Skiing

Here at Peak Integrated Health Skiing has always been an important part of our lives. Many of our staff have always loved the sport and we want to share what we have Learned.

Skiing health

We have all felt the burn after a top to bottom run, but lets lets look at the physical exertion skiing puts on our bodies.

• A 155 pound individual burns 223 calories/half hour of skiing

• A 185 pound individual burns 266 calories/half hour of skiing

These value are averages and will vary based on the level of skiing and terrain

Skiing incorporates aerobic and anaerobic fitness. This means that in addition to burning calories and building endurance it will also help build strength, flexibility, balance and agility.

Although most of the time skiing we are quite bundled up it is nice to get some natural vitamin D. To get vitamin D naturally you need the sun. Since this isn’t always possible in the winter due to cold weather and shorter days supplementing your vitamin D is a good idea.

Common Skiing Injuries

The three most common minor injuries in skiing are:

• knee injuries

• thumb injury

• Shin injury

Knee injury

the most common Knee injury is damage to the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). This ligament plays a crucial role in the stability of the knee.

Prevention

• Make sure you have the right gear and it is set up for you. DIN settings on your binding are extremely important when it comes to knee injuries, as it will let your boot release from the ski in situation where your knee could be twisted by the long lever of the ski.

• Second, the two big muscle groups in your thigh, your hamstrings and quadricepts must work together while skiing. Differences in strength between these muscle groups or lack of strength in these muscle groups reduce stability in the knee and increases your chance of injury.

• Third, the motion pattern of the knee should resemble a relatively straight line while bending. If, while absorbing bumps or landing from jumps your knees bend inward towards each other this is called valgus loading and will increase your risk of knee injury. If you notice this come see us and we can provide exercise to counteract this tendency.

Chiropractic Care

• Chiropractic care can help ensure Quadricept/Hamstring range of motion, motor patterns and strength are optimal for knee stability. Come see us for an assessment and reduce your chance of suffering a knee injury

Thumb injury

Skiers thumb is an injury to the ulnar collateral ligament of the thumb. This typically happens when falling on an outstretched hand with your pole underneath that hand. Your thumb is forced into a hyper extension and abduction motion creating an injury in the surrounding ligaments.

Prevention

• Other than skiing within your ability to avoid falls your best preventative option is to make sure your pole can easily fall away from your hand in the case of a fall. You can do this by adjusting the length and the grip of the hand loops on your poles.

Chiropractic Care

• Proper splinting protocols and rehab exercises can help to protect and heal injuries as efficiently as possible. If you have an injury let us help you get back to what you love as soon as possible.

Shin injury

There is a large range of injuries to the shin starting from the less severe bruise caused by the front of the boot, to a stress fracture in the tibia (the large bone of your lower leg), and all the way up to a boot top fracture.

Mild - bruising to the shin may occur because of misfitting boots, boots that are to stiff, or skiing aggressive terrain. Pain of a bruise should start to go away in approximately 3-4 days completely healing in less than 2 weeks.

Moderate - Shin splints or anterior tibialis strain. Shin splints can be a form of stress fracture. A stress fracture is generally caused by repetitive strain. You must rest stress fractures. They will continue to get worse and can lead to reduced bone strength, and therefore complete fracture if continually stressed. Anterior tibialis strain can be confused with a stress fracture as the muscle lies near the tibia. Straining this muscle may feel similar to a stress fracture and will be painful when you resist the motion of bringing your toes to your shin.

Severe - Boot top fracture is a fracture at the top of the boot. The stiff boot supports the ankle, but acts as a lever point near the mid shin. in a high force impact those forces will be concentrated to the point above the boot and can result in a fracture. This will generally require casting and will take a minimum of 6 weeks depending on the severity of the injury.

Prevention

• make sure you have boots that are right fit for you. Both the fit and the stiffness will effect how you feel in the boot. A loose fitting boot may be more likely to cause a bruise or shin splints as you have room to gain momentum before contacting the front of the boot.

• Ski within your ability, as rough terrain and landing from jumps will put more pressure on your shins.

• Avoid skiing with your weight to bar back, as it will place more pressure on your shins.

Chiropractic care

• When dealing with mild and moderate shin injuries it can be difficult to determine the best course of action. A chiropractor will be able to help you determine the cause of the discomfort and make suggestions at how to move forward. bruising and stress fracture will require rest whereas an anterior tibialis strain may benefit from therapy applied to the muscles.

Muscles involved

Numerous muscles are involved in skiing and this will outline some of the major muscle groups and how they are working to help you ski down the hill.

This portion is meant to show the complexity of the human body and how many muscles have to work together to accomplish a task like skiing. It is important to note that our bodies are very task oriented and can find ways to compensate for deficiencies to accomplish the task at hand. This is why we must try to watch for these compensatory actions. If we do not address the deficiency we are essentially practicing the compensatory movement that may make us more likely to experience an injury.

Chiropractic care can help release joint restrictions and muscle tension to reduce the chance of developing compensatory actions. If you are experiencing pain or discomfort, or feel unbalanced side to side. Come see us for an assessment to ensure that your bodies joints and muscles are working correctly together

Core

Having a strong core is crucial to maintain upright posture while skiing. Your core muscles work as a unit to stabilize your spine and pelvis while you are skiing.

• transverse abdominus

• multifidus

• internal and external obliuques

• rectus abdominus

Hip

Gluteus muscle group - Help to provide stability to the hip and maintain upright posture wile weighting different legs. This is crucial in order to stay upright and to turn your skies.

• Gluteus maximus

• Gluteus medius

• Gluteus minimuus

• Piriformis

• Tensor Facia Lata

Thigh

Quadriceps - Will work with the hamstrings to provide stability of the knee as well work to help you extend your leg when coming out of a squat position or popping off a jump.

• Rectus femoris

• vastus medialis

• vastus lateralis

• vastus intermedius

Hamstrings - Will work with the quadriceps to maintain stability of the knee. Hamstrings are extremely important in regards to protecting your ACL. Hamstrings will also help bend your knees.

• Bicept femoris

• semitendinosus

• semimembranosus

• hamstring portion of abductor magnus

Adductor group - Adductor musculature is responsible for keeping your legs together.

• Adductor magnus

• Adductor longus

• Adductor brevis

• Pectineus

Lower Leg

Various muscles in the lower leg act to flex, extend, evert and invert the foot and ankle. Some muscles will also assist in bending of the knee. The lower leg is generally split into 3 compartments anterior posterior, and lateral.

Anterior group - The anterior muscle group is primarily responsible for dorsiflexion of the ankle (toe to shin movement), but it also plays a role in inversion of the ankle (going up on the outside edge of the foot). This helps you keep forward while skiing and use the edges of your ski.

• tibialis anterior

• various extensors of the toes

Posterior group - The posterior group is primarily responsible for plantar flexion (toe away from shin movement). the calf muscles can also help bend the knees. This can help to correct if your weight is too far forward.

• gastrocnemius (calf muscle)

• Soleus

• Popliteus

• tibialis posterior

• various flexors of the toes

Lateral group - The primary responsibility of the lateral group is to evert the foot (go up on the inside edge of the foot). This will help you use the edges of the ski.

• Fiubularis longus

• Fibularis Brevis

Foot

I will not go into detail in the involved muscles of the foot, but they do help the lower leg accomplish the intended movements as well as provide stability to the foot and ankle.