Mardi Gras parade injuries: Which ones are most common, how to prevent them

Follow on Twitter
on February 17, 2011 at 3:01 PM, updated February 17, 2011 at 8:09 PM

Dr. Jeffrey Sketchler is an orthopedist at East Jefferson General Hospital. he answered contributing writer Laura McKnight's questions about common Carnival season injuries and how to avoid them.

Q: From an orthopedic standpoint, what are the riskiest Carnival activities for adults?

Sketchler.JPGDr. Jeffrey Sketchler

A: Floats. Floats are killer. I would stay at least 10 feet away from every float that passes by. If you’re looking straight up at the float rider, that means you’re too close. People have been known to die getting run over by floats or have a serious arm or leg injury.

I would recommend against following a float. Because in doing so, a person will tend to pay attention to the floats and not watch where they’re walking. There’s a high risk of tripping over an obstacle, such as an ice chest, ladder, lawn chair or other parade-goers.

We tend to see a lot of overuse tendonitis of the shoulder and elbow from the repetitive throwing. So for a float rider — I’m a float rider in Endymion — I would recommend tossing rather than throwing and avoid a lot of overhead throws, especially if you’re greater than 40 years old.

Q: What are the most common orthopedic injuries you see during the Carnival season?

A: It’s a tie between broken wrists just from trips and falls and then also your overuse types of tendonitis or bursitis in the shoulder or the elbow. But we also see broken ankles and that type of thing.

Q: Who is at the greatest risk for orthopedic injuries during Mardi Gras?

A: I would say the very old and the very young. Grandma might be walking and trip over the streetcar rail, or easily lose her balance and fall and break a hip or ankle or wrist. And then the very young — kids on a ladder, someone getting run into by another parade-goer, that type of thing. And then the inebriated, don’t forget about them. That’s probably the person at greatest risk, the inebriated, because of their poor judgment, poor balance and whatever else. Those are the top three: the very young, the very old and the inebriated.