Top tips to stay safe on your skiing holiday

 

BUMPS, bruises and knee injuries are just a few common skiing problems but follow this orthopaedic surgeon's advice to keep fit on and off the piste

In the coming weeks, thousands of us will flee Britain for snow-dusted slopes, blue skies and a healthy dose of après ski.

But although hurtling at full speed down a mountain can be exhilarating, the sport is not without its dangers. While cross-country skiing in Switzerland over Christmas, German Chancellor Angela Merkel fell and injured her pelvis, just days after champion racing driver Michael Schumacher sustained a critical head injury skiing off piste in the French Alps.

Around 10,000 British skiers and snowboarders are taken to hospital with injuries such as concussion, broken bones, sprained wrists or torn ligaments, suffered on their winter sports holiday.

With rising numbers of new skiers every year taking on unfamiliar runs, it is crucial that we take care of ourselves.

Aside from simple bumps and bruises, injuries to the knees are one of the most common problems for alpine skiers.

The key injuries to watch out for are:

* Medial ligament sprains characterized by an acute pain on the inside of the knee

* Meniscal tears that cause pain and swelling within the knee.

* Anterior cruciate ligament injuries, typically a result of a twisting fall where the binding on the ski doesn’t release, resulting in rapid swelling of the knee.

* Fractures can be severe and will need treatment to rebuild shattered bone, possibly overseas.

To reduce your risk of major injuries follow these tips:

1 Get fit

The greatest single cause of injury is a lack of fitness. Skiing is an intensive sport and hard work considering you are at 2,000 meters above sea level.

Prepare your body for the daily physical exertion by getting into shape before the holiday. Look out for physiotherapy centres that offer intensive ski fit programs.

2 Be aware of your skiing ability
It is absolutely crucial that your bindings are secured appropriately for your level of ability. Be honest in the ski-hire shop when you are asked about your aptitude.
If your bindings are too tight, they will increase your risk of injury if you are only a beginner.

3 Don’t drink and ski

You wouldn’t drive after a bottle of wine, would you? If you are involved in an accident you may be breathless so act responsibly.

4 Be sure your boots are the right fit
Ensure they aren’t too loose; a tight fit may be uncomfortable but loose boots can be dangerous as they can reduce the amount of control you have over your skis.

5 Obey the rules of the mountain
As a general rule you should always expect the worst from your fellow skiers. Not everyone on the mountainside will be skilled or confident so always be on the lookout for those who are lacking in control.

I am Who I am

Being a military kid meant always moving and always moving meant always changing schools therefore I was never at a school long enough to really know myself around others. Since I was always traveling I always adapted to my surroundings and most of the kids I was around were so diverse in ethnicity that I was never really around my own race in massive numbers or around non military kids to say the least. Being that the kids that I was around were military kids as well it already linked us together because we had one main thing in common which was our lifestyle. My family and I have lived in Panama and Japan until finally settling down in Virginia. And that is where the problem had become evident; Virginia is where I faced my one true obstacle of wanting to be accepted. All throughout my years of schooling in Virginia I faced the problem of wanting to be accepted by others; it started in middle school and followed me into high school until I finally learned how to deal with it.
I never knew of the obstacle because I never had to face it but once I transferred to a school that was outside of the usual military styled and structured manor, it was truly an emotional reevaluation that I later learned was culture shock. I felt like a fish out of water literally. My middle school experience was where I faced it most. Being that I was no longer overseas I had to deal with the obstacle of making friends and knowing that if it didn’t work out how I wanted, we weren’t moving anytime soon so there was no way I could run away from the problem. The school that I went to in middle school was a magnet school and unlike the previous schools that I had attended it was not very diverse at all. Which for me was weird; from sixth through eighth grade I experienced nothing but bullying with very little friends. I had no one that I could really relate to truly; but this is far from a sob story. I didn’t experience any physical harassment, just some emotional bullying and where I stood around other African American kids my age. The most common thing I had faced at this point was not looking like the other African American kids and being called “white” for speaking proper and pronouncing words how they were meant to be spoken. I really never understood what was so different about me and why I could never seem to feel accepted by my own race but I could with other races.
This problem eventually transcends to high school where I eventually became fully aware of what the problem was. My high school journey was not as brutal emotionally as my middle school journey. The high school I attended once again was not of the requirements of what a military school would be but was yet considered normal. It was a local school and once again wasn’t much of a melting pot of races either although I did befriend a couple of friends diverse in race that did share the experience of the military lifestyle it wasn’t much different than my middle school experience. Ninth through tenth was nothing but trying to figure myself out and year by year I was with major setbacks. Although I was still called names every now and then the urge to want to fit in dwindled and I gained the sense of self. It wasn’t till twelfth grade where I figured out why being around other African American kids was so difficult to me and it was through an incident in my English class. I remember the incident so vividly because my life changed from that moment on. The incident involved two Caucasian females me and two other African American females. It was a statement spoken by a girl that wasn’t very fond of me because according to her, I acted “weird”. She spoke to the Caucasian girls sitting beside me, speaking as if I wasn’t sitting right there saying “A certain someone doesn’t belong but yet another race does”. She was referring to me not being able to fit in but yet the Caucasian females did and that’s when I realized it’s not about fitting in its about being myself. And from that moment on I was done pretending to be someone other than myself.
After that day I was myself, I was tired of pretending. Year after year I gained friends and not just any kind of friends but the kind of friends for a lifetime. I learned so much from my middle school and high school years. All the countless of times where I experienced emotional bullying, remarks about me being “different” and being told I was something other than what I was made me a wiser and stronger person. When I say wiser I mean I am able to connect to other people emotions whether it is a person dealing with wanting nothing more than to fit in, bullying or anything pertaining to emotion. I connect with other people on other kinds of levels because I understand what it’s like to feel so little and like other people can control you. I would go through it all in a heartbeat because all of those situations helped shape me into the person I am now, the person I was meant to be all along, and the person I kept inside from other people.
I’ve always considered this to be one of my most challenging obstacles because of the time frame in which it occurred. It literally took me six years to understand that it was okay to be myself. And when I look back at it all I can do is laugh, it was all a learning experience for me. Not only a learning experience but it also taught me about people and being that I experienced emotional bullying I’d never do it to anyone else because I know how it feels to be constantly judge when you’re trying so hard to “adapt”, something I was so use to doing backfired on me. I’m still learning about myself but I’m well aware of my true self and I embrace every bit of it. I dealt with my obstacle head on and just shut out the opinions of what was deemed to be normal and stayed true to myself. Now all of the opinions I do get are of none relevance to me, the urge to conform is not longer there. 

