People who take up ice skating should wear protective gear and receive basic instructions on how to stop and land after a fall, according to doctors who had to deal with a significant number of injuries when a new ice rink opened in their area.
Doctors at the casualty department of Cork University Hospital had to deal with 66 patients injured in just one month after a temporary ice rink opened in its catchment area in 2004.
The injuries sustained by 18 of these patients were deemed sufficiently serious to require inpatient treatment. "This posed a significant workload on an already busy department," according to Dr John Dillon.
He and others carried out a retrospective study of the effect on the orthopaedics department of injuries from the ice rink. They also looked at the effects of the injuries on those who suffered them. The findings of their research have been published in the latest edition of the Irish Medical Journal.
Injuries ranged from fractures of the ankle, tibia, patella and humerus. One patient sustained a head injury.
"No patient questioned was wearing protective gear. Three of those injured felt that the size of the skating boot was not correct and that this was a contributing factor to their injury. Fifteen of those injured had never skated previously and 17 of the 18 patients received no formal instruction."
Working adults were among 12 of the 18 people admitted with injuries and they had to take an average of 6.1 weeks off work as a result. Children who were injured had to take an average of three weeks off school.
The authors of a separate study in the same journal called for compulsory head and facial protection for hurlers.
Their call followed a study of 45 senior intercounty players from Kilkenny and Waterford on their experience of head and facial injuries.
Some 39 players had suffered injuries during the game, and 14 of them (31 per cent) had sustained serious eye injuries, but only six were then seen by an eye specialist.