7/28/2019 Winter Sports - Dont Let Fun Become a Pain

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Winter Sports Dont Let Fun Become A Pain

Nobody likes to stay cooped up within the house for long, and winter sports provide the exhilaration and mad rush of adrenalin when the sun has decided to go into the shadow for months! These sports provide a fun alternative to staying inside a gym for workouts!

While there are certain sports like basketball that can be played around the year most of the winter sports are based around snow and ice. Hence, it becomes all the more important to take extra precautions and follow measures of safety against the dangers of overexposure to extreme cold weather.

In order for the body to work efficiently, it is essential to maintain the righttemperature, or the body would start consuming more energy for warmth. And thiscould leave you feeling weak and exhausted soon, not letting you really enjoy your winter sports. It could also lead to severe medical conditions like frostbite and hypothermia.

What Is Frostbite?

Frostbite is a common condition of the extremities of the body caused due to extreme cold exposure. Without proper warm clothing like hats, mittens, earmuffs and correct footwear, the surface tissue of the ears, face, toes and fingers freeze 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. Theskin becomes hard and white and eventually changes to a firm, yellowish-gray. It becomes blistered and starts itching and peeling off! If a person gets frostbitten during winter sports, he should be taken to a warm, dry place, and the affected areas should be raised and applied with moist, warm compresses, taking carenot to rub them.

What Is Hypothermia?

Hypothermia is another serious condition resulting due to inadequate safety measures during winter sports. In the extreme cold, the bodys core temperature drops

significantly, leading to intense violent shivering. There could be lack of coordination, muscle-stiffness, sluggishness, slurred speech, goose bumps, numbness,confusion, depression and even unconsciousness. The victim should be immediately taken to a warm, dry place and covered with extra warm clothes or blankets, orgiven your own body heat.

How To Prevent Such Conditions?

The best way of defense against such afflictions is warm clothing. Use layered clothing several thin layers provide more warmth than a single heavy layer. Thereare ideally 3 layers that go with all winter sports: base, mid and outer. The base layer keeps perspiration away from your skin; mid layer provides insulationand 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 short meals, and drink plenty of water while taking care to avoid caffeine and alcohol, as they dilate blood vessels and increase the loss of body heat. All thesemeasures will help to make your winter sports even more enjoyable.