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Riding the Wake Can Lead to Major Injuries

You may not have heard of it, but wakeboarding is a popular new water sport. Wakeboarders are pulled behind motor boats just like water skiers. But wakeboarders ride on boards that are more like snowboards. Tight boot-like bindings keep their feet on the boards. Wakeboarders jump the wake of the boat. They can also do tricks like flipping, spinning, and jumping off ramps. Jumps can go up to 20 feet above the water.

Doing these tricks at high rates of speed, with feet tightly attached to the board, sounds dangerous. And as this doctor reports, it sure can be. This survey of wakeboarders and orthopedic surgeons turned up some serious wakeboarding injuries. Of the wakeboarders who returned the survey, 77 percent reported being injured while wakeboarding. Most of the wakeboarders reported tears of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the knee and ankle sprains. Most of the injuries happen from hitting the water during a trick that went wrong. It is unusual for injuries to happen from hitting a ramp, dock, or other structure.

About half of the surgeons reported seeing wakeboard injuries. Most were ACL tears. ACL tears accounted for 31 percent of the injuries. Shoulder dislocations made up 15 percent of the injuries. Twenty-one percent were fractures, including breaks in the spine, leg bones, feet, and ribs. These fractures were often very serious. Skull fractures have also been reported. Injuries seemed to happen in all levels of wakeboarders, from novices to professionals.

This study has many limitations. Finding a way to contact doctors and wakeboarders is difficult because it is a recreational sport that isn't organized by official leagues. Very few wakeboarders returned the survey. The study can't show what percentage of wakeboarders actually get injured.

Still, the author feels the research clearly shows that wakeboarding can cause serious injuries. He recommends that safety features be studied, including better bindings, helmets, and strength training.

References: William G. Carson, Jr., MD. Wakeboarding Injuries. In The American Journal of Sports Medicine. January/February 2004. Vol. 32. No. 1. Pp. 164-173.

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