How to Avoid Most Common Winter Injuries?

As beautiful as it is, the biting cold winters can also be dangerous at times. Rather, during winters, personal injuries do occur even when you perform simple tasks, especially if you aren’t prepared to prevent an incident or you show negligence. Back, shoulders, joints and knees easily get hurt during winters unless you take some precautions. Wrist sprains, elbow fractures and dislocations, ankle sprains and strains, hip fractures and soreness are also pretty common. You can prevent these injuries or prepare for them beforehand and thoroughly enjoy the winter season without unnecessary pain and stiffness.

In the following section, we look at some of the common winter injuries, their causes and ways to avoid them.

1. Injuries Due to Slips and Falls

One of the most common causes of injuries during winters is slipping and falling on icy surfaces. This can often result in broken bones, hurt backs, sprained joints and head injuries. Senior citizens are often more prone to severe injuries as a consequence of these falls. In case of minor injuries, you can simply follow the RICE method and apply gel ice packs or heating pads and take proper rest. However, in case of severe injuries, the patient should be taken immediately to the hospital to avert any potentially fatal circumstance.

How to avoid common injuries due to slips and falls:

• Walk carefully around potentially frozen surfaces and only take short and slow steps with slightly bent knees.
• Don’t keep your hands in pockets and use handrails wherever possible.
• Wear hats and winter-appropriate clothing to keep warm and safe. They also act as a cushion against impacts during falls.
• Use salt or sand on your driveway and stairs to increase traction and avoid slipping.

2. Sprains and Strains While Shovelling Snow

Shovelling snow in cold temperatures is also a common cause of winter injuries, as the repetitive action involved in the process can cause severe strains on the body. One wrong move and your already struggling body would pull a muscle and your body parts might seize up. However, you can easily avoid it if you keep the following things in mind:

• Properly stretch your body parts and muscles before you go out shovelling the snow.
• Make sure to keep yourself hydrated while doing the task.
• Ensure proper footing while you shovel the snow from around the house so that you can avoid awkward movement or falls.

3. Sports-related Injuries

Winters bring along the opportunity to enjoy winter sports or activities like sledging, snowmobiling, skiing, ice skating, ice hockey, etc. However, you must approach these activities the right way; otherwise, they might cause injury to you. The common injuries that can occur due to these winter sports activities include sprains, dislocations, fractures and even concussions. To avoid these injuries, you just have to take the following precautions:

• Do proper stretching and warm-up before undertaking these activities.
• Wear the proper protective gear to safeguard yourself against potential dangers.
• Don’t try to do complicated tricks or moves about which you are not yet confident.
• To reduce the risk of muscle cramps or strains, keep yourself hydrated during these activities.

 4. Frostbite

Another common cause of winter injuries is frostbite. The skin, nerves and tissues freeze at the site of injury and may even cause permanent damage to your body parts. The first signs of frostbite can include numbness, clumsiness and cold skin. The skin may even become discoloured or turn black due to the possible frostbite. Warming up the body of the affected person and providing them with emergency medical care is essential to treat frostbite. However, avoiding frostbites in the first place is not difficult either. Just keep the following tips in mind:

• Avoid going outdoors in bitter weather conditions.
• If you have to go out for some important work, wear warm clothing.

5. Injuries from Driving Accidents

With difficult conditions, such as lowered visibility and icy surfaces, driving during winters can be a tricky task. It can put you and others around you in danger of receiving minor or maybe major life-threatening injuries. To avoid these injuries just remember the following:

• Use high-quality winter-grade car tyres.
• Keep a winter safety kit in your car for emergencies.
• Keep the windshield washer fluid full beforehand.

When it comes to averting winter injuries, wisdom lies in taking precautions and being prepared. Nevertheless, if the injuries do occur, minor ones can be often treated with the RICE method using gel ice packs and taking proper rest. However, emergency medical care should be sought in more severe ones.