17 Common Speed Skating injuries (Prevention & Treatment)

All 17 common speed skating injuries, from rotator cuff strain and ankle sprains to ACL tears, fractures and cuts from the skate blades.

The low crouch and long strides add groin strain, back and hip trouble, and falls at speed bring concussions, wrist and rib injuries, with hypothermia and dehydration covered as well.

Injury Rates and Numbers

The figures below come from injury surveillance data and peer reviewed studies. Each row names the population it was measured in, because rates from elite athletes and from recreational players are not comparable.

Finding	Measured in	Source
Over one season, 84 elite Dutch youth long track speed skaters reported 283 health problems, with acute injuries occurring at 2.0 per 1000 hours.	84 highly trained/elite Dutch youth long track speed skaters aged 15 to 21, 2019/2020 season, published 2024	British Journal of Sports Medicine (Hendricks et al., 2024)
Among elite youth long track speed skaters, the knee carried the highest overuse injury burden at 11.0 days of time loss per 1000 hours.	84 highly trained/elite Dutch youth long track speed skaters aged 15 to 21, 2019/2020 season, published 2024	British Journal of Sports Medicine (Hendricks et al., 2024)
In a survey of elite short track speed skaters, 64.2 percent reported sustaining at least one injury, with the knee, ankle and spine the most common sites.	95 of 150 elite level short track speed skaters surveyed (63.3% response), 1999/2000 competitive season, published 2003	American Journal of Sports Medicine (Quinn et al., 2003)
A video review of 1505 falls at 16 international short track competitions found 7.1 percent of crashes involving Canadian team skaters caused an injury.	All short track falls at 16 International Skating Union and Olympic competitions, with injury reporting for the Canadian team, 2021 to 2023, published 2025	Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports (Clement et al., 2025)
A scoping review of competitive ice speed skating found competition injury rates ranging from 2 percent to 18 percent of participants.	Competitive long track and short track ice speed skaters, across 24 descriptive epidemiology studies, Scoping review published 2024	Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports (scoping review, 2024)

Overview

Injury	Body area	Typical time out
Shoulder injuries (rotator cuff, strains)	Shoulder	2 to 6 weeks, months after surgery
Ankle sprains	Ankle	1 to 6 weeks, longer if grade 3
Knee injuries (ACL, meniscus)	Knee	3 weeks to 12 months after ACL surgery
Fractures (arms, legs, ribs)	Arm, leg and rib	6 to 12 weeks, 3 to 6 months back
Hand injuries (fractures, sprains, and cuts from the skates)	Hand	1 to 6 weeks, months if tendon cut
Groin strains	Groin	2 to 8 weeks, 3 months or more if torn
Back injuries (muscle strains)	Lower back	1 to 3 weeks, longer if recurring
Wrist injuries (sprains, fractures)	Hand and wrist	1 to 3 weeks, 6 to 12 weeks if fractured
Head injuries (concussions, from falls or collisions)	Head	2 to 4 weeks, longer if symptoms persist
Hip injuries (strains, dislocations)	Hip	2 to 6 weeks, months after dislocation
Elbow injuries (sprains, dislocations)	Elbow	2 to 4 weeks, 6 to 12 if dislocated
Rib injuries (bruises, fractures)	Chest	4 to 8 weeks, longer if several ribs
Neck injuries (strains, fractures)	Neck	1 to 3 weeks, months if fractured
Cuts and abrasions (from falls or ice contact)	Skin	Days to 2 weeks, months if deep
Dehydration	Whole body	Hours to a day, days if severe
Hypothermia	Whole body	A day if mild, days to weeks if severe
Eye injuries (from ice shards or debris)	Eye	1 to 3 days, weeks if deeper injury

Shoulder injuries (rotator cuff, strains)

The rotator cuff is a group of four tendons that hold the head of the upper arm bone centered in the shallow shoulder socket. In speed skating the shoulder is loaded in two very different ways: the long arm swing of the 1000 and 1500 meter races keeps the cuff and the surrounding bursa working under fatigue, and a fall at speed drives the shoulder into the ice or the padding, which can strain the cuff or the acromioclavicular joint at the top of the shoulder. Overhead gym work and heavy pushing in the off ice program often add to the tendon load.

Symptoms

• A dull ache on the outside of the upper arm that is worse when you lift the arm sideways.
• Pain when lying on that shoulder at night.
• Weakness when reaching behind your back or above shoulder height.
• A catching or pinching feeling at a certain point in the arc of movement.
• After a fall, sharp pain over the top of the shoulder and a reluctance to move the arm at all.

How serious it is: Tendon problems run from irritation with full strength, through a partial tear with weakness, to a full thickness tear where you cannot hold the arm out against light pressure. Acromioclavicular joint injuries after a fall are graded type I to type III and above, where type I is a sprain of the ligaments, type II a partial tear with slight step in the contour, and type III a complete separation with a visible bump.

