Lower temperatures are causing icy conditions

By: Andrew Reid Email
By: Andrew Reid Email

Grand Junction, Colo. (KKCO) – Another bone chilling day in the valley. We saw a high of 14 degrees, making it 16 days straight and counting of cold temperatures below freezing.

It's not just cold, though, the danger of ice has been keeping chiropractors like Wes Sheader busy.
"I’ve been seeing lots of injures since it's gotten cold and snowy and lots of slips and falls. We see a lot of injures like to the lower back, the pelvis," says Sheader.
Sheader says when most people fall they tend to land on their buttocks or hip and while falling you could also hurt your head and neck with whiplash.

“Even if you fall on your buttocks, you know what happens to the head? You know the head usually whips on way or another and they end up with an injury even though they didn't hit anything with their head or their neck," Sheader explains.

Have you ever slipped and tried to catch yourself? Experts say you can even get hurt that way by torking your back. So what is the trick to help you avoid slipping?
Sheader says, "first get out of the car it might be slick, test it a little bit with your foot so you know, you know." He also suggests ice grippers for your shoes for better traction something you can find at Summit Canyon Mountaineering off of Main Street.

Store Manager Mark Wingerter says the ice grippers "will bite into ice give you a little bite more traction for snow. It's kind of like a tire chain for your car so it's going to give you more traction in kind of nastier weather like perfect for what’s going on here lately, but without being super aggressive so you don't slip on the concert."

The grippers fit almost all boots or shoes slipping around the outside sole of the shoe to help keep you safe.

"Because your putting more pressure on those little coils, your going to get better penetration to ice and give you much better footing," says Wingerter.
Wes Sheader says it’s "that little extra step that takes just a few seconds can really save you from falling." And maybe, just maybe prevent you from getting a few more bruises.

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