As we transition our sports and activities onto snow and ice, we rely heavily on our body’s “proprioceptive” system, which is the ability to react to unstable surfaces and maintain spatial awareness. For us downhill skiers, this means reacting efficiently to bumps and depressions on the hill and staying over top of our skis while doing so.

A well-trained proprioceptive system requires us to recruit and activate our muscles providing control from the ground up. Just like our ski equipment, our body requires regular maintenance and a tune up so that it can perform well when we start a new activity. For downhill skiing, we need to work on balance, reaction time and “core” (or trunk) stability, lower body strengthening, and ensuring proper foot alignment in the ski boot.

Light therapy has many applications and can benefit a wide range of patients. Research shows that it increases circulation, reduces swelling, stimulates nerve function, strengthens and repairs bone and soft tissue, increases mobility and muscle function and reduces or eliminates acute and chronic pain.

During a ski turn, our downhill foot must bare a load of about 3 times our body weight for an extended duration. Problems occur if the foot is forced to pronate or flatten against the boot shell. By providing proper foot alignment with custom ski orthotics, the foot muscles do not have to work as hard at maintaining an edge and the turn becomes easier to perform.

This pre-season homework will help to prevent common ski aches and pains such as knee ligament sprains, low back muscle strains and cramping in the feet.