Back pain trouble from Laser sailing

TTT Yachting Medicine give their thoughts

A newly formed group of healthcare specialists, whose focus with TTT is to provide specific and appropriate advice and treatment to the sailing market. All three partners are experienced racing sailors in their own right. Timo Malinen is a qualified Chiropractor and Physiotherapist from the University of Glamorgan and Tampere College of Healthcare Finland, respectively. He most recently was the Medical Coordinator for the Volvo Ocean Race and the representive for the Medical Advisory Committee during the Race. Tim Spalding is an Orthopaedic Consultant at Coventry Hospital. This means he knows an awful lot about bones and joints and specialises in knees, a common problem for sailors. His current active research area is the prevention of offshore yachting injuries. Tim has been Medical Advisor to the Volvo/Whitbread Race since 1989. Mark 'Tommo' Tomson is a GP. He specialises in providing on board medical kits and has been Medical Advisor to top racing teams such as Kingfisher, ENZA and Royal Sun Alliance. Tommo has been Medical Advisor for the Whitbread/Volvo Race for over 10 years.

Ryan Visser asks:
I currentley sail a Laser, and have recentley finished crewing a 29er. After every weekend of racing I suffer from back pain which ends up lasting until my next sailing session. The pain seems to be muscular, just between my shoulder blades and moving slightly lower down my spine. Have you heard of this problem before and do you know what causes it? How can I fix it!? I have been to a physio, but not a specialist sailing physio. I'm 19 years old, 5' 11'' and 76kg.


Dear Ryan,

As always it is quite difficult to make an accurate diagnosis without meeting the patient, but in your case it does sound like a relatively common dinghy sailors back problem. The most likely cause for the problem is the prolonged poor posture when hiking or trapezing.

Ones back tends to end up being very round when you help the boat through the water. This often results in the muscles in front of your body to get tight and the back muscles to get lengthened. This means that those muscles can not then work from their ideal length and an imbalance being the result. This in turn causes pain often after your posture "returns" back to more normal when not sailing. You say that "it feels muscular" but more than likely there is a spinal component to it too.

Like in some of our previous answers we have answered the question is not so much muscle strength but muscle endurance. This is combined with muscle balance between the muscles in the front of your body and the back muscles. Good posture and teaching the right muscles to "fire in" at the right moment is the key.

You are doing the right thing by seeing a physio. Any qualified physio is good although sport specificity is very important with sports related complaints. For the spinal component you may get more help from a chiropractor. However it is important that you do get this looked at early to avoid any long term trouble.

Thank you for your question and good luck with your Laser!

TTT

Important note: This medical advice is offered as only an opinion and does not constitute a diagnosis or a recommended course of treatment. The opinion offered above is bound by the terms and conditions of www.thedailysail.com.

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