Sled Sports Injuries

The various styles and forms of recreational and competitive sledding are popular winter activities in the United States for people of all ages and sexes.

In the U.S., bobsledding, luge, and skeleton are the three main sledding sports: 

* Luge involves a one-person or two-person sled racing against a timer. The sled, which can reach speeds of over 90 mph, is steered by the luger exerting pressure to the sled with their shoulders or the riders with their feet. The luger rides the sled in a feet-first, supine position.

* Skeleton also involves a time trial and fast speeds. This sport uses a one-person sled that’s rode in the head-first, supine position. The athlete steers the sled with their feet and by shifting their body weight.

* Bobsledding is the most different of the three sledding sports. It involves a larger sleigh with a two-person or four-person crew. The crew’s pilot steers the sleigh with steering rings. The crew’s brakeman will pull the brake lever at the end of the race. In four-person bobsledding, there will also be two pushers that physically push the sleigh to gather speed at the start of each heat.

Each of these Olympic sports can be slightly different when it comes to tracks, number of potential riders, speeds, sled style, and so forth. However, they’re all considered dangerous sports and carry the risk of mild injuries, such as an abrasion, to more serious injuries, such as a concussion.

What Are Some Common Sledding Injuries?

Contusions

A study by the U.S. Training Center Sports Medicine Clinic in New York found that 51% of all injuries in luge are contusions. Similar studies on the various other sledding sports echo this predominance of contusions.

A contusion is another name for a bruise. It’s the result of the body suffering a direct impact, such as from an athlete's hand being struck on the sledding track. Many contusions are superficial, meaning only the subcutaneous layer is injured during the impact. However, more severe contusions can involve damage to the deeper muscle, bone, and even internal organs. The force of the impact crushes the affected tissue and damages blood vessels in the area. The leaking blood from the damaged blood vessels begins to pool in nearby tissue. This may cause a black-and-blue area, a hematoma (lump), warmth, and swelling. Pain and tenderness may be present as the nerve endings in the area sense the extra blood accumulating. Severe contusions may be accompanied by a sprain, strain, fracture, or dislocation.

Pulled Muscles

A pulled muscle is also known as a muscle strain. Neck strains are common in both luge and skeleton. On the other hand, bobsledding is more likely to produce strains in the shoulders, calves, and groin. A muscle strain is the abnormal stretching or tearing of a muscle and/or tendon. Strains can occur a number of ways, such as from poor, tense posture during sledding; overexertion; sudden, forceful movements; and so forth. Strains are graded based on the degree of injury the muscle and/or tendon suffers:

Grade 1 - stretching or microscopic tearing of the muscle/tendon fibers.
Grade 2 - moderate tearing of the muscle/tendon fibers.
Grade 3 - significant tearing of the muscle/tendon fibers.

The general symptoms of a pulled muscle include:

* muscle stiffness
* decreased range of motion to complete immobility
* swelling
* heat
* tenderness
* pain
* bruising
* muscle spasms

Fractures

Collisions, falls, and ejections at such high speeds are likely to produce bone fractures. A fracture occurs when the bone looses its natural continuity. There are several different ways a bone can fracture. For example, a fractured bone could suffer a hairline crack and remain intact, break into one or two large pieces, or shatter into multiple smaller pieces; remain well aligned or displace and produce an obvious deformity; and/or stay under fully-intact skin or puncture through the skin’s surface.

The symptoms of a fractured bone may include:

* swelling
* warmth
* bruising
* immobility
* pain
* tenderness
* possible obvious deformity