Thumb Problems due to Skiing

TheQuailman

TheQuailman

Active member
Last year I got new poles and throughout the season the pole would get caught somehow and the strap would pull out my thumb. My thumb would get a little swollen, hurt bad, and stop me from skiing/sports for a while. This happened numerous times and was very annoying throughout the season. It also resulted in me hurting my thumb more during other times.

However, I solved this problem. I jsut didn't put on the pole straps. This stopped my thumbs from being pulled by the strap. However, this became annoying especially when I dropped my poles or had to hike a rail quickly.

So now I ask if anyone has any idea as to what might solve my thumb injury problem other than using no poles or pole straps?
 
its called skiers thumb. i got it so bad once i partially tore the ligaments in my thumb and had to wear casts for a week. i really have no advice on how to solve your problem tho. i still use my pole straps. maybe if your poles are really big cut them down so they dont get in the way as much. that might help if they already arent short.
 
i hate that shit

another way i got it was falling and landing on your hand with the pole in your hand

 
i never used the pole straps. I don't know why, i just never did so the only time i get skiers thumb is when i drag my hands on landings which can result in badness
 
you could be puting them on wrong, or your pole straps are too lose/tight. if not then theres not much you can do. if you come in differently ^ then you risk breaking your wrist
 
i have thinner grips on teh poles that i use so i dont put the straps on. i can still hold on to them and my skis and hike quickly and i havent had a problem dropping them or getting skiiers thumb from them. just try it for a while you will get used to it. last year i used my straps a couple times and i ended up falling real hard and breaking my thumb so i havent used them since and its worked out
 
Make sure you put your strap on right. Dangle the pole off your wrist, then come down gripping the end of the strap against the backside of the pole grip. If you just pick up your hand and then drop the pole the pole should not catch on anything but the top of your wrist where the strap is. Make sense?
 
skiers thumb. yeah that shit sucks, and then even after the season slows down, you still bang it here and there and it brings back those shitty memories of the first time that you hurt it. I had to tape mine up several times.
 
Both my thumb joints bend 90 degress thanks to all the skier thumb incidents I've had.

I saw in one of the new ski mags, a glove/pole combo that is supposed to release the strap from the pole when pressure is applied. Perhaps a Leki product, can't remember
 
i worked in a store that sold these things to protect against that. kind of like a splint that wrapped around your thumb and then around your index finger so they could only go a certain distance appart. never tried em but ive never had a problem.
 
Has nothing to do with your poles. I'm plaster right now cause i snapped my UCL. I didnt have any poles. The doc said your thumb goes in the snow and your movment(forward) then bends the thumb back till it comes out of the snow or disloucates or snaps your UCL.
 
i just had surgery due to skiers thumb that developed into something worse, but i completely tore the ligaments in my thumb and have to be in a cast for 6 weeks total, shits not cool i probably wont use poles anymore
 
i never got why everyone goes from under then hold the strap between their hand and the pole. it's soooo uncomfortable, doesn't add anything to the affect of the strap, and makes you hurt your thumb I guess. I just have the strap on my wrist... when i drop my poles they stay on that's about all I want from my pole straps. is there any reason to do it the other way?
 
damn im glad im not the only one with that problem. they definitely need to think a solution for skiers thumb that shit kills
 
i get that to from landing with my hands down or getting it caught but i just go down through the strap and the pole then it doesnt pull my thumb as much
 
The reason I hold them like that is that it helps with skating a ton. You don't have to grip the pole nearly as tightly because as you push your pole down to skate your wrist just pushes against the bottom of the strap. I don't think it really makes skier thumb that much worse...if you ski enough you're gonna get it one way or another, its pretty much unavoidable.
 
get poles with a huge loop so that you with still be able to hold it without it falling but it wont pull on your thumb
 
its called skiers thumb and its becaquse your wearing your poles wrong. put your hand in through the bottom of the loop and grasp the pole and the loop thing around the outside of it. if that makes sense.  i used to get it to
 
Just deal with the pain, I have torn the ligaments numerous times, but you just gotta keep doing normal stuff and live with it, it gets super swollen and hurts a ton, but whatever, that is skiing.
 
i did the same thing...bent my thumb back and chipped abone in it.. torn ligaments..had a cast on for a while.. surgery should have been done but its slowly healing..
 
Thats wierd dude i dont know what that is but im pretty sure its not skiers thumb.. My moms a nurse she says that skiers thumb is hyper-extension by the joint at the base of your thumb.. I have it on both hands now and i have to wear little plastic braces whenever i ski,, its really annoying.. If you do have skiers thumb it will probably just get worse everytime you land on it
 
i has this problem twice this year, the frist time wasnt so bad so i took some advil and continued to ski with my poles. the 2nd time it was really bad and impossible to hold me pole, i havent skied with poles in the park since the 2nd time, and havent hurt my thumbs since either.
 
It was actualy proven that severe cases of skiiers thumb can result in arthritice at an older age which is uber lame cuz both my thumbs are perma fucked right now and i have to wear a brace for my left one when i ski, you can just find them at like london drugs and stuff and they realy help stoping it and don't realy get in the way at all
 
I get that every season from landing backseat and bracing a fall....it usually takes weeks to heal and it's such a bitch! Anyways, this season I've been lucky and haven't had it happen...
 
I'm also a member of the 90 degree thumb club on both hands.

It doesn't matter how you use your strap on the poles in all about the grip. The thumb just works like a natural anchor on the snow when you fall with a gripped pole.

The sad but true part is, I used to race as well and my pole guards would actually help protect my thumbs when I turned them to the inside. Talk about getting crap! When you're hurting you'll do what ever it takes to still ski.
 
as a ski instructor

i always have to show people how to wear poles properly so they dont do what u did

u put it on regualy

then let the pole dangle

and grip the strap and the pole together for the top

if u need a pic ill sent it

but thier is a definate write and wrong way to do it
 
I bonked a barrel on the left and hit my thumb against my skis on two occasions with the other (off a cliff and knuckling a jump)

1208237168Photo_155.jpg


 
5 easy steps for avoiding skiers thumb:

1-buy realtime

2-watch realtime

3-press enter when ahmet eats shit

4-listen carfully for tom wallisch

5-take his advice
 
yeah i fucked my thumb up too and i couldnt use my hand for a week. it sucked, but i think it would help having shorter poles
 
yea i brokeboth my thumbs getting caught in a backflip. now i use shorter poles with looser straps
 
i wouldnt say go without poles completely. but dont wear the straps. and skiers thumb is the name it goes by.
 
yea dude, thumbs can be a bitch..... i broke mine 2 years in a row, then just jammed the shit out of it for this whole season. the best thing you can do is just let it heal by skiing no poles for a couple days, its mad fun!
 
yea i got tha shit real bad last winter i fell and broke my thumb but didnt kno it or bother to get it checked out til the end of winter, and I kept landing on it like every day. It really is not a good time, maybe if you put some kind of elastic strap on it might fix the problem that way you could still have a starp but it just wouldnt yank your thumb as hard
 
i had it but i didnt use the straps at all, its just when you grab it normally, then my thumb is between the pole and the ground and its possibly the weakest of the three.

i solved it by grabbing the pole normally with my fingers and put the thumb on the top of the pole, instead of touching the index finger.

for me it works perfectly, as long as i keep in mind to grab the pole like that, sometimes i forget and the problem is back in town.
 
I have been having problems with my thumbs (they go numb in the winter and lock up) ever since last ski season. I was walking out on the deck of the lodge at my mountain with my ski boots on and i slipped and put my hand down. My boot slammed right down on to my thumb and it was swollen for like a week.
 
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