Typical time out: A mild strain or an irritated rotator cuff often settles in two to six weeks with adjusted training. A type I or type II acromioclavicular sprain usually allows a return to easy skating in three to six weeks. A full thickness cuff tear that is repaired surgically means four to six months before racing, because the repaired tendon has to heal to bone before it can carry load.

See a doctor if: See a doctor if the shoulder looks deformed, if you cannot lift the arm away from your side at all, or if you have numbness or a cold hand after a fall.

What helps

• Short cooling in the first hours only to take the edge off the pain, then movement within a pain limit you can tolerate.
• Progressive loading of the rotator cuff and the shoulder blade muscles, starting with the arm below shoulder height and moving up as pain allows.
• Cutting the overhead and heavy pressing volume in the gym for a few weeks instead of stopping all training.
• Physical therapy if the weakness or the night pain has not clearly improved in four to six weeks.
• Imaging when a fall leaves you unable to lift the arm, or when strength stays poor despite a proper loading program. Cortisone injections may calm severe pain for a short time, but they are an exception rather than a plan, since long term outcomes in tendon problems tend to be worse.

Ankle sprains

A sprain damages the ligaments on the outside of the ankle, most often the anterior talofibular ligament that runs from the fibula to the ankle bone. Speed skating holds the ankle in a stiff boot, so the classic rolled ankle usually happens off the ice, on stairs, in dryland work or in the moment a skate catches a rut and the foot twists as you land. The eversion load of the crossover in the corner also stresses the ligaments on the inner side and the peroneal tendons behind the outer ankle bone.

Symptoms

• Immediate pain on the outside of the ankle after the foot rolls under you.
• Swelling in front of and below the outer ankle bone within a few hours.
• Bruising that spreads into the foot over the following days.
• A feeling that the ankle gives way on uneven ground.
• Pain when you push off the forefoot or turn the sole inward.

How serious it is: Sprains are graded 1 to 3. Grade 1 is a stretched ligament with mild swelling and near normal walking, grade 2 a partial tear with clear swelling and a limp, grade 3 a complete tear with marked instability and difficulty bearing weight.

Typical time out: A grade 1 sprain usually allows skating again within one to two weeks. Grade 2 takes three to six weeks before full cornering load. Grade 3, or any sprain with an associated fracture, can take two to three months, and the sense of instability may linger longer than the swelling.

See a doctor if: Get it checked if you cannot take four steps on the leg, if there is point tenderness directly on the bone at the back edge of either ankle bone, or if the foot feels numb.

What helps

• Walking on it early within a pain limit rather than resting completely, since loaded tissue heals better organized.
• A brace or firm taping for the first weeks and for the return to cornering work.
• Balance and proprioception training on one leg, which lowers the chance of spraining the same ankle again.
• Calf and peroneal strengthening before you go back to full crossovers.
• An X ray when the bony landmarks are tender or weight bearing is impossible, since a fracture and a sprain feel similar in the first hour.

Knee injuries (ACL, meniscus)

The anterior cruciate ligament sits inside the joint and stops the shin bone sliding forward and rotating; the menisci are two wedges of cartilage that spread load between thigh bone and shin. Speed skating keeps the knee bent at a deep angle for long periods, so the more typical problem is a load related pain at the front of the knee or an irritated patellar tendon rather than a torn ligament. Cruciate and meniscal tears in this sport come mostly from a crash, a blade catching, or a twisting landing in dryland training.

Symptoms

• A pop or a tearing sensation at the moment of injury, followed by swelling within a few hours.
• A sense that the knee shifts or gives way when you turn on it.
• Pain along the joint line that is worse with deep bending.
• Catching or locking, so the knee will not straighten fully.
• With overuse rather than trauma, a deep ache at the front of the knee that builds through a session in the low position.

How serious it is: Cruciate injuries range from a sprain with intact fibers to a complete tear with clear instability. Meniscal tears range from a small stable tear that settles with rehabilitation to a displaced tear that blocks movement and needs surgery. Fast swelling within a few hours points to bleeding inside the joint and a more serious injury.

Typical time out: A knee sprain without a complete tear often allows a return to easy skating in three to six weeks. A small meniscal tear treated without surgery takes six to twelve weeks. A reconstructed cruciate ligament means nine to twelve months before full competitive load, because the graft has to remodel and the leg has to regain strength and control.

See a doctor if: See a doctor promptly if the knee swells within a few hours, will not straighten, or buckles under you when you try to walk.

