Long term (10 yr+) health effects from kiteboarding impacts?

[laz]

What are some simple stretches that you can do to help prevent injuries?

My back has been hurting not sure if its just new muscles since i have been riding around 3-4 days a week sometimes more in lake michigan chop now that i am out of school.

I switched from a dakine harness to a top of the line 09 LF harness which helps a little but i think doing some more stretches would help out allot.

What are some stretches that you do? let me kno

thx

[abel]

58 old fart, 8 years kiteboarding and no special long term accumulative injuries (besides chocking if no wind for more than two weeks)

A good practice to avoid back problems is using a seat harness. At least works for me and worked for younger guys having back problem that followed the advise.

[RickI]

Chirojoe (Dr. Joeseph Will), prepared a stretching guide specific for kiting. He has been on here for many years. It is available at: http://www.kiteboardmexico.com/english/ ... _loose.htm

I second the comments about seat harnesses. Something about waist harnesses causes back irritation for some while a good seat harness works without problems.

[switch313]

marijuana helps heal my kite injuries haa

haha i think thats why its gone so far without me noticing too many painful side effects, i was smoking before and after riding. it kills the pain but i dont do that shite anymore its bad for your head!

[jrfiol]

after kiting for a year, i tore my meniscus during a simple mislanding on a jump. i have surgery tomorrow.

i was told to expect mild arthritis as a long term effect of the injury... so i guess you can tear your meniscus walking down the steps, right?

for me, the sport has caused a long term situation with my knee. but this cannot be qualified as a long term side effect for all kite boarders.

[RickI]

Good luck with your surgery and rehab, hope things go well and heal rapidly. With good PT and post op practices you might well keep arthritis at bay for sometime. There are lots of messed up knees in kiting, some from that activity while more likely for other pursuits. Basketball seems to take out a ton of knees. Case in point, this fellow had a good shot at getting on the USA Olympic Ski Team. Unfortunately, he had skied so well and aggressively, he had about destroyed both knees. This took him out of the running for the team sad to say. He looked around and thought about getting into kiting. The rest is history.


Took this shot six years ago at the Jupiter comp. Checkout the knee brace. He had just got on board with Cabrinha.


Here's another shot also at Jupiter, several years later. Knee issues seem to be in the past.

Looking good Damo!

after kiting for a year, i tore my meniscus during a simple mislanding on a jump. i have surgery tomorrow.

i was told to expect mild arthritis as a long term effect of the injury... so i guess you can tear your meniscus walking down the steps, right?

for me, the sport has caused a long term situation with my knee. but this cannot be qualified as a long term side effect for all kite boarders.

[kiterMD]

What are some simple stretches that you can do to help prevent injuries?

My back has been hurting not sure if its just new muscles since i have been riding around 3-4 days a week sometimes more in lake michigan chop now that i am out of school.

I switched from a dakine harness to a top of the line 09 LF harness which helps a little but i think doing some more stretches would help out allot.

What are some stretches that you do? let me kno

thx

A kiter and physical therapist (DPT) regularly updates her website with exercises for stability and injury prevention/recovery. http://www.perfectlyfitonline.com

She has also posted some kiter-specific stuff on the local shop website
http://www.catchsomeair.us/articles/tip ... fing.shtml
http://www.catchsomeair.us/articles/tip ... ding.shtml

on facebook as Perfectly Fit

[RickI]

I just received Sarah's guide from Perfectly Fit, it is a good reference to have. She seems to be both concerned and informed about kiter injury and avoidance, a good combination to have on your side.

On the home front, my wrists have healed slowly over the last couple of years but I am able to go kiting again without discomfort with a larger kite in low winds. Higher wind kiting with smaller kites has been less painful given the lighter bar pressures. These tendon and ligament tears heal slowly best advice is to avoid them through moderation, proper warm up, down avoiding excess bar pressure and the like.

Any other long term kiting injury experiences and solutions out there that folks would like to talk about? Lots of good information has already come out through this thread.

[Stevo71]

Ive had a similar problem from kiting and ice hockey.

Sorry I cant help you with a link to some back stretches but the advice I was given is that it could be your back muscles over compensating for other muscles.

It doesnt mean that your other muscles are weak, it just means your back might be doing more work comparatively.

Trying doing exersices to work out your other core muscles (ab's and oliques).

If your core muscles are balanced then they should all be able to share the load.

Hope this helps

[longwhitecloud]

i started to wonder abou the very heavy landings - they are sort of damped by water boards flex etc but the forces can be huge. I just had an mri on my ankle and bone is all mushed up/bruised at the ankle joint not looking too great - cartilage is a mess/spilt. just taking too long to sort itself out - there is a deadline for amputation/fusion!