board sport risk comparison

[el_mago]

hiyall,

im going through some major health issues at the moment due to a wierd
autoimmune response to a tropical infection that is causing my blood
clotting mechanism to go haywire. it looks like i will need to take blood
thinning medication (coumadin) for the rest of my life.

the doctors have advised me to give up all sports with high risk of possible
injury, especially anything that can cause internal bleeding, head injuries,
or deep cuts that would be difficlut to stop the bleeding. my blood will not
clot normally while on the medication.

after paying my dues last season learning to kiteboard and finally
progressing to the good stuff (OHH THE STOKE!) this news is a pretty hard
pill to swallow. i can't see myself giving up on extreme sports. i previously
loved to skateboard, rock climb, mountain bike, kayak, windsurf, etc...

being that i do value my life i think its probably wise to tone things down as
much as possible while stil retaining some of the thrills.

from the collective experience of all on the forum, which of the water board
sports is least likely for bleeding/head/internal injuries? how would
you compare the risk of:

- kiteboarding

- windsurfing

- surfing

i would think windsurfing would be the the safest and easiest to cruise and
control the risk factors while still retaining some stoke.

im living in the caribbean and if i dont hit the water soon after my rehab
phase i think i'll go crazy or will be moving back to the mainland as
kiteboarding was my primary motivation for being here.

your thoughts and suggestions appreciated?

the cat with 9 lives,

el_mago

[laz]

dude whats the point in living if your sick and cant kite that would be soo lame.

kite till u cant kite no more and wear proper safety gear like a helmet and impact vest maybe even padded impact shorts and a life jacket and the risk will greatly be decreased to almost no risk at all. and also dont go out in too powered of conditions maybe chose a bigger board and a smaller less powerful kite rather than your normal setup.

good luck

later
-henry

[AEsco48]

i think in kiteboarding if you wear a full wet suit you can be pretty safe from cuts and abrasions....

keep your chin up !!

[tautologies]

Sorry to hear about your infection. I really hope it works out.

Now it is a little hard for us to give you any advice, as I think the risk is heavily dependent on the person performing the sport and the contect in whcih the sport is done.

ANYTHING can be dangerous if you want it to. I think that, if you control yourself very well, kiting can be a very mellow sport, especially if the area is safe and the wind not crazy.

I do think windsurfing can be crazy if you go the extreme route. Same with kiteboarding, healthy respect should be part of any sport.

I hope you do well, and that you make right choices for your situation.

Alex

[SBBeachbum]

Even if it does not sound very popular on a kiting forum: Life is more than kitesurfing. If you think that it is too dangerous for your condition, it probably is.

[tautologies]

Life is more than kitesurfing. If you think that it is too dangerous for your condition, it probably is.

Agree!!

a.

[Scribbler]

Sorry to hear about the infection, I hope the long term prognosis is better:

I've been sliced up by all 3 of those sports you mentioned...
But then again I know people who've never even nicked themselves on a sharp fin...
Just depends on how risk-taking/clumsy/accident-prone you are.

As AEsco suggests, clad/pad yourself up as best you can, and as Taut implies, be mellow out there, and stay out of other peoples way (my surfing injury was 3 stitches from the tip of someone else's board diving into the side of my head)

All the best!

[Toby]

sorry to hear this.

Reducing risks...do you want to stay home all day?
Driving a car is also dangerous...etc

Most of us get hurt doing something else than kiteboarding.
If you love the stoke, keep it up, but be smart in your head and anticipate a lot to not get injured. Wear shoes and protection, keep distance etc.
Just play with the waves not in shallow water and jump without doing major tricks...that would still give you the stoke without fearing too much.

Imagine you give up kiteboarding and 6 months later you get hit by a car etc?
Than I would rather take the risk and keep kiting, although every kite day could be my last...at least you made the best out of it.

But maybe you will find another sport that will give you a great joy. I like golfing a lot. But of course you can't compare it with kiting, specially living in the Caribbean.

But maybe the medicine evolves and you will be able to kite without any worries in the near future. I keep my fingers crossed for you!

Greets
Toby

[maartenvg]

My brother also has to take coumarin (blood thinning medication) for the rest of his life. He has to do it for other reasons than an infection, but that's beside the point. The point is this: he started kitesurfing this year, and next week we go snowboarding. Granted, I probably won't see him doing all kinds of radical stuff, but he definately still has fun doing what he does. So it is perfectly possible to kitesurf/snowboard/whatever when you are taking blood thinners. And before you think he's an idiot: he's a doctor himself, so he pretty much knows what he's talking about.

I guess the dosage of your medication will be a point to take into account. His PT-value is now around 25-30 if I'm not mistaken? Anyway, he has REDUCED clotting, but not NO clotting. I don't know what that's like in your case.

I hope you get well soon.

[ed257]

If you are taking coumadin (which is a blood thinner) then your blood is clotting to much or too easily.

They should not give you so much blood thinner that you become unable to clot if you did get a cut. If that do that, maybe they are going too far.

Also, you should know that omega 3 EFA's naturally reduce clotting and may be worth checking out.

My son had the opposite problem once. It was a condition called ITP which was causing his platlets to be wiped out. This made his blood really unable to clot at all and very succeptable to any cuts or bruises. He was given gamma globulen and this problem resolved in about one month. The good news is that it never came back - and that was over 10 years ago.

Best of luck to you resolving your condtion.

Ed