What helps

• Restoring full straightening and quadriceps activation first, before any strength or speed work.
• Progressive strength work for the quadriceps, hamstrings and hip muscles, since the deep skating position asks a great deal of the front of the thigh.
• Managing volume in the low position and building it back gradually, especially after a break, since the knee carries the highest overuse burden in this sport.
• Checking boot fit, blade alignment and the depth of the position, as an inward collapsing knee loads the joint unevenly.
• An MRI and a specialist opinion when the knee locks, gives way or stays swollen after a few weeks.

Fractures (arms, legs, ribs)

A fracture is a break in the bone itself, from a hairline crack to a displaced break with fragments out of line. In speed skating they come from sliding into the boards at high speed, from a pile up in a short track pack, or from the outstretched arm taking the whole body on landing, which typically breaks the forearm, the collarbone or the wrist. Ribs break when the chest hits the ice, a knee or the barrier directly.

Symptoms

• Sharp, localized pain that stays in one small spot when you press.
• Rapid swelling and bruising over that spot.
• Inability to use the limb normally or to bear weight.
• A visible bend, step or shortening in the limb.
• With ribs, a stabbing pain on deep breath, cough or laugh.

How serious it is: Undisplaced fractures where the bone ends stay in line usually heal in a cast or brace. Displaced, angulated or multi fragment fractures, and any break that enters a joint surface, generally need to be set or fixed with plates, screws or a nail.

Typical time out: Bone union takes roughly six to twelve weeks in most limb fractures, and rib fractures settle in about four to eight weeks. The return to competition is longer than the healing time, usually three to six months, because strength, blade feel and confidence all have to come back. Breaks that need surgery or that involve a joint sit at the long end of that range.

See a doctor if: Go to emergency care for a visible deformity, a bone tender to the touch after a crash, numbness or a pale cold hand or foot below the injury, or breathlessness after a chest impact.

What helps

• An X ray on the day of the crash rather than waiting to see whether it settles.
• Immobilization exactly as prescribed, then early movement of the joints above and below as soon as the doctor allows.
• Keeping the rest of the body training, for example cycling with an arm in a cast, so that the fitness loss is limited to the injured part.
• For rib fractures, deep breathing exercises every hour with pain controlled, since shallow breathing raises the risk of a chest infection.
• A supervised return to blade work, starting with straight line skating before corners and starts.

Hand injuries (fractures, sprains, and cuts from the skates)

The hand carries small bones, the joint capsules and collateral ligaments of the fingers, and thin skin over the tendons. In speed skating the hand touches the ice constantly, since skaters place a gloved hand on the surface through the corner, and a fall drives fingers backward or sideways into the ice. The distinctive injury is a laceration: a skate blade is ground to a sharp edge and can cut through a glove into the tendons and nerves of the hand within a fraction of a second in a pack fall.

Symptoms

• Pain and swelling around a single finger joint that will not bend fully.
• A finger that sits at an odd angle or crosses over its neighbor when you make a fist.
• Deep pain in the back of the hand when you grip.
• A cut that keeps bleeding or that gapes open at the edges.
• Numbness on one side of a finger, or inability to bend or straighten it after a cut.

How serious it is: A simple sprain of a finger joint is stable and painful, while a fracture into the joint or a torn collateral ligament leaves the joint unstable and out of line. Cuts run from a superficial graze to a laceration that divides a tendon, a nerve or an artery, which is a surgical emergency regardless of how small the skin wound looks.

Typical time out: A finger sprain allows gloved skating in one to three weeks with buddy taping. A hand fracture generally needs four to six weeks in a cast and eight to twelve weeks before full grip strength. A cut tendon repaired surgically means two to three months of protected rehabilitation, since the repair fails if it is loaded too early.

See a doctor if: Go to emergency care for a deep cut from a blade, for bleeding that does not stop with firm pressure, for numbness in a finger, or if you cannot bend or straighten a finger after the injury.

What helps

• Firm direct pressure on any bleeding wound on the way to care, rather than repeated checking.
• Cleaning and closing cuts properly, with a check of tendon and nerve function by a professional, because a blade cut is deeper than it looks.
• Buddy taping a sprained finger to its neighbor and moving it daily, since stiff finger joints are hard to recover.
• An X ray for any knuckle that is swollen and tender after impact, as small fractures are easy to miss.
• Hand therapy after a fracture or a repair, working on range of motion first and grip strength later.

Groin strains

A groin strain is a tear in the adductor muscles on the inside of the thigh, most often the adductor longus close to where it attaches on the pubic bone. Speed skating is one of the sports that loads these muscles hardest, because every push goes sideways and the adductors have to pull the leg back under the body against the glide while the hip is already wide. Starts, crossovers and the first hard sessions after a break are the typical moments of failure.

Symptoms

• A sudden pull or stab on the inside of the thigh during a push or a start.
• Tenderness when you press along the inner thigh toward the pubic bone.
• Pain when you squeeze a ball or a fist between your knees.
• Stiffness in the groin that is worst in the morning and eases as you move.
• Pain that returns as soon as you go back to full push depth.

