Illawarra doctors say they are seeing an increase in the number of cycling injuries, mirroring new national data that shows bike riding causes more hospitalisations than any other sport.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
According to new statistics released the month by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the rate of sports injuries rebounded higher in 2020-21 after a dip, related to COVID-19, the previous year.
The sports responsible for the most injury hospitalisations in the latest year were those that involved wheels and various types of football.
Cycling saw around 9,800 reported injury hospitalisations nationally, followed by soccer, roller sports and rugby which each had around 5000 hospitalisations.
In just over half of sport related hospitalisations in the latest year, the main injury was a fracture, with soft-tissue injuries the next most common.
Physiotherapist Dr Laura Clarke said national figures were reflected in the patients she sees at Auburn Street's Joint Vision Orthopaedic Group clinic, and said there were a number of factors that meant cycling injuries were a particular issue in Wollongong.
"The volume of cycling injuries is high anywhere, likely because of all the solo sports activities from COVID times continuing post lockdown," she said,
"Our location is unique with kilometres of cycling tracks and the new mountain biking tracks, so the area may have a higher number overall."
"Also, there are more novice cyclists and inexperience on the roads, as well as the e-bike phenomena is leading to significant injuries due to a higher speed of impact."
While she noted that she was perhaps more likely to treat cyclists, as a keen road cyclist and one of the doctors who worked with the Australia and US teams during the 2022 UCI world championships, Dr Clarke said she had definitely seen a steady rise in cycling injuries.
Nationally, between 2017-18 and 2020-21 the rate of sport-related cycling hospitalisation increased 57% and the estimated number of adults participating in cycling for sport or exercise increased from 2.3 million to 3.2 million.
Dr Clarke noted that the AIHW data showed that, in the vast majority of hospitalisations for sport-related cycling (rather than leisure or work cycling) the cause was listed as "cycling transport accident".
"The mechanism of these cycling injuries shows the bigger issue," she said
"93% of hospitalisations are related to motor vehicle collisions, therefore educating both drivers on the rules around cyclists, as well as cyclists being visible on the roads, is paramount.
"Cycling pathway placement and condition is another safety issue to consider."
She said the main cycling injury requiring hospitalisation that she saw was a clavicle fracture.
"It's definitely the number one, because when you're riding, you don't get enough time to save yourself with your arms," she said.
"You just hit the deck onto your shoulder without any saving mechanism, and you're still locked in to your bike with your cleats."
Also mirroring the data which showed various types of football caused a large proportion of injuries, Dr Clarke said the injuries seen most treated in private practice were from rugby league, soccer and AFL.
Nationally, when adjusted for participation, these sports have the highest rate of injury.
Dr Clarke said she believed more of her football patients had been injured following the years when COVID lockdowns stopped people playing because people were "going too hard too fast" after a period away.
"These injuries are usually linked to load, so players have gone from not being able to play the season because of lockdown to then training a lot more on minimal fitness," she said.
"You get more of those hamstring injuries because they're trying to run faster. In this region, there's also been more collisions on wetter fields."