 Submitted by Briana 4 days ago.

Can't you just love me the way I am?

In Sept of 2009, I was having a heated argument with my 22 year old son.
I told him that I was tired of his way of life, not holding a steady job, not having the drive and ambition that I did running my own successful business. He turned to me at one point and said; "Dad can't you just love me for who I am ?. The next day he was killed while being robbed. I wish everyday that he was still here with me; but I really do appreciate the 22 years I had with him.

By Scott

the Power of Single Parenting

I had neighbors that were not mean to my children and I, yet while inside their apartment (down stairs and under my family) the talking was so loud that we could hear negative language. The language was racist. Several times my children, and myself had to explain to the family/younger generation/that the language was offensive. One day coming from work, I saw my three children, who are adults with children of their own now/sitting outside with the parents and some of the kids . I walk up with of course questions. I asked my children "what happened"? First my children told me that they had everything taken care of. Then the family told me that my children decided to talk to them about the racist remarks. They did apologize explained that it was not towards us. WE all got along, yes the family still said the word/s...moral of the story is that I know now that even though I thought the three never listened. ....on that day, my skills worked, and they made me the happiest Mother ever. (then and now). I wrote a paper on it from a writing class I took through my job, and every once in a blue moon, I always acknowledged the courage, the motivation, and my love/and their love to be able at young ages take a step forward. God bless them...and the family.

By Linda

A Child's Heart

This story was shared with our staff the day before the Christmas holiday by our elementary school's health tech.

It seems that one of our little 1st grade girls rides the bus every day with a 5th grade autistic boy. She had been comforting him because he was upset that he was not receiving an award for the first semester. The next day, the little girl presented him with a small bag of candy and a certificate that she made herself, telling him that he was getting an award for being kind and a great friend.

I wish I could have seen his face...and given her a hug...

By Julia 

health forecast for 2014...

FROM different food to going to the doctor, we asked the experts to suggest some achievable diet and lifestyle changes we can all make for a better New Year 

 

REDUCE YOUR SATURATED FAT INTAKE:

Some saturated fats such as the stearic acid found in chocolate and lean red meat are cholesterol neutral.

However a diet rich in saturated fats tends to raise bad (LDL) cholesterol, a risk factor for heart disease according to nutrition expert Amanda Ursell.

The launch of the Government's saturated fat reduction pledge encourages caterers and food producers to voluntarily cut saturated fats from their products in 2014.

It is aimed at everyone from food manufacturers and high-street burger and pub chains to hospital and workplace caterers. Not only will this help keep saturated fats at sensible levels but it will help reduce people's calorie, fat, sugar and salt intakes.

An outright ban on all saturated fats would be incredibly hard to enforce.

Most fats are a combination of polyunsaturates, monounsaturates and saturates. Even olive oil is 14 per cent saturated fat. It's fine to have up to 20g of saturated fat a day.