How serious it is: Adductor strains are graded 1 to 3: grade 1 is a mild strain with pain but near full strength, grade 2 a partial tear with clear weakness and often bruising, grade 3 a complete tear or an avulsion from the bone where the muscle bunches and strength collapses.

Typical time out: Two to four weeks for a grade 1 strain, four to eight weeks for a grade 2, and three months or more for a complete tear or a surgical repair. The range is wide because groin pain that has been skated through for weeks behaves like a longstanding problem and needs a longer loading program than a fresh single tear.

See a doctor if: See a doctor if you felt a snap and cannot lift the leg, if bruising spreads down the thigh, or if groin pain comes with numbness or a lump in the groin.

What helps

• Early gentle isometric squeezes of the adductors within a tolerable pain level, starting within days rather than waiting for pain to vanish.
• A progressive adductor strengthening program, in particular the Copenhagen adduction exercise, which is also the best documented way to lower the risk of a repeat strain.
• Building push depth and start volume back in steps rather than testing the leg at full effort.
• Off ice work for the hip abductors and the trunk, so that the adductors are not left to stabilize the hip on their own.
• A medical assessment if pain sits right on the pubic bone or persists past six to eight weeks, since longstanding groin pain has several possible sources.

Back injuries (muscle strains)

The muscles that run alongside the spine hold the trunk almost horizontal in the skating position, and they work isometrically for the whole distance without a moment of rest. Overload shows up as a strain or fatigue related pain in these extensors, sometimes with irritation of the small facet joints at the back of the lumbar spine. The deeper the position and the longer the race, the higher the demand, which is why lower back pain is one of the most familiar complaints in the sport.

Symptoms

• A deep ache across the lower back that builds during a session and eases when you stand upright.
• Stiffness getting out of bed or out of a car the next morning.
• A band of tightness on one side of the spine.
• Pain when you bend forward or hold the low position, without pain shooting down the leg.
• Difficulty holding the racing position in the final laps even when the legs still feel fine.

How serious it is: A simple muscular strain gives local pain that responds to load management within a couple of weeks. Pain that runs down the leg below the knee, that comes with numbness or weakness in the foot, or that is present at rest and at night, is not a muscle strain and needs assessment.

Typical time out: One to three weeks for a straightforward strain with continued light activity, four to eight weeks if the back has been painful for months and needs a rebuilt strength base. Recurrent low back pain in skaters tends to come and go with training volume rather than resolving once and for all.

See a doctor if: Seek care urgently for numbness in the saddle area, loss of bladder or bowel control, or new weakness in a leg or foot.

What helps

• Staying active and moving early, since prolonged rest makes back pain last longer.
• Strength work for the back extensors and the hips, which raises the endurance the position demands instead of just calming the symptom.
• Temporarily raising the position slightly and shortening the long low volume sessions, then lowering it again as tolerance returns.
• Regular breaks out of flexion during long training days and on travel days.
• Assessment by a physical therapist or doctor if pain radiates into the leg or does not shift in four to six weeks. Imaging is not useful for ordinary muscular back pain.

Wrist injuries (sprains, fractures)

A fall onto an outstretched hand drives the whole body weight through the wrist, straining the ligaments between the small carpal bones or breaking the radius just above the joint. The scaphoid, a small bone at the base of the thumb, is the classic fracture that is missed, because the swelling is modest and the pain can be mistaken for a sprain. In speed skating the hand meets the ice at speed, so the loading rate is high even when the height of the fall is low.

Symptoms

• Pain across the back of the wrist that is worse when you push up from a chair.
• Swelling and loss of the normal wrist creases.
• Tenderness in the hollow at the base of the thumb.
• Weak grip and pain on twisting a door handle.
• A visible bend just above the wrist after a heavy fall.

How serious it is: Sprains run from a stretched ligament that settles in days to a torn ligament between carpal bones that leaves the wrist unstable. Fractures range from an undisplaced crack held in a cast to a displaced break into the joint that needs fixation. A scaphoid fracture is treated as serious even when undisplaced, because its blood supply is poor and it can fail to unite.

Typical time out: One to three weeks for a mild sprain. Six to eight weeks in a cast for an undisplaced fracture of the radius, and eight to twelve weeks or more for a scaphoid. Add several weeks after cast removal to regain movement and grip before you trust the hand on the ice again.

See a doctor if: See a doctor if the wrist is deformed, if there is tenderness in the hollow at the base of the thumb, or if the fingers go numb or turn pale after a fall.

