Ice Skating and Back Pain
With winter upon us, many people enjoy spending long hours at the ice rink. Whether you’re an amateur or a professional, ice skaters possess incredible skill, grace and bravery. While this chilly sport is beautiful, it has the potential to lead to a number of injuries, including chronic back pain. This is especially true for those not used to ice skating, as falls and using untested muscles can cause serious trauma to your back.
Common Back Injuries Associated With Ice Skating
Almost every active skater will experience lower back pain at some point in their career. Even if your skating is pure leisure, your back is vulnerable to injury from falls or muscle strain. As you hit the ice this winter, here are some skating-related back injuries to be aware of.
Backache or Lumbago
While you skate, your back experiences a lot of ongoing stress as you try to keep your balance. You’re also at high risk of a sudden fall or twisting your back from a failed skating move. Whether it happens suddenly or develops slowly, uncomfortable backaches are common among ice skaters.
Muscle Strain
Like all muscles in your body, sudden movements to your back muscles can lead to an injury called muscle strain. This type of injury is a partial or slight tear in muscle tissue, usually caused by trauma, sudden overexertion or overuse.
Bone Fracture
While a traumatic fall can lead to a bone fracture in your spine, stress fractures are far more common among ice skaters. These bone injuries usually cause pain but don’t always lead to a serious medical problem.
Vertebra Dislocation
Competitive skaters experience hard impacts throughout the spine from a harsh landing. This can lead to spondylolisthesis or vertebrae dislocations. Skaters with a slipped vertebrae experience severe back pain if they try to continuing skating without addressing the injury.
Herniated Disc
The rubbery disc that protects your spinal bones can slip, bulge or become ruptured due to the intensity of this sport. Skaters with this kind of injury can experience back pain, muscle weakness and leg pain.
Lumbar Disc Pain
Over time, back pain can be caused by the degeneration of the lumbar intervertebral discs. This wearing out leads to a condition called discogenic back pain, also known as lumbar disc pain.
How Ice Skaters Can Treat and Prevent Back Pain
Because of the nature of this sport, ice skating-related injuries are always lurking. Whether due to overuse or trauma, prevention is the best form of treatment. By educating yourself on the most common ice skating back injuries, you can take steps to prevent back pain.
Most back pain only lasts a few days or fades within a few weeks. However, any level of discomfort should be addressed by your doctor. Formal diagnosis and treatment will ensure you can continue enjoying this sport.
Contact Spine INA Today
If you’ve experienced an ice skating-related injury or if prolonged skating is starting to cause chronic back pain, it’s time to contact Spine INA. Our team of health care professionals can assess your condition and come up with a treatment plan that addresses your back pain. Our goal is to get you back to enjoying the activities you love as quickly as possible.
Contact us today to schedule your appointment.
