Prevent Figure Skating Injuries and Reduce Long-Term Pain

Figure skating requires emotional, mental and physical dedication. As the figure skating season ramps up, you should ask yourself: What effect are figure skating injuries and pain having on my health, comfort and performance?

According to the National Institutes of Health, skating takes a toll on your joints, bones, ligaments and muscles. Like in many athletic activities, repeated motions and maneuvers in skating wear on your body with time. Stress from balancing, jumping, spinning and moving at high speeds can lead to short-term figure skating injuries (like sprains) or even long-term persistent pain, including inflammation, torn muscles, fractures and worse.

What You Can Do to Prevent Figure Skating Injuries

You can take a steps to prevent or lessen the impact of this repeated stress in several ways, starting with these:

• Limber up before each practice. Your body, muscles, tendons and ligaments will be less stiff with a good warm up and stretch prior to your practice.
• Do not over practice a skill. We know you love skating and learning great new moves – but don’t overdo it on any one skill! Your joints will thank you later. Variety in your practice will make you a more well-rounded skater and give your body time to recover.
• Consult with your coach. Find a safe and comfortable routine that’s right for your pace and achieving your skating goals. Every success story in skating comes with a training plan customized to an individual skaters needs.
• Eat right and stay in shape off the ice. Different body types and skating regimens require different types of balanced nutrition and different areas of off-ice conditioning focus. For all skaters maintaining a consistent well-balanced muscle mass is important for keeping the body ready for the physical exertion through athletic activity.

Keeping these steps in mind will help to insure your long-term skating success on the ice and help you to avoid injury. However, even a proper regimen and great skating form can’t prevent all long-term issues and chronic pain from creeping in.

The Right Gear Can Make All the Difference in Injury Prevention

Studies have shown that your skating equipment can be the difference between safety and a figure skating injury. The right balance of flexibility and support in your figure skating boot can prevent ankle injuries, and you can avoid undue knee stress with proper foot alignment.

The customizable R-Fit Footbed Kit^™ by Riedell Skates can relieve pain caused by skating by distributing weight throughout the sole of your figure skate boot in the way that’s best for your feet, knees and joints. It’s also shown to help correct supination and pronation issues during skating through proper foot alignment. Take it from podiatrist and former figure skater Dr. Ross Nelson, DPM, who fully endorses R-Fit.

Riedell’s R-Fit Kit will make sure you can skate your best, in properly aligned comfort for a long time! Taking care of your feet and joints today, while you are learning, is another way to take steps to ensure your athletic longevity. Figure skating injuries and long-term wear are a natural part of the sport – but you can take care of your knees and joints by making injury prevention a part of your practice regimen and caring for your properly aligned feet with the best in figure skating gear and accessories.

Do you have questions about figure skating injury prevention, the comfort of your gear or skating in general? Get in touch with us to tap our skating experts on how you can skate your best with Riedell.

Happy skating, #TeamRiedell and #TeamEclipse!