What helps

• An X ray after any fall that leaves the wrist swollen and painful to load, with a repeat or an MRI if thumb base pain persists despite a normal first film.
• A wrist splint for comfort in the first weeks, combined with daily finger and elbow movement so the rest of the arm does not stiffen.
• Grip and forearm strengthening once the bone or ligament has healed enough to be loaded.
• Practicing safe falling technique, rolling onto the forearm and shoulder rather than landing on a locked straight arm.
• Hand therapy if movement is still limited a few weeks after the splint comes off.

Head injuries (concussions, from falls or collisions)

A concussion is a disturbance of brain function caused by a force transmitted to the head, either from direct impact with the ice, the boards or another skater, or from the head being whipped around in a crash. Nothing is torn or broken, and standard scans usually look normal. In short track the risk is concentrated in pack falls, where skaters slide into padding at racing speed and can be hit by others who are still on their feet.

Symptoms

• Headache or a feeling of pressure in the head after the impact.
• Dizziness, or a sense that the room is moving when you turn your head.
• Feeling slowed down, foggy or unusually tired.
• Nausea, sensitivity to light or noise.
• Trouble concentrating, poor sleep, or feeling more irritable or low than usual in the days afterwards.

How serious it is: There is no useful grading at the moment of injury, and losing consciousness is not required for a concussion. What matters is the pattern of symptoms and how quickly they clear. Symptoms that persist beyond about four weeks, repeated concussions, or any deterioration in the first hours point to a more serious course.

Typical time out: Most skaters recover within two to four weeks, and the graded return to skating only begins once the symptoms have clearly settled at rest. Younger athletes and skaters with previous concussions frequently take longer, and returning to the ice while symptoms remain is what turns a short absence into a long one.

See a doctor if: Call emergency services for worsening headache, repeated vomiting, seizures, weakness in an arm or leg, slurred speech, unequal pupils or increasing drowsiness.

What helps

• Coming off the ice immediately and not returning the same day, whatever the result of the race.
• A relative rest of one to two days, then a gradual return to light activity and normal daily tasks rather than sitting in a dark room for a week.
• A stepwise return over several days, from light aerobic work to skating drills to full contact with the pack, moving up only if symptoms do not return.
• Medical clearance before racing again, especially after a second concussion.
• Well fitted head protection and following the sport rules on padding and pack behavior, which reduce the impact when a fall does happen.

Hip injuries (strains, dislocations)

The hip is a deep ball and socket joint surrounded by strong muscles and a labrum, a cartilage rim on the socket edge. Skating asks for repeated deep flexion combined with wide abduction, so the common problems are strains of the hip flexors and the gluteal muscles, irritation of the bursa on the outside of the hip, and pinching at the front of the joint when the femoral neck meets the socket rim in the low position. True dislocation is rare and only happens with a violent crash.

Symptoms

• A pinching pain deep in the front of the hip or groin in the deep position.
• A dull ache on the outside of the hip that is worse lying on that side.
• Clicking or catching as the hip moves through its range.
• Stiffness after sitting, so the first steps are awkward.
• After a crash, severe pain with the leg held in a fixed position and no ability to move it.

How serious it is: Muscular strains are graded 1 to 3 like other muscle injuries. Pinching pain with clicking may indicate a labral problem, which is diagnosed with imaging rather than at the rink side. A dislocated hip is an emergency, since the blood supply to the head of the femur is at risk with every hour it stays out of joint.

Typical time out: Two to six weeks for a hip flexor or gluteal strain. Eight to twelve weeks or more where the pain comes from the joint itself and training has to be reshaped. Months, with a formal rehabilitation program, after a dislocation or hip surgery.

See a doctor if: Call emergency services if after a crash the leg is shortened or rotated and you cannot move the hip at all, or if hip pain comes with fever.

What helps

• Progressive loading of the hip flexors, the glutes and the external rotators, working through the ranges the sport actually uses.
• Reducing time in the deepest position for a period when the pain is a pinch at the front of the joint, since that position is what provokes it.
• Working on hip mobility in rotation rather than only stretching in a straight line.
• Reviewing position and blade setup with a coach, as an inward collapsing knee and a rotated pelvis load the hip unevenly.
• Imaging and a specialist opinion when clicking, locking or deep groin pain persists beyond a couple of months.

Elbow injuries (sprains, dislocations)

The elbow is held together by collateral ligaments on either side and by the deep bony fit of the joint itself. In skating it is injured almost entirely by falling: sliding into the boards with the arm trapped underneath, or landing directly on the point of the elbow, which can sprain the ligaments, bruise the olecranon bursa on the tip, or force the joint out of place. The ulnar nerve runs in a groove on the inner side and is easily irritated by the same impact.

Symptoms

• Pain on the inner or outer side of the elbow when you straighten it fully.
• Swelling and a soft, squashy lump right on the point of the elbow.
• Tingling or numbness in the little finger and ring finger.
• A locked elbow that will neither straighten nor bend after a fall.
• A feeling that the joint is loose when you push against resistance.

