Surfing in San Diego is like skiing in Colorado. It is a common sport that lots of people do. It also comes with a risk of getting injured. To a non-surfer it may look fun and risk free but beware, you can get seriously injured while surfing some of San Diego's finest waves. As surfers progress from small to large waves injury risk increases. Some injuries are traumatic, like getting hit with a board in the head and some surfing injuries are chronic and non-traumatic, like shoulder or back pain. Listed below are some of the more common surfing injuries that occur. If you sustain a traumatic injury and require medical attention go to the emergency room or urgent care. However, if you suffer from a repetitive strain injury and are tired of dealing with the chronic pain call Dr. Runco's office at 619-265-2222. "When I moved to San DIego I figured I would learn to surf. I have been an athlete my whole life so i figured I would pick it up easily. Yea right. Surfing is hard to learn as an adult and it can result in painful shoulders and lower backs. After progressing to larger waves and getting by butt kicked i stick to the smaller surf now and enjoy watching the surfers that know what they are doing. After watching them long enough I now understand what the biomechanics entail and this helps me fix their injuries and keep them in the surf."
Eye Injuries: You only have two of them. Eye damage usually results from a wipeout followed by a surfboard nose/tip to the eye.
Prevention: Buy a soft nose guard on the tip of your surfboard. They are inexpensive and will make any contact with the surfboard’s sharp tip much less damaging. Cover your face/eyes when you don't know if where your board is.
Head Injuries: Head injuries occur from collisions with a surfboard’s rails, fins, and nose and are the most common type of acute surfing injuries. Other common causes of injury are coral reefs, hard sand ocean floor, and submerged rocks. Collisions with other surfers also occur and can result in back, head and neck injury. Always be aware of your surroundings.
Prevention: Many novice surfers decide to ride soft top surfboards as a preventative measure against head trauma. After reading the laundry list of possible injuries, it is starting to sound like a great idea. Some surfers even wear a helmet. Wearing a helmet may not seem like the cool thing to do but keep this in mind. When I grew up Professional Ice Hockey (NHL) players did not wear helmets! The goalies barely wore a face mask! Now it is required to wear a helmet. Brain injury sucks. Wearing a helmet decreases the chances of brain injury......think about it.
Lacerations: Feet and hands are some of the most common areas of injury. Coral reefs and surfboards can cause major lacerations that will ruin your day (maybe your week).
Prevention: Wear gloves and booties. Again,it may not look cool but it is much cooler than bleeding out in some emergency room waiting your turn to get stitches....not to mention the big needle they stick you with for infections. Be familiar with the terrain you are surfin and know the risks. If the risks are high consider reducing them by wearing protective gear...all other sports do it.
Shoulder Injury: Rotator cuff strain is common in San Diego Surfers. I treat a couple of common shoulder injuries. Rotator cuff strain, rotator cuff tendonitis, rotator cuff/shoulder impingement, shoulder bursitis, unstable shoulders and rotator cuff weakness.
Prevention: It is a myth that stretching will prevent most injuries. Stretching you shoulders will most likely not help your rotator cuff. Try warming up before surfing. Do windmills with you arms to increase blood flow, warm the muscles and lubricate the joints. Wear a compression top to help provide some increased stability to your shoulder joints. When you start to tire and fatigue consider calling it a day. When you paddle against a strong current and bigger waves your arms fatigue more easily. When muscles fatigue the risk of injury increases. Many injuries occur on the last wave of the day.
Some interesting facts (according to Hyde and Gengenbach):
-Risk of significant injury doubles for a surfer in his 40s or later when compared to as a surfer younger than 20 years of age.
-The older, more advanced, and braver (big surf) you are, the more likely you are to incur a significant injury.
-The majority of injuries happen in smaller waves.
-Surfing in overhead waves increases the risk of more serve injuries.
-The occurrence of significant injury is twice as likely in overhead surf as in waves waist high or smaller.
-Take off and tube riding are the maneuvers most commonly leading to injury.
"I was surfing and torqued my back bad. I could barely move. I went to the ER and got X-rays. The doctor said nothing was wrong and told me to rest for a few days. The pain would not go away. Weeks later I had tried everything. My friend told me to go see Dr. Runco. He diagnosed me with a swollen disk at my L5 as well as a sprained back. He explained why you can not see that on X-ray (you can only see bone....duuhhh). He made me stop stretching because he said stretching was actually irritating my sprained ligament. He also did ultrasound on my disc then popped my disc back in place. I immediately felt some of the pain disappear. Two more treatments and the pain was gone. I could'nt believe it. The doc also showed me some surf specific strengthening exercises to hopefully prevent more back injuries. Thanks doc I am back in the water and my back feels great."
TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT WITH DR. RUNCO CALL 619-265-2222. ALL INSURANCE ACCEPTED.
