Skier's Thumb is WACK

I used to always get skier's thumb and it took me about 10 years to find out why.
If you're a park rider, you're not getting it because of how you put your pole straps on. You are getting it from falling on hard landings. It's reflex to put your hands out to catch yourself from falling. Then, since your pole is still in you hand, the tip of your thumb pushes against the snow while the pole acts as a fulcrum. With all that instantaneous torque on your thumb, somethin has to give. The icy landing stays icy. The metal pole stays metal. And your bone (or ligament) breaks.
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To stop it from happening, you have to retrain yourself on how to fall. You got two options:
a) Keep your thumb holding onto your pole when you fall. Hence the duct tape suggestions. Or train yourself to hold on to your poles and keep a tight fist whenever you fall.
b) Let go of the poles when you fall. I think this would be a bit harder to train yourself to do. And if you do it too late...well fuck...now you got skier's thumb again.
I guess you could also stop riding park:)
Good luck man, that shit bites. But google images says you're in good company:
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I have it right now, and have had it every year from assorted variations of falls. This year it was doing a flat three, except instead of landing on my feet, I landed on my thumb... Ouch.
 
Shit sucks. Got it last night for the first time. Seriously cannot move my thumb without extreme pain. Definitely going to urgent care tomorrow when I get back home because my broken finger didn't hurt this much. FUCK.
 
Preaching to the choir here brosif.
Last trip out to Utah (last week...feb 28th-march 6th) I took 1 day off due to falling and not releasing my pole on my right hand thumb. It was pretty swollen the next day. I did it ripping down a groomer and being lazy with my edges on my one life's.
I read all about it in the car and they have different classifications and shit for them like a category 1-4. 1 through 2 being like ones that do not require surgery and heal over time with rest, ice, compression, and elevation.
I drove all the way up to snowbird parking entry 1 to say eh...I should really seriously not ski today if I want to do whats RIGHT. It was real tender that day and lets face it we know it fucking hurts those first couple days. But further injuring that shit could be terrible. Imagine FOR REAL fuckin it up and requiring surgery.
Im confident all this wear and tear on my thumb is going to create problems later down the road.
 
haha
and squeezing your hand in to your glove
lets not forget that. when you are like OH MY GOD JUST GET IN THE GLOVE.
I would take my glove off during the ride up the lift. and raise my hand and ice it on my ski poles.
 
yeah skiers thumb really sucks...my suggestion would be to use extremely small poles for park, like hip/waist height with the skinniest grips possible. take off the pole straps as well, so you can drop them if ur gonna fall. just rock a good pair of poles for pow and shitty park poles.
 
let go of your poles, so there won't be unatural pressure on your thumb. If you don't want to keep fucking up your thumb, then ditch your poles completely.
 
Its ironic that you guys bumped this thread recently. I just broke/fractured my thumb yesterday on a fall. Wasnt even in the park. Jumped off a hill into a tranny onto a cat track, sunk in the snow and hit my hand/dome piece real hard.

Again, "skier's thumb is wack!"
 
so questing. i did a five and landed super far forward and caught myself on my hands. my left thumb slammed into the hard icy snow and drug there for like 2feet probly. it was right on the tip joint. i think its just a baddddd sprain cause its not bruising or anything. could it be something else? any ideas? i went to the doctors two weeks ago for my other thum and dont really wanna go back and have to pay twice ha
 
I have. I've had 2 surgeries (1 one each thump) broke my right thumb twice, my left once, and i tore my ligament in my left. Im not able to grasp stuff with my left hand as much as i use to which really sucks cause im left handed. It gets fatigued after writing about a page. Im not not able to touch the bottom of my pinky.

I did what someone else said, i went and got braces heat molded to my thumb which i now wear every time skiing. I havent broken any since. And that was 2 seasons ago.
 
Ya im in a cast right now because of skiers thumb, ripped the ligament of the bone and it took part of the bone with it, but im still skiing!
 
Skiers thumb is no joke. It sucks hardcore dick.

My thumbs have been sprained since I started skiing in the park four years ago. I'm convinced they'll never fully heal, because I re-injure them every season.
 
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