How serious it is: Sprains are graded 1 to 3 depending on how much of the ligament is torn. A dislocation is obvious, with the arm held bent and a clear change in shape, and it often carries a fracture or a nerve injury with it. A simple bursitis on the tip is painful and swollen but stable.

Typical time out: Two to four weeks for a mild sprain or a bursitis. Six to twelve weeks after a dislocation that is put back and treated without surgery, since the elbow stiffens quickly and needs early movement. Longer where a fracture is present or the ligament has to be repaired.

See a doctor if: Go to emergency care immediately for an elbow that is visibly out of shape or will not move, or for numbness or a cold hand below the injury.

What helps

• Prompt medical reduction of a dislocation rather than any attempt to pull it back yourself.
• Starting gentle bending and straightening as soon as the doctor allows, because the elbow loses range faster than almost any other joint.
• Avoiding prolonged immobilization beyond what was prescribed.
• Progressive strengthening of the forearm and upper arm before returning to falls and pack racing.
• Elbow padding in training situations where falls are likely, and practicing rolling out of a fall rather than blocking it with a straight arm.

Rib injuries (bruises, fractures)

The ribs are thin curved bones connected by the intercostal muscles, and they move with every breath. In speed skating they are injured when the chest hits the ice, the boards or another skater’s knee or blade guard in a fall, which bruises the bone and the muscle between the ribs or cracks the rib itself. Because breathing keeps the injured area moving, rib injuries hurt far longer than a bruise elsewhere.

Symptoms

• Sharp pain at one point on the chest wall when you breathe in deeply.
• Pain on coughing, laughing, sneezing or rolling over in bed.
• Tenderness when you press directly on that rib.
• A tendency to breathe shallowly to avoid the pain.
• Bruising over the chest wall in the days after the fall.

How serious it is: A bruise and a simple crack in one rib behave much the same and are managed the same way. Several ribs broken together, a rib broken in two places, or a rib injury with breathlessness is a different matter, because the lung underneath may be injured.

Typical time out: Four to eight weeks before the chest wall is comfortable under racing effort, with the first two weeks the worst. Multiple fractures or a lung injury push this out to two to three months and need hospital assessment first.

See a doctor if: Seek care immediately for shortness of breath, coughing up blood, a rapidly worsening pain, or pain in the left upper abdomen after a fall.

What helps

• Adequate pain relief, precisely so that you can breathe deeply rather than splinting the chest.
• Deep breathing exercises several times an hour in the first days, which prevent the chest infection that shallow breathing invites.
• No tight strapping or binding around the chest, which limits breathing.
• Light aerobic work as pain allows, avoiding the deep arm swing and any risk of another impact.
• A chest X ray after a heavy impact, especially with breathlessness or with pain over several ribs.

Neck injuries (strains, fractures)

The neck muscles hold the head up and looking forward while the trunk is almost horizontal, which is an unusual and sustained demand in the skating position. Ordinary training problems are strains of these extensor muscles and irritation of the small joints of the cervical spine. Fractures are rare and come from a crash where the head takes a direct impact or the neck is forced past its range against the boards.

Symptoms

• Aching and tightness at the back of the neck that builds during long low sessions.
• Stiffness turning the head to one side.
• Headache starting at the base of the skull.
• Pain between the shoulder blades on the same side.
• After a crash, midline pain in the neck itself with any movement.

How serious it is: A muscular strain is local, movement is possible though uncomfortable, and it improves week by week. Midline bony tenderness after a crash, pain or tingling running into an arm, or any weakness or numbness, is treated as a possible fracture or nerve injury until a doctor says otherwise.

Typical time out: One to three weeks for a muscular strain, most of which can be trained through with adjusted volume. A cervical fracture is measured in months and its management is entirely a matter for the treating specialists.

See a doctor if: Do not move a skater and call emergency services if after a crash there is midline neck pain, numbness, tingling or weakness in the arms or legs.

What helps

• Endurance work for the deep neck flexors and the extensors, so the muscles can hold the head up for a full race.
• Keeping the neck moving in daily life instead of holding it stiff, since immobility prolongs the pain.
• Breaking up long stretches in the low position and in front of screens on travel days.
• Heat and gentle movement for muscular stiffness, which most people find more useful here than cold.
• Medical assessment for any pain that runs into the arm or is accompanied by pins and needles.

Cuts and abrasions (from falls or ice contact)

Skating skin injuries fall into two very different groups. Abrasions are friction burns where the skin slides across the ice surface and the outer layers are scraped away, typically on the hip, the thigh and the forearm. Lacerations are clean deep cuts from a skate blade, which is sharpened to a fine edge and can cut through fabric, muscle, tendon and blood vessels, which is exactly why cut resistant clothing and neck protection are mandated in short track.

