder injuries. Study results showed falling as the cause of 93.9 percent of shoulder injuries, followed by collisions with other skiers or trees and a skiing maneuver called pole planting. Dr. Mike Langran, ski patrol doctor at CairnGorm Mountain in the Scottish Highlands, describes three ways falling can cause a shoulder injury. The first is by falling directly onto your shoulder. The second occurs when you stretch out your hand to break the fall and the force of the fall travels from your hand to your shoulder. The third occurs when you stretch out your hand to break a fall and the force of the fall causes your body to twist, sending the force of the fall as well as a twist from your hand to your shoulder.
Types
Dr. Langran lists shoulder dislocations, clavicle and humeral fractures, joint sprains and rotator cuff injuries as the most common skiing-related shoulder injuries. The likelihood of their occurrence and the severity of the injuries depend on how they occur. For example, a shoulder dislocation usually occurs as the result of a twisting fall that wrenches the shoulder out of its joint. A clavicle fracture occurs most often when your hand breaks the fall but your arm remains straight, sending the full force of the fall to the shoulder. Humeral fractures and joint sprains are usually direct-impact shoulder injuries, and a rotator cuff injury can occur from any sudden wrenching of the shoulder.
Prevention
There are preventive measures you can take while on the slopes to reduce your risk of sustaining a shoulder injury when skiing. First, take at least a few skiing lessons from a professional. Skiing lessons can help you develop proper techniques and teach you the correct way to fall to avoid injuring your shoulder. Stop skiing when you start feeling fatigued. Reaction times slow considerably when you are tired, contributing to the likelihood of both falling and becoming injured because of the fall.
Conditioning
Start a complete exercise program that will condition and strengthen your body and prevent the likelihood of skiing-related injuries. Aerobic workouts, such as biking and step exercises, help to increase cardiovascular fitness, improve blood oxygen levels and prevent fatigue. Strength training exercises such as squats and leg presses help increase the muscle strength you must have to maintain correct posture and form. Flexibility exercises include stretching exercises that target muscles in the arms, shoulders, back, buttocks and legs. These exercises work to increase the ability of your muscles to rotate and flex without causing injury.
