You're walking down the sidewalk after an overnight snowfall. Or you’re whooshing down the slopes on your second run of the day down the ski mountain. Suddenly your foot slips and your legs go out from under you. Lying on the ground, your anger at the fall is overwhelmed only by the burning pain in your leg. You’ve become one of the many people in the Hudson Valley who suffer from winter-related orthopedic injuries every year.

Greg Pace, MD, who specializes in foot and ankle surgery at Columbia Memorial Health, says there’s definitely an uptick during the winter in fractures due to falls and accidents. “We see a lot of ski injuries,” Dr. Pace says. “Fractures, ACL injuries, and meniscus injuries. We don’t see a lot of ankle injuries in skiing accidents, due to the stability of the ski boot.”
Outside of skiing, a lot of patients who see Dr. Pace are elderly people who have slipped and fallen on the ice. “It’s not uncommon for the elderly to experience ankle injuries, wrist fractures from falling and landing on their hands, and of course hip injuries.”

Depending upon the type and severity of injury, surgical intervention may be necessary. Dr. Pace evaluates each injury on a case-by-case basis, but generally an ACL injury in a younger patient might require an operative solution, as would a hip fracture in an older patient. Any injury takes time to heal: Fractures generally have a three-month recovery time, while ligament injuries may take up to six months to fully resolve.
So how can you stay upright, and avoid seeing the emergency room? “Being careful and aware is the most important tip,” Dr. Pace says. “Accidents are unpredictable at this time of year, and there is no surefire way to prevent them, but try to find shoes with good treads, and securely fitted winter boots.”

But if you do suffer an injury, rest assured that Columbia Memorial Health has the right doctors, equipment, and procedures to help get you back on your feet again.

Columbiamemorialhealth.org