Figure skating offers many opportunities to overuse the back muscles, spine and connective tissue or subject them to traumatic blows. Injury scenarios range from simple muscle strains and tears to vertebral fractures and spinal cord nerve involvement. Because untreated issues can worsen over time, it’s important for young athletes to seek diagnoses when back pain develops. The National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center at the University of Alabama includes figure skating among the winter sports in the top 10 sports-related causes of spinal cord injury, with the majority of such accidents occurring by age 15.
Muscle Strain
The lower back, or lumbar spinal area, exerts force and absorbs impact in figure skating moves that include spins, jumps, turns, flips, stroking and gliding. Muscle strain, a slight or partial tear in muscle tissue, can occur from habitual overuse, sudden overexertion or trauma. A research study published in the 2007 “Wisconsin Medical Journal” adds faulty equipment, such as rigid boots, to the underlying causes of lumbar muscle strain. Symptoms include sudden or gradually increasing lower back pain, swelling, and loss of strength or range of motion. Most cases heal with pain and inflammation control and rest from the sport, and doctors may order tests to rule out more serious injuries.
Bone Fracture
The most common bone injuries sustained in figure skating include stress fractures to the spine, particularly to the fifth lumbar vertebra. Pain may accompany these fractures, but it might not be significant enough to suggest a health problem. Both single and pairs skating can prompt vertebral fractures during load shifting and jump impacts performed with the back hyperextended. Isolated fractures are called spondylolysis. They can be identified with X-rays and treated nonsurgically, like muscle strains.
Vertebra Dislocation
Severe spondylolysis that displaces the vertebra, or dislocation that occurs from continuing to skate with a bone fracture, is termed spondylolisthesis. A wide crack in part of the vertebra causes it to tilt forward, throwing the spine out of alignment. Increasing back spasms and the inability to perform figure skating moves and normal daily activities may warrant surgical fusion of the vertebrae to restore mobility.
Nerve Impingement
Shifting of vertebrae from figure skating accidents can put pressure on the nerves of the spinal column. Doctors use magnetic resonance imaging and other tests to assess vertebrae location in relation to the spinal cord. Nerve pressure produces extreme back pain and tingling or numbness that may spread to other areas of the body.
References
- American Association of Neurological Surgeons: Sports-Related Neck Injury
- Wisconsin Medical Journal: Sport-Specific Injuries and Medial Problems of Figure Skaters
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Strains
- American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: Spondylolysis and Spondylolisthesis
- Stop Sports Injuries: Figure Skating Injury Prevention
