How to Deal with Left Leg Pain while Snowboarding
Snowboarding has become a popular sport, and along with it has come a plethora of popular injuries, especially left leg pain. There is no definitive answer as to why this is one of the more prevalent injuries, but many of the various theories do make sense. Also, of course, what makes even better sense is to simply avoid the injury all together. Easy to say, not easy to do, right? Wrong.
Most experts in sports medicine say that the injuries in comparison between snowboarders to skiers is double against snowboarders. They also go on to say that most of those injuries happen to beginners or boarders with bad technique. People who go all season without doing any conditioning, then hit the slopes at the first sign of snow are the most likely candidates for severe, even debilitating left leg pain. This is because of the stance that they are using.
Both feet are strapped onto the board and point in the same direction and supposedly this keeps the knee from over rotating or taking the brunt of the body’s weight. This, obviously, does not play out in real life application because that is exactly where people are getting injured: their left leg, just above the knee.
There are some things that the average, and above average, snowboarder can do to prevent these sorts of injuries from the beginning. First, be smart about it. If you don’t have hours and hours and years and years of experience on the slopes, invest in a good instructor who can make sure that you are using correct technique. Second, anti-inflammatory type pain relievers after a busy day on the slopes, followed by icing (yes ice) down the leg.
Additionally, if the leg muscle is strong to begin with then there is less chance of injury. Many experienced snow boarders do conditioning training during the off season, often opting for mountain biking, rappelling, rock climbing, or any other sport that builds up leg muscles. Many go to the gym both during the season and the off season and use the equipment that focuses on strengthening all of the muscles of the legs, particularly the quads, hams, and calves.
Last, don’t think that because you are good at other snow sports that you will be a great snowboarder. The only thing they all have in common is snow. The techniques are completely different from anything else on the slopes and thinking with a one style fits all mentality is going to net you leg pain.
There are some great websites out there that talk about this further, and offer more information about strength training, cross training, and avoiding injuries. They are worth a look.
Snowboarder Magazine:
Transworld Snowboarding:
SnowBoard: