Common Jet Ski Injuries and How to Avoid Them
Like any sport, you can get injured in jet skiing. Also like any other sport, learning proper operation and safety procedures will always minimize your chances of hurting yourself.
In all honesty, jet skiing is an incredibly safe sport. Even inexpensive jet skis are incredibly well-built because safety is a primary concern for anyone engaging in an extreme sport. They’re incredibly simple to operate, so even a beginner can start riding confidently in no time. It results in far fewer casualties than contact sports such as football, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be careful.
Proper apparel is important. Reviewing what to wear on a jet ski can help you be prepared for a safe and fun ride.
The safety of jet skiing is directly linked to careful and attentive ridership. Hitting other jet skis can cause injuries, as well as losing control and being thrown off. If you’re an experienced rider, you might not quite yet know how to stabilize the craft if you’ve hit a buoy or another object in the water.
Some people pull on the throttle too hard and strain a muscle, or worse. But what all these unfortunate situations have in common is they can be completely avoided by paying attention to yourself, your riding, and those around you.
If you haven’t jet skied before, it’s best to know what you’re going into. Yes, it will be a thrilling experience that you’ll never forget. Many people even start jet skiing on their own after riding with us.
Most Common Jet Ski Injuries
To help you get on the road to your first jet skiing experience, we’ve put together a helpful list of the most common injuries in jet skiing, and how to avoid them. With this guide, you should be able to come for your first lesson with a confident handle on what “safe skiing” truly means. Also, if you’ve ever asked, ‘is jet skiing dangerous?’, we hope your main takeaway is: Only if you don’t follow our safety instructions.
Whiplash
Whiplash occurs when a sudden movement jerks your body too quickly for your body to react to. People get whiplash from car accidents, horseback riding, and just about anywhere quick movement is a factor.
If you want to avoid whiplash while jet skiing, you need to pay attention to the throttle when you’re about to accelerate. Pulling on the throttle too quickly will jet your body forward and potentially causing a neck injury.
You can also avoid whiplash by not turning too quickly. Always take slower, wider turns, especially when you’re just starting out.
Bruises
Bruises happen when your body is impacted by another object. While jet skiing, there are a couple different ways you can get bruised, and some are not so obvious as you might think.
Perhaps easier to understand is if you hit another jet ski or object in the water. If your body makes an impact with that object, you might get a bruise.
Not so obvious is when you’re going too fast and bobbing out of the water. Similar to when a car goes over a pothole, you will feel the jet ski repeatedly hitting your bottom end pretty hard. The best way to avoid this injury is by controlling your speed and being aware of your surroundings.
Sprains
A sprain happens when the tendons between your bones are overstretched or damaged. Baseball pitchers experience many sprains because they are constantly extending their throwing arm with a lot of force and at high speed. If you’re riding too fast on a jet ski, you might also get a sprain.
When some people accelerate too quickly, they could sprain their shoulder or their arm. Keeping your hands firmly grasped around the handles will keep you from falling off the jet ski, but it could potentially overextend your arm.
To avoid getting sprains, keep your speed in check – accelerating too fast is one of the leading causes of sprains in jet skiing.
Fractured and Broken Bones
A fractured bone is one which has partially cracked due to impact or bending. They’re not as bad as a full break but are still extremely painful and take time to heal.
Crashing into another jet ski can cause fractured or broken bones. So, make sure you’re always keeping an eye out for riders and other objects in the water.
Loss of Breath
You’ll definitely lose your breath while jet skiing because of the excitement. Yes, we’re kidding here, but we feel it’s important to remember that there’s nothing to be afraid of when it comes to jet skiing. It’s still an incredible experience that anyone can enjoy, as long as they do it safely.
Burns
Friction burns can happen to riders who fail to wear gloves. Fortunately, these burns are not typically serious and can be easily treated with a basic first-aid kit. As long as you tell your guide right away, there won’t be anything to worry about.
