Skating is an excellent way to train your body and stamina among other health benefits. Even with its associated risks, skating in its various forms has been a popular recreation method among children and adults. It is also gaining acceptance as a means of transport when covering short distances.
The activity itself is thrilling and a good body exercise; it is a fun sport involving speed movements on smooth, hard surfaces. The ability to attain speeds of up to 40mph and perform different tricks have made the sport a thrilling one. However, several risks come with this activity; the risk of injury is very high. This is because the sport is associated with the potential for collisions and falls.
Skating requires you to acquaint yourself with balancing on skates, be it ice skates or roller skates. To maintain speed while moving, you need to learn how to coordinate steadily between hands, knees, feet, and the different parts of your body that are involved. If you are not conversant with playing the sport appropriately, no matter how hard you try, you are at risk of suffering serious injuries.
This article discusses details regarding the perils of skating, both on skateboards as well as on roller skates, and methods that one can use to mitigate the risks.
How Dangerous Is Roller Skating?
While practicing this sport, on top of other issues, injury is a big problem that almost everyone has to endure. One can suffer fractures in many body parts, but typically in the hands and legs. The three basic types are soft tissue injury, joint injury, and bone injury.
- Soft Tissue Injury
Direct contact and excessive stretching or twisting can cause tendon-muscle -ligament injuries with different degrees. The usual manifestation of soft tissue injury is swelling, pain while in a normal posture. The site of lesion determines the degree of swelling.
A second common way in which soft tissue injury manifests itself is through exercise restriction. The injuries usually have an effect on the performance of daily activities, with some serious injuries forcing players to limit movements or even become unable to partake in other activities.
- Joint Injury
This entails a condition in which a loss of correlation occurs. Simply put, joints get dislocated hence moved out of the normal position. This could be a result of a strong impact force breaking, tearing the ligament around the joint. There could be swelling of different degrees around the joints. To check the damage levels, an x-ray examination should be carried out.
- Bone Injury
This very serious issue poses a risk of putting you in jeopardy because it entails losing bone structure caused by a strong force. After a bone injury, the fractured area of the bone length becomes shorter than the absolute length.
Secondly, your broken bone may no longer be able to move. Depending on the extent of the illness, it is advisable to consult a doctor to recommend appropriate surgery. Various kinds of injuries have different recovery times. It is essential to limit exercise and practice caution to protect your body.
How to Prevent Roller Skate Related Injuries?
No matter the sport, it is possible to prevent 75% of injuries. The most efficient way to protect yourself from damage is to heat adequately before playing. As well, it is essential to be fully equipped with technique, endurance, and stamina.
- Warm-Up
Warming up before training or entering a competition is essential in both preventing injuries as well as improving performance. This is because it helps one raise muscle temperatures and makes muscles work well. In addition, warming up is good for blood circulation, and oxygen to muscles enhances the speed of nerve conduction and helps the body to work faster. Furthermore, perfect heating reduces the risks of tearing ligaments and muscle tendons.
Warming up entails these steps: slow jogging, relaxation, stretching, and little movements. Warm-ups should last for 15-30 minutes. Keep in mind that the benefits of warm-up deplete after 30 minutes. Therefore, it is not advisable to start warming up too early.
- Cool Properly
Most people overlook this stage, although it is essential in preventing injuries. Regular massage helps the muscles remove toxic waste and relaxes muscle fibers in cramped areas. Furthermore, it helps identify areas where muscles have problems that need to be handled well before complete damage.
- Appropriate Specialized Equipment
You are more prone to injuries if you do not have the correct skating gear. For example, the appropriate shoe should have a hard sole, the shoe front has to be flexible, and the inside must be sufficiently wide.
- Proper Diet
Feeding well and getting enough nutrients is an essential element. Without enough nutrition, you will take more time to recover from health after sporting activities and related injuries. A proper diet should comprise of starches that help fuel muscles, proteins that aid in tissue regeneration, vitamins, and micronutrients that support the cellular muscle activities.
Drinking water is also a key element. Failure to drink water means decreased blood flow to your muscles and raises your chances of getting injured.
- Improve Fitness
Having good physical strength, muscle strength, flexibility, and endurance reduce the risks of getting injured. Exercising helps to build endurance.
