Winter activities that can land you in ER

CHICAGO, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Broken bones from snowboarding and sledding top the list of winter mishaps that can result in a trip to the hospital emergency room, a U.S. surgeon says.

"Chicagoans embrace winter with gusto largely because of the great love for hockey, sledding and ice skating," Dr. Daryl O'Connor, an orthopedic surgeon at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, part of the Loyola University Health System, says in a statement.

O'Connor, who formerly cared for U.S. Olympic ski and winter sports athletes, says it pays to be careful when engaging in any winter sport because:

-- More than 700,000 people annually are injured from sledding.

-- Lacerations, as well as neck, shoulder and knee injuries, are common in ice hockey.

-- Injuries to the wrist as well as head and neck are most common in figure skating.

-- Wrist and elbow injuries during snowboarding are caused by falls on outstretched hands.

-- Knees take a pounding during skiing, causing injuries.

O'Connor adds the practice of daredevil teens grabbing a car's rear bumper and sliding on their feet, or being pulled by ropes on inner tubes or sleds on icy streets is not a sport; it's just foolish.

"In addition to broken bones, neck and shoulder injuries, young people can suffer fatal head trauma," O'Connor says.