As we pull together this Summer 2018 issue of Surfing Medicine the common theme that emerges from the great blue abyss is death. Try as we may to avert our gaze, there seems to be no avoiding it. “No other option” is a beautifully rendered, heartfelt, true story about a near-death surfing experience in Mexico […]
~ read more ~
A wizened old surfer observing idle young groms once said, “Youth is wasted on the young” – or perhaps it was Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw. No matter. The fact is, that as we get older, we yearn for the flexibility, strength and quickness of our youth. True that 60 is the new 50, and […]
~ read more ~
A surf doctor is a know-it-all. Has to be. Take a look at this issue of Surfing Medicine, and you’ll see why. Part neurosurgeon (Bodyboarder with central cord syndrome), part ID specialist (Should you Frika about Zika?) part wildlife expert (Images from surfing medicine), all of these topics and more are included in this 29th […]
~ read more ~
There has been much hysteria in the news recently about the rapid spread of the Zika virus disease (ZVD). Awareness has been heightened by the 2016 summer Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, where the epidemic is widespread and a number of athletes withdrew due to fears of contracting an infection. Unfortunately for surfers, the […]
~ read more ~
In this issue we explore the extremes of surfing medicine. From extremely hot, “Sun protection for surfers” to extremely cold, “Cold water surfing and hypothermia”. From extremely old, “Granny and Doc” to extremely new, “Triple Crown Injury Report”. From extremely sharp, “Sea Urchin Injuries”……well you get the picture. In the “Sun protection” article, SMA newbie, […]
~ read more ~
As we put together this Fall 2014 Issue I am happy to report that interest in the field of surfing medicine has never been higher. Conferences run by the SMA and other organizations are plentiful and well attended, research projects in Hawaii, Europe and in the mainland US are blossoming, and community outreach projects and […]
~ read more ~
Just like its sometimes fun to ride an old board that hasn’t seen the light of day for a few years, here at SM headquarters we’ll occasionally dust off an old issue of the Journal and revisit an article that particularly strikes our fancy. ‘Course cutting-edge medicine changes a bit over time, so we may […]
~ read more ~
Welcome to the 25th Anniversary Edition of Surfing Medicine – the Journal of the SMA. Hard to believe, but a quarter of a century has passed since Mark Renneker and Kevin Starr took chisel to stone and created the Journal’s very first issue. That “Winter, 1988” issue highlighted a North Shore conference, health care projects in the […]
~ read more ~
Surfing is perhaps the oldest “extreme sport” in existence, and though its precise origins are unknown, most authorities agree that the sport originated in Polynesia over 800 years ago. The first written accounts of surfing appear in the journals of English explorer Captain James Cook, who witnessed Tahitians body surfing and riding waves in outrigger canoes in 1777 […]
~ read more ~