Tips:

• Wait 30 minutes after eating a meal before getting into the water.
  
• Never drink alcohol and operate any mechanical vehicle including boats, jet skis and scuba gear.
  
• Do not try to push too hard, especially if you are tired. People usually injure themselves seriously late in the day when they are tired.

Summer is here and that means fun in the sun. For most kids, that also means more free time for summer activities: swimming, wakeboarding, jet skiing, boating, scuba diving, backpacking and more. While these sports can be thrilling and energizing, they also bring with them different risks of injury. Below are tips on how to prevent summer sports injuries, so you can enjoy every minute of summer!

• Wakeboarding
• Water Skiing
• Scuba Diving
• Backpacking

Wakeboarding

The sport of wakeboarding was developed from a combination of water skiing, snowboarding and surfing techniques. The rider uses a single, twin-tipped board with stationary bindings for each foot. He or she is pulled behind a boat, riding the board standing sideways (as on a snowboard or skateboard).

Wakeboarding was invented in the early 1990s. It was added as an event to the 1996 X Games II, an international event for extreme sports. This helped wakeboarding gain popularity. Today, over 3.4 million people wakeboard.

Wakeboarding can be great fun, but it can also cause serious injury. Wakeboarding injuries peak during adolescence, as opposed to young adulthood and middle age for the similar sport of water skiing. The most common, serious wakeboarding injuries are ACL tears, shoulder dislocations and ankle sprains. Lacerations are the most common injuries, and the head and face are the most commonly injured areas. There are also a variety of injuries when a wakeboarder hits the water at a high velocity. It is interesting to note that almost all injuries are caused by direct or twisting contact with the water―not by collision with the dock, pilings or other objects.

To prevent injury:

• Get trained by a professional wakeboarding instructor.


• Do strength training to protect your body from exhaustion injuries.


• Try to use redesigned bindings that feature more effective release mechanisms.


• Try to use a towrope with a plastic or foam coating to reduce lacerations.


• Drive sober! The boat driver is one of the most important factors in keeping yourself safe. He or she maintains the appropriate speed, avoids hazardous areas and stays aware of the people around you.


• Always wear a personal flotation device (life jacket).


• In the future, helmets may become part of the protective gear for wakeboarding, since so many wakeboarding injuries are head injuries.

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Water Skiing

The sport of water skiing began in 1922 when Ralph Samuelson of Lake City, Minnesota strapped two boards to his feet and got pulled behind a boat. Since then, water skiing has developed into a world-renowned sport with 8.4 million participants. It was first included as an exhibition sport in the 1972 Olympics, and in 1974, it inspired the first National Show Ski Tournament. The first National Intercollegiate Water Ski Championship was featured in 1979.

Water skiing is similar to downhill snow skiing. The water skier straps a long board to each foot (the boards are not connected) with the bindings oriented forward. To start, the ski tips are parallel, pointed up toward the sky. The skier lies back, maintaining a balance between the skies. When the boat driver hits the throttle, the skier should “pop up” out of the water and ski along the surface.

A variation of "normal" water skiing is slalom skiing, where the skier uses one ski instead of two. Both feet face forward, one behind the other. This type of water skiing is much more difficult than using two skis.

Water skiing is associated with many injuries, including lacerations, fractures, sprains, ruptured tympanic membranes, enema injuries, infections and spinal cord damage. Novice water skiers are most frequently affected by douche and enema injuries during takeoff. Expert water skiers are most frequently affected by knee, back and shoulder injuries while falling. In any type of water skiing, the lower extremities area is the most common area to be injured.

Although water skiing injuries peak during young adulthood and middle age instead of adolescence (unlike wakeboarding), teenagers still need to be cautious while water skiing.

To prevent injury:

• Always wear a personal flotation device (life jacket).
  
• Do strength training and conditioning to prevent knee and lower extremities injuries.
  
• Try to use a towrope with a plastic or foam coating to reduce lacerations.
  
• Drive sober! The boat driver is one of the most important factors in keeping yourself safe. He or she maintains the appropriate speed, avoids hazardous areas and stays aware of the people around you.
  
• If you are a novice, have the boat pull you at a slower, more comfortable pace.
  
• Use skis that are fitted to you; the bindings should be snug but will release if you fall.
  
• Never ski at night, in shallow water or in front of another boat.
  
• Avoid rough water as well as completely unknown areas; there may be unseen dangers.
  
• Wear a helmet to protect against head injury.

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Scuba Diving

Scuba (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus) diving is a sport that is popular among vacationers around the world. It is the sport of swimming underwater, usually with fins, while using self-contained breathing equipment.

Scuba was originally developed by Dr. Christian Lambertsen during World War II as a style of underwater warfare. Modern equipment, using compressed gas (usually air) inhaled from a tank and exhaled into the water, began development in 1943 by Emile Gagnan and Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

By nature, scuba diving is a dangerous sport. There are many issues that you need to address throughout a dive. Common injuries include ruptured eardrums, damage to sinuses, decompression sickness, nitrogen narcosis, and skin cuts and grazes. Ruptured eardrums and damage to the sinuses are examples of "barotraumas," or injuries from changes in air pressure. Decompression sickness is the formation of gas bubbles in the body. Nitrogen narcosis is a reversible alteration in consciousness similar to alcohol intoxication. Nitrogen narcosis is caused by breathing high pressure at depth; it starts to affect a diver at 66ft (three atmospheres of pressure).

To prevent injury:

• Get certified! Diving requires some training and/or certification. Some vacation spots train novices for a few hours right before a dive. However, it’s much safer to take a course and get certified.
  
• To avoid barotraumas, equalize pressure in all air spaces when changing depth. This is achieved in two ways: by using the "Valsalva maneuver" – pinching your nose and attempting to exhale through it, or by using the "Frenzel maneuver" – using your throat muscle to swallow. (The Frenzel maneuver is more difficult.)
  
• To avoid decompression sickness, make safety stops on your ascent. This allows gas trapped in your bloodstream to gradually leave the body. Ascend slowly.
  • If you do get decompression sickness, get treated with a recompression chamber.
• To avoid nitrogen narcosis, stay above 66 ft or dive with trimix or heliox instead of the normal tank full of air.
  
• Wear a diving suit to avoid cuts and grazes.

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Backpacking

Backpacking is a sport that utilizes hiking or camping overnight in the wilderness. This sport is more popular during the summer because the climate is usually warmer, and there is more daylight for longer hiking and usually more vacation time.

Since backpacking is an overnight activity, it requires that you carry all your gear and supplies in your pack. Sufficient gear includes food, water, shelter (usually a tent) and little else. All supplies must be compact and as lightweight as possible because all the weight will be carried on the backpacker’s back.

Backpacking trips can last anywhere from one night to several months. However, longer trips require much more planning and preparation.

Injuries from backpacking are often similar to hiking injuries: ankle sprains, fractures, blisters, cuts and bruises, etc. Additionally, back injuries are common in backpacking from undue stress from the heavy backpack. Other problems that backpackers face in the wilds of nature include animals, hypothermia, heat stroke, dehydration, and hypoxia (since backpacking is most common in the mountain wilderness).

To prevent injury:

• Train for strenuous activity before the trip; do aerobic exercise and strength training.
  
• Don’t try to overstuff your pack. As a general rule of thumb, your pack should weigh no more than one-third of your body weight.
  
• Use hiking poles to distribute the extra pack weight and avoid back injury.
  
• Only hike in full daylight.
  
• Keep a first aid kit handy. Remember to include moleskin for blisters.
  
• Bring plenty of water, and stay hydrated!
  
• When hiking, keep your eyes on the trail.

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