- Sufficient Recovery Time
One needs to dedicate a good amount of time to recover. If there is no rest time for body recovery, one is more vulnerable to injury. Enough rest and sufficient sleep help the body regenerate health and muscles.
In summary, with focus and regularly applying the above-discussed point, you will be able to minimize injuries as well as improving your sporting performance.
When Should You Stop to Train?
If the level of frequency of training and exercise gets beyond the body capacity, then that is termed as overtraining. Maintaining this condition for a long time poses a risk of getting your body injured. To prevent injury, keep an eye on the following three signs, which shows you that your body requires some rest.
- If you Always Feel Pain
A little soreness in the muscles is a normal phenomenon when exercising, especially if you are new to the activity or when switching exercising activities. However, if you have exercised regularly for a while, then the pain should not be felt. Depending on the muscle group, it takes varying periods for muscles to recover between exercises, and if your pain persists, this could be a sign of overtraining.
- Always Hard to Move
If it gets to a point where bending over is strenuous, then it could be time to think about taking some rest. If this happens, you should induce recovery by doing stretching exercises or using rollers to maintain body flexibility and avoid injuries.
- Constantly Tired or Moody
Whenever you start to feel sad, bored, and fatigued, these could be signs that you have exercised too much, and your body deserves some rest.
How Dangerous Is Skateboarding?
Similar to any other sport, skateboarding comes with a number of risks. There are injuries associated with skateboarding, and they range from moderate to severe. Below are the common skateboarding injuries:
- Ankle Sprains and Fractures
This normally is a result of the weight and pressure exerted on the ankles during skating activity. These injuries could result in damage to the peroneal and tibialis anterior muscles.
- ACL Tears
The anterior cruciate ligament cuts through the middle of the knee and is responsible for rotational stability. T traumatic injury such as those related to skating pose a risk of tearing the ACL or surrounding menisci.
- Head Injuries
Head injuries often result from loss of balance or control. Skating surfaces are very hard, dangerous, and lack cushion against impacts. These injuries may include concussions or other serious injuries to the brain.
- Hand and Wrist Injuries
The instinctive reaction to a fall for everyone is to put hands out as a shield. This is a good practice because it protects the head and face. However, the force of the impact could easily result in serious injuries to the hand or wrist.
- Lacerations
Sharp blades, high speeds, sudden un-precise movements, and hard surfaces expose skaters to risks of lacerations of varying severity levels.
Skateboarding Guidelines and Safety Tips
Before you set out skateboarding, ensure you observe the basics to avoid doing anything regrettable. Comfort is key, and your skateboard should feel like an extension to your body. This article highlights some of the guidelines as well as tips to keep you safe while having fun skating.
- It is important to keep in mind the below basic skating guidelines:
- Be considerate of others.
- Stay at your level and avoid trying stuff when you are not ready. Avoid peer pressure as it often goes wrong.
- To avoid collisions, avoid blindly doing tricks; make sure it is your turn.
- Maintain your body shape; the more you weigh, the harder you fall.
- Avoid skating with earphones on.
- Remove everything from your pockets, including your keys.
Skateboarding Safety Tips
To avoid turning skateboarding fun into a regrettable experience, ensure you adhere to the below tips:
Wear Protective Gear
Truth be told, it takes time to familiarize yourself with wearing protective gear, but once you make it a regular, you will feel comfortable. Depending on your skill level, you will need to have protective gear, which includes a helmet, wrist guards, kneepads, and elbow pads.
- Helmet
Head injuries are what everyone dreads to have. They usually result in severe traumas and are often caused by traffic incidents. Having a helmet on guarantees your safety. Use your brain and wear a helmet before you cause serious damages to it. It is advisable to get a helmet that is specifically designed for skateboarding. Once your helmet starts to deform, replace it.
- Wrist Guards
Wrist guards are meant to protect your wrist from breaking, nasty scratches, or bruises. They come in handy whenever you roll and aren’t able to roll. They absorb a bigger chunk of the impact.
- Elbow Pads
A swollen elbow is usually very painful. The good thing is that this is preventable. Wearing an elbow pad reduces your chances of fracturing your elbow.
