Posts Tagged ‘injury’
Pro tips: coming back from surfing injury
July 15th, 2010
Joel Parkinson’s world title hopes were pretty much extinguished last week after he suffered a horrific gash to his foot. Requiring over 30 stitches, Andy Irons described the injury, suffered in a wipeout at Snapper Rocks, as the “worst fin chop I’ve ever seen”.
Parko will be out of action for a good few weeks as the deep cut heals, forcing him to withdraw from the Billabong Pro J-Bay. According to Jim Kempton in Surfing The Manual: Advanced, coming back from a debilitating injury can be a long process, requiring both mental and physical strength:
Parko "Feels good to eat something I made...or look at it getting made" via twitter.com/joelparko
Dr Warren Kramer, long time healer of surf stars, says normal soft tissue injuries generally take about four to six weeks to heal with a good six to eight weeks of disciplined rehab on top of that. Kramer breaks the basic rehab process down with the acronym PRICE, which stands for protection, rest, ice, compression and elevation. Protecting the injury while it heals will help minimize further damage. Rest gives it the opportunity to heal. Icing and elevating will help keep the swelling down. Compression assists in maintaining stabilization. This basic recipe should work for the average sprain or strain. It’s when tendons are torn and ligaments frayed that the rehab process becomes complicated.
