With hot weather on the menu every day and the ocean right nearby, it’s no surprise that Floridians are heading to the beach. Whether you have a boat, a jet ski or a wakeboard, you might be putting yourself at risk of injury while you seek to cool down. That’s because water sports injuries are among the most common during the summer. What should you watch out for and what should you do? We tell you in today’s article.
When waterskiing, you strap on two skinny skis to your feet and then allow a boat to pull you at full speed around a lake or ocean full of waves. What can happen? If you let your legs go a little too wide, you might be looking at a pulled groin; if you happen to drop the front of your ski, you might be looking at a knee or ankle injury. Most injuries from water-skiing, however, don’t come from bad form on the skis, but from wiping out or running into something. It’s when you wipe out that you can tear ligaments and tendons in your leg, which is trying to free itself from the ski.
If you injure yourself waterskiing, drop into our urgent care center in Wellington area to get checked out. We make sure that your injuries are diagnosed properly when you need it, not just when your regular doctor is in.
Like waterskiing, the main injuries from these sports come from wipeouts. Unlike waterskiing, it’s more likely that you’ll hit your head than twist your knee. Since you’re mostly just skimming the surface of the water, unattached to anything, hitting a wave at the wrong angle can send you flying (and landing). It may feel exhilarating, until you wake up the next day with a raging headache. If this happens to you, or if you feel pain right away, come immediately to one of our urgent care centers to get checked out. It may be a concussion, or you could have injured your neck. Our doctors will make sure you haven’t seriously hurt yourself, no appointment necessary.
Jet skiing can be both safe and unsafe. Fortunately, you are in the driver’s seat, so you don’t have to worry about the boat driver making a bad decision. Unfortunately, you might be a risk taker - and that can mean you go a little too fast at just the wrong time. If that’s the case, you might go airborne, and depending on where you land, you can get seriously injured. Hitting water can feel like hitting glass at high speeds, and potential collisions with swimmers or other boats could leave you with broken bones or contusions. If you can see your bone or can’t stop the bleeding, head to the emergency room. If you hear a crack but it did not break the skin, come to our urgent care in Palm Srpings/Forest Hill area for treatment.
If you injure yourself outside of regular business hours - and let’s be honest, that’s usually when we injure ourselves - go to your nearest location of Urgent Care of the Palm Beaches: Palm Beach Gardens, West Palm Beach or Palm Springs to get the help you need.
School starts in Palm Beach County on August 13 - less than a month away. Of course, school sports training starts earlier than that, so why not beat the rush and get your school physical today? What does a school physical involve and why should you get one at the walk in clinic in Forest Hill area, part of the Urgent Care of the Palm Beaches? We’ll tell you!
Before you start school in the fall, you need to have the basics checked. In Florida, that means you will fill out a form about your child’s general health, allergies, prescription medication, problems with vision, hearing or speech, significant past injuries or disabilities, and more. This ensures that the school can make the proper accommodations for your child, whether that’s allowing them more time to get to class, ensuring they get a seat at the front of the room to hear or see better, or simply permitting them to go to the nurse to take their medications.
After you fill out the initial medical history, the care provider - that’s us at the walk in clinic Palm Springs - will do a physical exam, entailing a vision check, as well as a review of your child’s dental health; head and scalp; eyes, ears, nose, and throat; chest, lungs, and heart; and abdomen. Having a regular school physical means that you can get ahead of any congenital or underlying issues that may arise during the school year. This is especially important for student-athletes.
There’s a lot of reasons to get your school physical, even if it weren’t required. First of all, you can ease your mind that you’re healthy or you can get a jumpstart on addressing any health problems that appear. Secondly, we provide vaccinations when necessary.
One of the most common unaddressed problems for young students are dental and vision problems, and the once-a-year appointment at school physical time is an exceptional opportunity to ensure that your little learner isn’t experiencing pain or having trouble seeing the board.
Having a physical is also critical for athletes of all ages. Whether they’re playing football or softball under the hot Florida sun, they’ll be running wind sprints and doing ladders to get in shape during pre-season conditioning and daily practice. Don’t you want to make sure that their heart is up to it?
Finally, even for the non-athletically inclined, a school physical is a great way to start the year, as sometimes problems appear that go unnoticed except at a doctor. This can be untreated allergies, abdominal pain or ear pain.
Avoid the rush by coming to any one of our Palm Beach walk in clinics, before everyone and their brother is waiting in line. Our walk in clinic in Greenacres area accepts you 7 days a week with no appointment necessary, meaning it can be quick and easy to get your school physical done.
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