Surfers catch a break
WHO are the biggest thrill seekers of all? Not surfers. Sure, surfing may rank as one of the world’s coolest sports, but football -- even soccer -- outstrips it for danger, a new study says.
Based on data from 32 worldwide surfing competitions held between March 1999 and September 2005, researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown Medical School found the rate of significant injury among surfers to be 6.6 per 1,000 hours of surfing -- about one-third the rate found in men’s college soccer and one-fifth that of men’s college football.
“Soccer had about 19 injuries, and college football had about 33,” in a similar period of activity, says Dr. Andrew Nathanson, an emergency medicine physician at Rhode Island Hospital and lead author of the study, published this month in the American Journal of Sports Medicine. “Knee sprains and strains, and cartilage injuries were the most common types of injuries,” followed by lacerations, contusions and fractures. Among 116 injuries recorded over 6,784 surf hours, 45 were considered significant, including deep lacerations, facial fractures and shoulder dislocations. Nearly 30% of the injuries were caused by impact with the surfboard, most notably its sharp nose or fins. Such injuries are avoidable, Nathanson says, with simple modifications to the board. For surfing large waves over shallow reefs, he recommends what may seem like apostasy to the surfer: Wear a helmet.