Enjoy ice fishing safely
By Song Sang-ho
At the peak of the winter season, many enjoy diverse festivals around the country. The festivals make use of snow and ice of the season to attract visitors. Amongst all those wintry festivals, ice fishing is perhaps the most popular. One can have fun catching fish below a layer of ice by digging a hole in the hard frozen ice only in midwinter. It is all the more special as these events are held in the cleanest places around the country.
The “Hwacheon Mountain Trout Festival,” “Inje Smelt Festival,” and “Gapyeong Trout Festival” were held last winter, being enjoyed by ice fishing enthusiasts. In addition, the number of tourists from abroad has also been increasing each year, turning the ice fishing events into international festivals.
However, such a pastime might harm one’s health. When the biting cold is raging, the ice fishing that goes on for hours strains and stiffens the muscles, increasing the risk of joint injuries.
In addition, with the joints exposed to the cold, circumjacent muscles and ligaments are apt to strain. Once muscles and ligaments strain, they fail to prop up the joints, imposing a big burden on the joints or spine. Moreover, even a tiny shock could easily lead to an injury.
Ice fishermen often sit on tiny fishing stools. However, the squatting posture puts great strain on the spine, so more attention is required for those who have a spinal disease or have any form of back pain. When a sore back continues, it could develop into a slipped disk, potentially making it impossible to walk without pain. Hence, when choosing a fishing chair, one should choose a chair with a back in order to lessen the burden on the spine.
In addition, ice fishermen often slip, which may lead to a nasty injury. When falling down on the ice, young people use their wrists to cushion the fall, leading to frequent wrist or elbow fractures.
On the contrary, the elderly happen to suffer hip joint fractures as they lurch backwards. The hip joint, which links the pelvis to thigh bones, plays the crucial role of enabling movement of the lower body, as in walking and sitting. The fracture thus causes huge inconvenience in daily life as one can’t move until its complete recovery. If one feels pain and swollen hips after landing on one’s rear, he or she should see a doctor immediately instead of putting up with it. It’s reported that the six-month-mortality rate of hip joint fracture victims is up to 20 percent when left neglected without immediate medical treatment.
One should also be careful of getting a knee joint injury. When falling down on the ice, people often experience a nasty shock on the knees, which leads to a “meniscus tear.” The symptoms include pain and swelling, but as the pain goes away quickly, many people take it lightly. However, if the meniscus is left neglected, there is a high risk of developing degenerative arthritis. Early treatment is thus crucial
When ice fishing, one can sit for long hours with the buttocks pulled back and the neck bent forward, which might result in turtle neck syndrome. One has to be careful about the posture as the turtle neck syndrome may cause cervical disk accompanied by stiff neck and pain.
To retain a special memory of the winter festival, it’s necessary to relax the body occasionally. I would advise the ice fishermen to stand up from their chair once every hour and do some stretching. It would relax the strained joints and lessen the risk of injury. In addition, prepare lap blankets or hot packs. Specifically, anyone who has had usual pain in their joints is required to pay extra attention to keep themselves warm.
The writer is the president of Wellton Bone & Joint Hospital.