It’s also possible—though not common—for you to sustain a friction burn on your legs. This is entirely avoidable, however. By wearing a lightweight pair of waterproof pants, you’ll have enough padding between your skin and the source of a friction burn to avoid getting injured.
Rare Jet Ski Injuries
Now we’re going to take a look at a couple of less common but serious jet ski injuries. The odds of suffering from one of these isn’t high, so you shouldn’t really worry about them as long as you follow your tour guide’s safety rules. Nevertheless, we’d be remiss if we didn’t bring up the slight possibility that one of these injuries could happen.
Concussion
Although rare, it’s possible to sustain a concussion while you’re on a jet ski. However, it’s important to note that the vast majority of concussions are directly related to a rider not following their guide’s instructions. For example, let’s say you’re fooling around on a jet ski and don’t adhere to your guide’s safety rules. One of the potential side effects of this is falling off your jet ski at full speed. Unfortunately, this type of sudden and fast flop into the water might cause you to become concussed due to the speed at which your head enters the water.
To avoid this particular issue, be sure to listen to your tour guide and slow down in certain areas of the water. Remember: Your tour guide is out there to keep you safe, so please listen whenever they tell you to slow down.
Spinal Cord Injury
Spinal cord injuries are extremely serious and can even result in paralysis. Fortunately, they happen most often when a jet ski rider ignores adverse weather conditions, which Sea the City doesn’t let happen.
When water becomes especially choppy due to the weather, you run a greater risk of falling off your jet ski. Suddenly hitting choppy water is very jarring, and your spinal cord might be hit just right—or should we say just wrong—and result in an injury.
Avoiding an injury to your spinal column requires you to pay attention to your guide and avoid going on the water during bad weather. If you take these two precautions, your chances of suffering a spinal cord injury are practically nil.
Does Falling Off a Jet Ski Hurt?
Yes, it can hurt. When you’re going 40 mph and fall off your jet ski, you’re going to absorb the impact as you hit the water. That’s why we’ve put safety rules in place and always send a guide out when you rent a jet ski.
What Causes Jet Ski Injuries?
At Sea the City, we take out inexperienced jet ski drivers on a regular basis. If you were to go out on your own, you’d be at risk of making a mistake. However, since you’ll be in a group with an experienced guide who will provide basic safety training, you’ll almost certainly be fine.
Other top causes of jet ski injuries include:
- Reckless driving
- Inadequate safety gear
- Lack of concentration
- Loss of control
- Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol
We ensure that you have the right safety gear, and our guide will tell you to stop immediately if you’re driving in a reckless manner. Using drugs or alcohol are prohibited during our tours. Therefore, as long as you pay attention and don’t accidentally lose control of your jet ski, you shouldn’t spend your time worrying about injuries.
What About Jet Ski Vibration When Accelerating?
If your jet ski makes an odd vibration sound when you accelerate, you should flag down your tour guide immediately. This means that something is wrong with your jet ski, so you don’t want to merely shrug it off. Most of the time, this vibration is caused by something getting lodged in the impeller or pump. It’s also possible that your jet ski needs a new cylinder, spark plug, or rod.
Letting your guide know so that they can either quickly fix the issue or get you a different jet ski is the best way to ensure you have a smooth, injury-free ride.
Back Pain After Jet Skiing
It is possible to feel sore after you’ve been out on a jet ski, which can include having some mild back pain. It’s necessary to maintain your balance as you ride, and this makes you rely on muscles you might not ordinarily use. Think of it like going to the gym for the first time in years. Any pain you experience is temporary, and you won’t experience it anymore if you go out for regular rides.
As long as you control your speed, stay aware of your surroundings, and make sure not to accelerate or turn too quickly, you’ll all but neutralize the probability of getting an injury while jet skiing. And at Sea the City, our expert tour guides and instructors have successfully gotten first timers to have safe and thrilling experiences on jet skis.
If you’re ready to experience New York City like you never have before, contact us today!
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