Experts in organizations ranging from the British Dietetic Association to the British Heart Foundation advise not eating too many foods rich in saturated fats such as butter, cream, fatty cuts of meat, processed meats and puddings, cakes and biscuits.

In other words, all foods that usually come with an excess of calories, total fat, sugar and/or salt but few useful nutrients. Such foods should be eaten only as occasional treats rather than as part of our daily diet.

IF YOU ONLY CHANGE ONE THING: Make sure most of your food and drink intake provides real nourishment.

BOOST CARBS AND FIBER:

Low-carbohydrate diets are popular again, says nutrition scientist Bridget Benelam. Yet 33 per cent of our diet should come from starchy foods such as bread, pasta and rice.

We're also getting less fiber (about 14g a day, which is below the UK recommended amount of 18g per day). Starchy foods are often demonized but they are low in fat and can provide fiber and key nutrients.

The Government is set to publish a report on carbohydrates and health, looking at the effects of sugars and starches.

It is likely to recommend including plenty of starchy foods in our diet.

The advice is to eat more starchy, fiber-rich unprocessed carbohydrates such as wholewheat cereal, bread and pasta and brown rice while cutting down on the sugary, processed starch found in sweets, chocolates and biscuits.

IF YOU ONLY CHANGE ONE THING: If you are struggling to lose weight despite eating unprocessed carbohydrates, reduce portion sizes.

EAT LESS MEAT:

Consider a more plant-based diet for the sake of your physical health, the health of your wallet and the health of the planet, says dietitian Helen Bond.

This is not a push towards vegetarianism or veganism but a balanced look at why it can be good to eat less (but better quality) meat and more plant foods.

Experts agree the Western diet is neither healthy nor sustainable.

Food production accounts for up to 30 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions and meat and dairy are prime contributors.

Producing 10g of beef protein releases the same quantity of greenhouse gases as the production of 162g of wheat protein, the amount found in 46 slices of bread.

Try tweaking your diet so at least two thirds of each meal comes from plants such as wholegrain carbohydrates, nuts, beans, lentils, fruit, vegetables and plant-based alternatives to dairy and the remaining third from lean meat, eggs, dairy foods and sustainable fish.

Health benefits from this way of eating include weight loss, reduced cholesterol and blood pressure levels and better heart health. Such a diet doesn't exclude foodies and meat lovers. Many chefs are already embracing plant-based eating.

IF YOU ONLY CHANGE ONE THING: Join in with Meat Free Mondays (meatfreemondays.com).

TAKE A HEALTH TEST:

Blood tests, smears and mammograms don't make for a fun day out but they could save your life, says GP Dawn Harper. Take the NHS up on any free tests you are offered:

All patients aged 40 to 74 are entitled to a health check. This 30-minute consultation with the practice nurse or a GP can help prevent heart disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease and some forms of dementia.

Tests are offered every five years to all patients who don't suffer from these conditions. At the consultation you will be asked questions about your general health, undergo blood tests, a blood pressure check and a body mass index assessment.

If you're unwilling to take up the offer of tests remember that high blood pressure doesn't normally cause headaches and you can't predict anyone's cholesterol levels by simply looking at them.

If you haven't been tested you won't know whether you have a problem. If you're concerned about your blood pressure and your budget will stretch to it a home monitor is a good way of flagging up a problem.

Don't ignore any high readings but make an appointment to see your GP.

Women aged 50 to 70 are offered a mammogram. The scheme is gradually being extended and by 2016 it will include women aged 47 to 49 and 71 to 73. If you're registered with a GP you will be invited for a mammogram. Don't ignore that invitation.

Women aged 25 to 49 are called every three years (every five years between 50 and 64) for a smear test to check for early signs of cervical cancer. It's quick and it really does save lives.

All patients aged 60 to 69 are sent a bowel-screening test kit to look for traces of blood in the stools.

Only just over half of these kits get used, probably because the idea seems unpleasant. However it's another test that could save your life.

IF YOU ONLY CHANGE ONE THING: Check which tests you're eligible for on the NHS and when you are offered an appointment don't miss it.

 

 

 

The Unplanned Blessing

After building a new home on a ranch, we had purchased several furniture pieces from a local furniture store. Some general items took weeks to arrive, some more complex items months. The saleslady called to share that there would be a delay for some of our ordered items. Instead of calling her back, and after grooming several horses, I decided to stop by the store in person. My visit was greeted with a warm smile at first then with tears in my saleslady's eyes. Her daughter was just diagnosed as terminally ill only days before. My visit was received as an opportunity to offer encouragement and words that flowed as light from one mom to another at the gripping news. This was a sad day for me as I entered the store for other personal reasons, yet as I drove away gained such healing and hope as the Lord used even me to lift another soul towards tomorrow. 

By Allison