Symptoms

• A raw, stinging area of skin that weeps clear fluid.
• A cut with clean edges that gapes open rather than closing by itself.
• Bleeding that keeps soaking through a dressing.
• Numbness beyond the cut, or trouble moving a finger or toe past it.
• Increasing redness, warmth, swelling or pus over the following days.

How serious it is: A superficial abrasion heals from the skin edges without a scar. A cut is judged by what it has passed through rather than how long it is: skin only is minor, while a cut reaching tendon, nerve or artery is a surgical emergency even if the skin wound looks small.

Typical time out: An abrasion allows training within days and heals in one to two weeks. A cut that only needed stitches usually means one to two weeks off the ice while the wound closes. A blade cut that reached a tendon or a nerve needs surgery and two to three months of protected rehabilitation.

See a doctor if: Get medical help for bleeding that does not stop with firm pressure, for any cut that gapes or that came from a blade, and for spreading redness or fever afterwards.

What helps

• Firm continuous pressure on a bleeding wound, held for several minutes without lifting to look.
• Washing an abrasion with clean running water and covering it with a moist dressing, which heals faster and hurts less than letting it scab dry.
• Professional assessment of blade cuts for tendon and nerve function before the wound is closed.
• Checking that tetanus vaccination is up to date after a dirty or deep wound.
• Cut resistant suits, neck guards, shin and ankle protection, which are the reason serious blade injuries have become uncommon in regulated competition.

Dehydration

Dehydration is a loss of body water and salts that the skater has not replaced. It is easy to underestimate on ice, because the cold dry air blunts thirst, sweat evaporates quickly from a tight skinsuit without feeling wet, and cold exposure increases urine production. The result is a falling blood volume, so the heart works harder for the same pace and the leg muscles receive less blood at exactly the point in a race where they need most.

Symptoms

• Thirst, a dry mouth and dark, strongly smelling urine.
• A heart rate higher than usual for a familiar training pace.
• Headache and lightheadedness, particularly on standing up.
• Unusual fatigue and heavy legs late in a session.
• Muscle cramps toward the end of hard training or a long ice day.

How serious it is: Mild dehydration causes thirst and reduced performance and is corrected by drinking. Confusion, fainting, no urine for many hours or a racing pulse at rest indicate severe dehydration and need medical treatment rather than a water bottle.

Typical time out: Mild cases recover within hours of drinking properly, and a single hard day usually needs the following day for full rehydration. Severe dehydration that requires intravenous fluids means several days out and a check of why it happened.

See a doctor if: Get medical help for confusion, fainting, a racing pulse at rest, or an inability to keep fluids down.

What helps

• Drinking to a plan on ice days instead of waiting for thirst, since cold blunts the thirst signal.
• Including sodium in drinks on long sessions and in the recovery drink, because water alone does not replace what was lost.
• Using body mass before and after a session as a simple personal guide to how much fluid a session costs you.
• Keeping a bottle rink side and drinking during breaks, which is easy to skip in a cold hall.
• Checking urine color through the day as a rough marker, aiming for pale rather than dark.

Hypothermia

Hypothermia is a drop in core body temperature below the level at which the body can function normally. Skaters are exposed to it at outdoor tracks and marathon distances, where wind chill at racing speed, a thin skinsuit and a sweat soaked base layer strip heat away faster than the body can produce it. The risk peaks after the effort stops, when heat production falls but wet clothing and wind continue to draw heat out.

Symptoms

• Intense shivering that you cannot switch off.
• Cold, pale skin and numb fingers and toes.
• Clumsiness, stumbling and fumbling with zips and laces.
• Slurred or slow speech and confusion.
• Drowsiness and, in more advanced cases, shivering stopping while the person stays cold and confused.

How serious it is: In mild hypothermia the person shivers hard but remains alert and can help themselves. Moderate and severe hypothermia bring confusion, loss of coordination and eventually a stop to shivering with drowsiness, which is a medical emergency and needs hospital rewarming.

Typical time out: A mild case that is caught and rewarmed at the rink usually means the rest of the day off and normal training the next day. Moderate or severe hypothermia requires hospital care and a medical decision on when training may resume, typically a matter of days to weeks.

See a doctor if: Call emergency services if the person stops shivering while still cold, becomes confused or drowsy, or is difficult to rouse.

What helps

• Getting out of the wind and into a warm dry place immediately, and swapping every wet layer for dry clothing.
• Handling a severely cold person gently and calling for help, rather than rubbing limbs or using hot water, which can be harmful.
• Warm sweet drinks for someone who is alert and able to swallow, and no alcohol.
• Warm layers and a windproof shell put on the moment a session or a race ends, especially on outdoor ice.
• Planning outdoor and marathon sessions around wind chill and having dry clothing at the change point rather than at the finish only.

