Returning from Injury

 

Returning to skiing after injury

Wimbledon Clinics has a large experience of treating ski injuries from once a year holiday skiers to professionals. Our expertise and multi-disciplinary approach always ensures the highest standards of care.

And we now offer an extended rehabilitation service with our
Return from Injury Ski Camp in Verbier.

Recovering from an injury and returning to skiing has many  physiological, Biomechanical and Psychological Issues.

It is vital to have accurate advice regarding your injury so that you know when it is safe to ski. Firstly, when the healing and/or operated tissues are ready for the stresses of skiing, but also when your muscles and fitness are ready. Pain is often a poor indicator of recovery and it is therefore wise to seek expert guidance from your surgeon, sports medicine doctor or physiotherapist.

To establish if your tissues have recovered it is essential that your rehabilitation introduces ski specific exercises incrementally and in a controlled fashion. They should be specific to the requirements of skiing and will become increasingly dynamic, for example hopping and jumping. Being able to cope with plenty of cycling or cross-training does not mean that your injury will cope with skiing. You need to be sure that your recovered injury can cope with the rigours of skiing.

The physiological effects of injury always extend beyond the structure injured.

Whilst recovering you will lose general strength and fitness. Unfortunately when you get back on your skis after an injury, it is the very time that you need excellent strength and control to protect you. Attention to general fitness, strength and control are important to prevent further injury. If you are out of condition how responsive will your legs be if you find yourself in a white-out at 3 o’clock on the third day - a well known black spot time for injury? A few degrees of lost movement may not affect you in day-to-day life, but may on skis. Unsurprisingly asymmetry of movement is often apparent after injury. This can be from many causes such as restricted joint movement, muscle tightness or weakness, loss of fine control, and confidence. Once again therefore, it is important to be ski specific with your rehabilitation so that you and your physiotherapist work together to highlight these asymmetries and abolish them! If you are still working on them when you first get back on your skis this may be ok as long as you are aware of them and if possible target them with your coach.

Overcoming the psychological block to getting back on skis after an injury can be the hardest part. It should therefore be an integral part of your rehabilitation. At Wimbledon Clinics we have a Sports Psychologist who can work with you to overcome your fear of returning to skiing and on improving your performance. When you leave home for the slopes you should be armed with the knowledge that you are fit, strong, flexible, co-ordinated, and that there is no doubt that you can manage ski specific demands. You should feel informed about your injury so that you are aware of ongoing areas for attention. This level of preparation will remove the feeling of uncertainty and help you engage with your skiing, ski well, and enjoy it!