Winter Sports

Don t Let Fun Become A Pain

Nobody likes to stay cooped up within the house for long, and winter sports prov ide the exhilaration and mad rush of adrenalin when the sun has decided to go in to the shadow for months! These sports provide a fun alternative to staying insi de a gym for workouts! While there are certain sports like basketball that can be played around the yea r most of the winter sports are based around snow and ice. Hence, it becomes al l the more important to take extra precautions and follow measures of safety aga inst the dangers of overexposure to extreme cold weather. In order for the body to work efficiently, it is essential to maintain the right temperature, or the body would start consuming more energy for warmth. And this could leave you feeling weak and exhausted soon, not letting you really enjoy y our winter sports. It could also lead to severe medical conditions like frostbit e and hypothermia. What Is Frostbite? Frostbite is a common condition of the extremities of the body caused due to ext reme cold exposure. Without proper warm clothing like hats, mittens, earmuffs an d correct footwear, the surface tissue of the ears, face, toes and fingers freez e up. And this painful condition could be a total dampener to the spirit of wint er sports! The symptoms of frostbite include pain, numbness and burning in extremities. The skin becomes hard and white and eventually changes to a firm, yellowish-gray. I t becomes blistered and starts itching and peeling off! If a person gets frostbi tten during winter sports, he should be taken to a warm, dry place, and the affe cted areas should be raised and applied with moist, warm compresses, taking care not to rub them. What Is Hypothermia? Hypothermia is another serious condition resulting due to inadequate safety meas ures during winter sports. In the extreme cold, the body s core temperature drops significantly, leading to intense violent shivering. There could be lack of coor dination, muscle-stiffness, sluggishness, slurred speech, goose bumps, numbness, confusion, depression and even unconsciousness. The victim should be immediatel y taken to a warm, dry place and covered with extra warm clothes or blankets, or given your own body heat. How To Prevent Such Conditions? The best way of defense against such afflictions is warm clothing. Use layered c lothing several thin layers provide more warmth than a single heavy layer. There are ideally 3 layers that go with all winter sports: base, mid and outer. The b ase layer keeps perspiration away from your skin; mid layer provides insulation and the outer layer allows moisture to escape while keeping wind and water out. Also make sure to get enough carbohydrate-rich nutrition in the form of quick sh ort meals, and drink plenty of water while taking care to avoid caffeine and alc ohol, as they dilate blood vessels and increase the loss of body heat. All these measures will help to make your winter sports even more enjoyable.