Slope Safety

Do you dream of black diamonds? Do lift tickets lift your spirits? If you're part of the masses that flock to the mountains each ski season, read on for ways to stay safe on the slopes this winter.

Whether you are an experienced skier or novice, these tips serve as good reminders for everyone:

• Stretch (as with any sport) before your first run of the day
• Ensure you have proper equipment, including helmet, goggles, warm layers of clothing and sunscreen 
• Make sure your boots, skis, and binding are all sized correctly and fit well together
• Check weather conditions and observe any warnings posted by the local weather service and ski resorts
• Study your map of the mountain, and respect guidelines on trails for merging and right-of-way traffic
• Watch out for other skiers, snowboarders, and snowmobiles
  
  Unfortunately, even if you exercise the most extreme caution on the slopes, accidents do happen. Icy conditions or catching a rock or trees stump with the edge of a ski can cause a nasty fall, resulting in broken bones, sprains, and ligament injuries
  
  The most common ski injuries involve the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). The ACL is located in your knee and helps join the upper and lower leg bones.
  
  ACL injuries range from mild severe depending on partial or complete tears of the ligament. Symptoms of a tear include sharp pain, swelling, and weakness of the knee. Rest and physical rehabilitation may aid in healing, but sometimes reconstruction surgery is necessary.
  
  If you suspect an ACL tear while skiing, or a broken bone, get it checked out as soon possible. You contact one of our orthopedic specialists by making an appointment online or calling us at 512-439-1001.
  
  Click here for more ski safety from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons website.
  
  
  

Dr. Scott Smith on KVUE Discusses Spike in Adult Injuries in Teen Football Players

Dr. Scott Smith was interviewed by KVUE anchor and medical reporter, Jim Bergamo last week about adult-type injuries on the uptick in teen football players.

Why the spike?

Dr. Smith told KVUE bigger body sizes and year-round, more intense training are the culprits causing serious injuries like ACL tears and fractures.

Stop Sports Injuries has some great tips for parents to help their children avoid these sometimes devastating injuries. 

You can watch the entire story here in case you missed it. 

And don't forget that you can keep up with Texas Orthopedics news by following us and Facebook and Twitter (@Texas Orthopedic). 

Return of Football Season Brings Attention to High Injury Rates and Need for Prevention

Post provided by The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS)

According to U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission:

- The 2009 football season saw over 1.2 million football-related injuries
- Such injuries resulted in more than $2.8 billion total medical costs from treatments in hospitals, doctor's offices, and emergency rooms

"Traumatic injuries to the knee and shoulder as well as concussions are the most common types of injuries we see on both the professional and youth levels," said orthopaedic surgeon Matthew Matava, MD, team physician for the St. Louis Rams and spokesperson for the STOP Sports Injuries campaign and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. "Overuse injuries, especially in the beginning of the season, are another big issue with kids pushing themselves too far and too fast without proper conditioning."

The STOP Sports Injuries Campaign was launched in the spring of 2010 by a coalition of leading healthcare organizations to expose the growing epidemic of youth sports injuries related to overuse and trauma.

Because most football injuries can be prevented, the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine and American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons encourage the following easy strategies for parents, coaches, and athletes:

- Have a pre-season health and wellness evaluation to determine ability to participate

- Warm-up properly with low-impact exercises like jogging that gradually increase the heart rate

- Consistently incorporate strength training and stretching. A good stretch involves not going beyond the point of resistance and should be held for 10-12 seconds

- Hydrate adequately to maintain health and minimize cramps

- Play multiple positions and/or sports during the off-season to minimize overuse injuries

- Wear properly fitted protective equipment and do not modify equipment

- Cool-down properly to gradually lower heart rate with exercises like light jogging or stretching

- Don't play through the pain. Speak with an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine or athletic trainer if you have any concerns about injuries or tips on injury prevention

You Kick Like A Girl

Post provided by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Significant differences in knee alignment and muscle activation exist between men and women while kicking a soccer ball, according to a study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. Data reveals that males activate certain hip and leg muscles more than females during the motion of the instep and side-foot kicks - the most common soccer kicks - which may help explain why female players are more than twice as likely as males to sustain an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury.

Prior research shows that females are more prone to non-contact ACL injuries than males and though many theories exist, a direct cause for the disparity is unknown. "By analyzing the detailed motion of a soccer kick in progress, our goal was to home in on some of the differences between in the sexes and how they may relate to injury risk, " said orthopedic surgeon Robert H. Brophy, MD, study author and assistant professor of orthopedics, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. "This study offers more information to help us better understand the differences between male and female athletes, particularly soccer players."

The study found that male players activate the hip flexors (inside of the hip) in their kicking leg and the hip abductors (outside of the hip) in their supporting leg more than females. "Since females have less activation of the hip abductors, their hips tend to collapse into adduction during the kick, which can increase the load on the knee joint in the supporting leg, and potentially put it at greater risk for injury, " Dr. Brophy said.

In 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a study that found a new training program called the Prevent Injury and Enhance Performance (PEP) program, was effective in reducing ACL injuries in female soccer players. Developed by the Santa Monica Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Research Foundation and supported by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons among other medical and athletic associations, PEP is an alternative warm up regimen that focuses on stretching, strengthening and improving balance and movements and can be conducted during regular practice time and without special equipment. "Programs focusing on strengthening and recruiting muscles around the hip may be an important part of programs designed to reduce a female athletes' risk of ACL injury, " said Dr. Brophy.

Anterior Cruciate Ligament Tears: An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure

Post provided by Scott Smith, MD

I saw my first surgical reconstruction of a ruptured ACL in 1981. I began studying ACL's in 1991. I performed my first ACL reconstruction in 1992. Since starting my practice in Austin in 1996 I have performed over 400 primary recontructions. The essential techniques remain basically unchanged. A graft of some sort is strung through the knee to "reconstruct" the anterior cruciate ligament. This process takes roughly six months to form a "new" ligament.

Wouldn't it be easier to just not have an ACL tear? YES! Prevention is worth a pound of cure. Until recently no one really considered that prevention was possible. It may not be. This point is argued in multiple disciplines: orthopedic surgery, physical therapy, sports medicine. No one knows. What is state of the art in 2010 is core training, jump training, hamstring fitness, proprioception improvement and flexibility.

Every orthopedic surgeon knows that anterior cruciate ligaments fail more frequently in female competitors. Why remains a mystery that is discussed wherever knees are contemplated. Do women jump differently? Do they land funny or have too straight a knee at contact? Do hormones play a role? All valid questions without certain answers.

There are many theories and lots of reseach being done. No conclusive findings regarding the difference between men and women have been found yet. There are many prevention strategies also with unproven results. I feel that there probably is some protection provided by these programs. I am also sure that athletic performance is enhanced by improved muscle strength and flexibility. I have been using these techniques with the teams that I coach for the last six years. I can't say that I've prevented any tears but we haven't had any. I continue to look for more effective proven regimens and solutions.