Analysis of injuries' prevalence in surfers from Paraná seacoast.

OBJECTIVE

to analyze the prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries of surfers from the Paraná's seacoast.

METHODS

Sixty men (27 ± 6 years) completed a surf semi structured questionnaire (category, time of daily practice, frequency and exercises performed before and/or after surfing) and characteristics of injuries induced by this sport. A descriptive analysis of the data on distribution of the relative frequency was performed.

RESULTS

It was found that 70% of the respondents practiced surfing as a relaxing activity, 28% were amateurs and 2% were professionals, who were surfing for 10 years or more. Most of them surfed between 2 to 4 times a week during 2 to 4 hours a day. The most common exercise performed before surfing was upper and lower limbs stretching and no exercises at all was done after practice. The most common injury was contusion (29%), lower limb was the most affected segment (46%) and the most common cause of injury was due to contact with the board (52%). The interruption period mostly reported was 1-3 months and the most frequent treatment was taking medicines.

CONCLUSIONS

Recreational was the predominant category of surfers with lower limb's contusion as the most common musculoskeletal injury, resulting from contact with the board, being treated with medication and rest. Level of Evidence II, Retrospective Study.