Eye injuries (from ice shards or debris)

Blades throw off fine ice chips at speed, and these can strike the surface of the eye, scratching the cornea, the clear layer at the front. A fall can also drive a finger, a hand or a piece of equipment into the eye and bruise the structures inside. The cornea is densely supplied with nerves, so even a scratch that is invisible to a bystander is intensely painful and makes the eye water and close.

Symptoms

• A strong feeling of grit in the eye that does not clear with blinking.
• Watering, redness and difficulty keeping the eye open.
• Sensitivity to light.
• Blurred vision on that side.
• Pain with eye movement, or seeing floating spots or flashes after a direct blow.

How serious it is: A surface scratch of the cornea heals quickly and completely in most cases. Blood visible in the front of the eye after a blunt impact, a change in the shape of the pupil, or any lasting loss of vision indicates injury to the deeper structures and needs emergency ophthalmic assessment.

Typical time out: A corneal scratch usually heals in one to three days, and skating can resume once vision is normal and the eye is comfortable. A blunt injury with bleeding inside the eye means one to several weeks under specialist follow up, with a ban on any activity that risks a further impact.

See a doctor if: See an eye doctor the same day for loss of vision, an irregular pupil, visible blood in the eye, or pain that does not settle within a few hours.

What helps

• Rinsing the open eye with clean water or sterile saline for loose debris, and not rubbing it.
• Removing contact lenses and leaving them out until the eye is fully healed.
• Covering the eye and going for assessment when a foreign body is stuck or when vision has changed, rather than trying to pick it out.
• Following through with prescribed antibiotic drops after a corneal abrasion, since a scratched cornea can become infected.
• Wearing a visor or clear eyewear in pack training and racing, which keeps ice chips off the eye in the first place.

First Aid for Soft Tissue Injuries: PEACE and LOVE

Sports medicine has moved on from RICE. The current guidance, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2019, splits care into the first days after the injury and everything that follows.

PEACE, the first two to three days

• Protect: unload the area and limit movement that hurts, but only briefly.
• Elevate: keep the limb above heart level when you can.
• Avoid anti-inflammatories: they may blunt the healing you need.
• Compress: a bandage or taping limits swelling.
• Educate: your body heals this on its own; passive treatments rarely speed it up.

LOVE, from day three onward

• Load: return to movement as pain allows, early loading builds tissue.
• Optimism: expectations shape recovery more than most people assume.
• Vascularization: easy cardio that does not hurt brings blood to the area.
• Exercise: restore strength, mobility and balance before returning to play.

Ice still helps with pain in the first hours. What changed is the evidence that long icing and routine anti-inflammatory drugs slow tissue repair.

How to Lower Your Risk in Speed Skating

• Build an adductor strengthening program into the week all year, with the Copenhagen adduction exercise as the core of it, because the sideways push loads the inner thigh more than almost any other sport.
• Train the back extensors and the deep neck muscles for endurance rather than strength, since the low position asks them to hold still for the whole race and they are what fails first in long sessions.
• Raise the amount of time spent in the deep position gradually after every break, camp or season change, since the knee carries the highest overuse load in this sport and reacts to sudden jumps in volume.
• Have boots, blade alignment and blade sharpness checked regularly, as a misaligned blade forces the knee inward and a dull or badly ground blade slips in the corner.
• Wear the full protective set for pack skating: cut resistant suit, neck guard, shin and ankle protection, gloves and a helmet that fits, and replace anything that has taken a heavy impact.
• Practice falling and sliding technique so that you go in feet first with limbs tucked instead of blocking the fall with a straight arm, and drink and dress for the cold hall so that fatigue does not make a fall more likely.

When to Stop and Get Medical Help

Most of the injuries on this page are treated at home. These signs are not.

• You cannot bear weight on the leg, or a limb looks bent, shortened or out of shape.
• A joint is locked and will not move at all, or feels like it slips out of place.
• Numbness, pins and needles or weakness anywhere, in particular after a neck or back impact, in which case the skater is not moved and emergency services are called.
• Any blow to the head with confusion, memory loss, repeated vomiting, worsening headache or drowsiness.
• A deep cut from a blade, or bleeding that does not stop under firm pressure.
• Breathlessness, chest pain that worsens, or a skater who is cold, confused and has stopped shivering.

Sources

• British Journal of Sports Medicine (Hendricks et al., 2024)
• American Journal of Sports Medicine (Quinn et al., 2003)
• Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports (Clement et al., 2025)
• Scandinavian Journal of Medicine and Science in Sports (scoping review, 2024)

This article is general information, not medical advice. If you are hurt, a doctor or physiotherapist who can examine you is worth more than any web page. Last reviewed: August 2026.

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