Perhaps surprisingly, it often isn’t the high speed falls that cause a lot of skiing and snowboarding injuries. During a fall at slow speed, the ski may not release causing torque and damage at the knee, frequently either tearing or rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament or fracturing the tibia (shin bone).
One of the worst derangements that can happen at the knee is called the O'Donaghues triad which involves damage to the anterior cruciate ligament, the medial collateral ligament and the medial meniscus.
Snowboarders are more likely than skiers to suffer upper limb injuries, but stopping a fall with your hand will often tear or rupture the ulnar collateral ligament of the thumb. Skiers can reduce the risk of damaging this ligament by not using the straps on their poles.
Statistically you are most likely to get injured in the first few metres of skiing off the chair lift.
Many of the Physiobench team join the rush to the slopes in the winter, with Karen Hellawell, Alison Whiteley and Jane Hodgson all enjoying their downhill skiing. Jane also does some cross country and telemark skiing.
Every injury is unique, so to help you self manage your skiing injury, we encourage you to first explore our injury advice and read our articles
To greatly improve your chance in succeeding the self management of your injury, our expert team of Chartered Physiotherapists can help. You can choose a physio, with the specialist skills to provide you with a personalised treatment programme
Skiers thumb, also known as sprained thumb, describes a thumb injury which is caused when the thumb is forced backwards resulting in pain at the base of the thumb and in the more severe cases making the thumb unstable.
Skiers thumb, also known as sprained thumb, describes a thumb injury which is caused when the thumb is forced backwards resulting in pain at the base of the thumb and in the more severe cases making the thumb unstable.
An exercise disc balance cushion, which is also sometimes known as a stability disc or wobble cushion, is used to improve balance, strengthen core stability and help children who have special educational needs.
At 6 injuries per 100,000 of the population meniscal injuries are one of the most common knee injuries, even more so in skiing and sports involving cutting, pivoting and twisting.
It is one of the main stabilising ligaments of the knee and injury to the anterior cruciate ligament will lead to feelings of instability in the knee. Symptoms can be helped with strengthening and exercises
Rotator cuff is the collective name for the four muscles that attach the scapula (shoulder blade) to the humerus (upper arm bone). As a whole the rotator cuff stabilises the shoulder joint and facilitates its movement.
It is common to help heal an injury with ice. Deciding whether you should apply ice rather than heat, and for how long can make the difference between helping to heal your injury and making it worse.
On average, an adult skier sustains 1 injury for every 300 days skiing, but taking a few some simple precautions will drastically reduce your risk.
Jane Hodgson
Jane specialises in lower body injuries and has raced competitively in running, orienteering and adventure racing.