- Knee Pads
Knee pads are essential in absorbing shocks as well as assisting in developing falling techniques. You can develop this by falling on your knee pads and slide. Although knee pads could make a skater feel limited in movement, it is important to have them on.
There are knee pads provide more comfort, but one has to get used to them. Alternatively, you can consider soft knee pads and wear them under your pants. If you suffered scrapes during a previous ride, you will have to wait for healing before putting on knee pads.
Wear Proper Clothing
While skating, you should consider clothes that do not limit your movement and provide comfort. Avoid skating in skinny jeans. Your pants should be sturdy to offer protection in case of a fall. Clothing made of breathable materials offers more comfort.
- Skateboarding Socks
After a long riding session, your feet may feel snarly. Therefore, you need proper socks that can breathe. Avoid cotton socks that get soggy and cause inconveniences, such as blisters. Good socks will also prevent blisters and bad smells. It is advisable to wear socks with extra toe and heel support.
- Proper Shoes
You will need proper shoes that can take away the impact hence preventing heel injury; heel injury is unpleasant and takes longer to heal. Shoes with thin soles are not the best. You will need to establish a correct balance between shoes that can absorb impact and the sense of control. Tight shoes block blood vessels and make your toes numb.
Wearing lose shoes poses a risk of spraining your ankles. Remember, there are shoes out there that offer ankle protection. High top shoes are essential whenever you want to bail, and your board haunts your ankles.
Inspect your equipment before going for a ride.
It is easy to overlook the risks posed by the condition of your equipment. Simple things like worn-out shoes, old decks with sharp edges, or pads that do not fit properly pose a significant risk. Ensure you inspect your equipment properly before you set out to have fun; it takes only a few minutes to do so.
- Check if your board has sharp and jagged edges that result from wear and tear.
- Ensure your grip is in good condition. Replace them if slippery.
- Check for the good condition of your trucks.
- Make sure your bearings are not broken; broken bearings can block your wheels.
- Ensure the wheels are correctly attached to your trucks.
- Use a High-Quality Skateboard
When selecting your skateboard, avoid toy skateboards since they are made of cheap, low-quality hardware that can break easily. A high-quality professional skateboard is made of top-quality components and has the following features:
- A good skateboard deck should have 7 layers of compressed Canadian maple wood
- High-quality wheels made of urethane which prevents them from breaking apart
- High caliber bearings that will help your wheels spin hence enhancing your balance while skating.
- Rigid trucks that can easily absorb impacts.
- Standard grip tape that prevents you from slipping.
Skateboarding Safety Tips for Kids
If you want to introduce your kid to skating, proper protective gear is necessary. Kids are very flimsy and have a higher risk of severe injuries. The main reasons why skateboarding kids are more at risk of getting injured are:
- Kids have a higher center of gravity.
- They normally tend to be overconfident.
- Kids have low developed motor skills.
- They are less attentive, hence are less aware of their surroundings.
- Kids’ balance is underdeveloped.
That said, consider the following tips to prevent skating and sports-related injuries in kids.
The Bottom Line
Skating is a dangerous sport, but with proper preparation, it is not. It is not any more dangerous than other sports. Falling off is part of the game, and in most occasions, it is not very serious. There is a chance that skaters get minor injuries more often than gamers of other sports, but they are too insignificant to visit a doctor. Skaters just get up and go on after a fall. In fact, more people get injured and end up in hospitals falling from other scenarios such as ladders and staircases than skaters.
One of the grave problems of skating comes from outside the playground. Because of the lack of access to playgrounds and subjective awareness, most people convert the streets into playgrounds. This poses a serious threat, especially from busy road users.
To prevent regrettable consequences, families need to train their children to have fun in safe environments. As well, traffic officers, urban order-enforcement officers, and traffic inspectorate need to put in place stringent policies to prevent people from using the streets as playgrounds.
Where possible, skating should be restricted to supervised playgrounds to minimize the incidences of motor vehicle collisions, personal injuries among skateboarders, or pedestrian collisions. Do not be afraid though, make sure you observe the safety guidelines discussed here above, and accidents and injuries will not be a part of your skating experience.
