How long have you been surfing for? Over the years that you have been surfing, have you ever been injured? Have you had a niggling ache and pain that just won't go away? Margaret Plag, a Masters student in the School of Biomedical and Health Sciences at the University of Western Sydney, is in the process of surveying surfers Australia wide to determine the incidence, severity and outcomes of acute and chronic injuries from surfing. This is a new national survey that aims to identify the injuries experienced by surfers as the first step to making the sport kinder on the bodies of thousands of Australian surfers. If you are interested in participating in the study, are aged 18 to 50 years with three or more years surfing experience, then contact Marg on 0404 011 681 or email: [email protected] Once recruited to the trial the survey can be completed via hard copy. The survey will take no more than 15 minutes to complete. Participants in the survey will complete a retrospective questionnaire about their surfing habits, injuries and health over the last 12 months. Please note: Margaret has advertised for this before on Swellnet. However, she is looking for more surfers to take part in the study. If you answered her first advertisement please don't respond to this one. About The Study Injuries in the surf are varied and can range from an acute injury that happens from sudden impact such as: a bruise from impact with the board, a reef cut, or broken bone, to chronic injuries that occur from repetitive micro-trauma such as: chronic neck or lower back pain. Some more specific chronic injuries surfers can experience are chronic shoulder problems requiring reconstructive surgery. This may be caused by years of paddling. About 60 per cent of the time surfing is actually spent paddling which forces the body to work in an unnatural posture, such as a hyper-extended back, and potentially increasing wear and tear on the shoulder joint. Years of surfing five days a week for one to two hours at a time can quickly add up to thousands of hours of paddling as well as other damaging repetitive movements. We all know that some acute injuries sometimes cannot be preventable but, through this study, if we could pinpoint some causes of the persisting chronic injuries it is possible to devise early action to prevent long term damage. This can be done through proper exercise and stretching, which doesn't have to take too long! Most surfers don't know how to safely exercise and prepare their bodies for their sport. In fact, many probably just go surfing. There is a great physical and emotional satisfaction from surfing, but long term it's also potentially very damaging to your body and no surfer wants to be out of the surf for too long, especially when the surf is going off.