Characteristics of Upper Extremity Injuries Sustained by Falling During Snowboarding

Abstract

Two snowboarding stances as well as 2 falling directions had a significant influence on the frequency of the injured side in the upper extremity.

Injuries in elite and recreational snowboarders

“…Davidson et al 14 reported that the difference in the number of injuries for the leading and trailing legs was present for both knee and ankle injuries, but was only significant for knee injuries. For upper extremity injuries, there was no correlation between the affected side and the leading leg,14 or whether the rider has a regular or goofy stance,35 but rather the injured side was related to the direction of falling 19 35. There is currently no explanation in the literature as to why the leading leg appears to be much more vulnerable compared with the trailing leg.…”

“…In surveys that encompass all snowboarders, an average of 50% identified themselves as ‘novice’ or ‘beginner’, 37% as ‘intermediate’ and 13% as ‘advanced’ 2 4 5 16 25 29 35 46. The majority of participants in snowboarding are described as beginners who have had little to no professional instruction2 25 46; consequently, this group experiences a large share of the injuries 8 11 19 21 25 35 47.…”

“…The majority of participants in snowboarding are described as beginners who have had little to no professional instruction2 25 46; consequently, this group experiences a large share of the injuries 8 11 19 21 25 35 47. However, these skill-level designations are not only self-reported but are inherently vague, and thus reduce the reliability and validity when interpreting studies.…”

“…Overall, snowboarders are more likely to injure their ankle than Alpine skiers 35 56 57. Ankle injury incidence in elite snowboarders has been reported to be 7–11% of all injuries 9 27 49.…”

Development of methods to evaluate the performance of snowboard wrist protectors

“…The incidence and pattern of injury have been identified to differ between snowboarders by varying ability (Bladin et al 2004;Yamauchi et al 2010). Beginners with less than 5 days snowboarding experience are more prone to injury, due to the numerous falls involved in learning this new skill (Rønning et al, 2001;Langran and Selvaraj, 2004).…”