While it's no picnic to fall repeatedly on your backside, it's worse to fall hands-first. According to a recent study in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, upper extremity injuries fractures, sprains and bruises, especially of the wrists are the most common injuries for snowboarders. The study found that beginners were especially prone to wrist injuries, while advanced snowboarders usually hurt their hands, shoulders and elbows. Advanced snowboarders, however, had a greater risk of severe injury, in part because of higher speeds and more acrobatic maneuvers.
People try to break a forward fall with their arms, which can lead to wrist injuries and fractures.
This study shows that wrist guards can help to minimize these injuries. The study covered a 10-year span of winter seasons using data from 47 medical facilities near Colorado resorts. In that time span, these facilities saw more than 7,000 snowboarding-related injuries, wrist injuries being the most common. Snowboarding did not develop as a mainstream winter sport until the 1970s. Since the sport's inception, the number of snowboarders has risen dramatically.