It's that time of year when hundreds of ski and snowboard enthusiasts are hitting the snow on Utah's greatest snow on earth.
But many go unprepared or take unnecessary risks which result in severe injuries.
But, heading to the emergency room may not always be the quickest route to treatment.
Dr. Andrea Matich with MountainStar Healthcare's Peak Orthopaedics says, "With skiers, knee injuries are really common, ACL tares, which is a long recovery." She goes on to say, "Snowboarders tend to have more upper extremity injuries, so risk fractures."
Dr. Matich is a Sports Medicine Specialist who has seen her share of nasty injuries, many of which are preventable with some preconditioning.
"The conditioning of the athlete or the skier is really important. You want to make
sure that you work aerobic conditioning, and core strength, quadriceps strength," says Dr. Matich.
Still, broken bones and torn ligaments do happen. Most can be repaired through surgery and rehab. However, some of the most serious injuries, like concussions, aren't always easy to see.
"If there are symptoms of prolonged headaches, memory problems, light sensitivity, noise sensitivity, feeling sick to your stomach and throwing up. Poor sleep, mood disorders, all of those can be symptoms of a concussion," she tells us.
Peak Orthopaedic's six doctors often treat more than 100 injuries a day. Patients can save valuable time getting immediate care and bypassing a time-consuming emergency room visit.
Dr. Matich says, "It's a one stop shop, and we have all the imaging and diagnostic tools available, we also have surgeons if they do need surgery, we can get everything set up
quickly."
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