Hi all,

I had a situation kiting the other day, I came down sort of hard and the front of my board dug into the water and I went pretty deep under. My kite powered up and pulled hard, what ended up happening was my board and torso caused a lot of drag in the water and the harness pulled right through my lower back bending me into a banana shape and I heard a lot of cracks and an instant sharp pain in my lower back.

As my name suggests, (terrible sense of humor) I've hurt my lower back but the question here is, should my harness have caused it to pull on the point of my lower back? If its normal how does anyone avoid this? I use a liquid force supreme harness and it has happened with both foot traps and boots.

Any input would be appreciated!

The only way to fix it, is to do the same thing again, but this time your harness has to be back to front.

Proven by science.

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bjw said..
The only way to fix it, is to do the same thing again, but this time your harness has to be back to front.

Proven by science.

Classic!!!

go sue your parents. they are the real cause of your problems

Thanks everyone for your help, I am magically healed. Praise be the kite gods. Testify.

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snapback27 said..
Thanks everyone for your help, I am magically healed. Praise be the kite gods. Testify.

its a miracle. when he learns you cant sue anyone for his own wrong doing hes cured. now go find a council bus to fall infront of

I think there's a busy bus route out the front of my house I'll go have a look.

But if anyone actually has advice for my question that would be nice.

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snapback27 said..
I think there's a busy bus route out the front of my house I'll go have a look.

But if anyone actually has advice for my question that would be nice.

to answer your question.. basically the forces that kitesurfing can easily apply to your body could be described as anything but 'normal' as far as what your body was originally designed for... saying that there are measures you can take to decrease the impact on your puny human frame but more often than not some eventual force will be beyond your structural limitations..

I recommend you take atleast 2 weeks off and if the pain persists DO NOT kITE until you know exactly what has gone on (see a specialist) it sounds like you just have muscle damage or something but If you have actually have damaged disks or spine it is not the end of the world but u will possibly have to change the way you kite. Many other threads on equipment that spreads the load or lowers it ect. to give you the support you need.

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snapback27 said..
I think there's a busy bus route out the front of my house I'll go have a look.

But if anyone actually has advice for my question that would be nice.

on a serious note give it a rest and some anti inflamatry drugs before you go into a sports and spinal physio. if its still swollen he just has to take potshots at what the deal is.

honestly tho if your not acheing and paining away your just a kooky lawn mower. learn to chuck a couple yoga poses in stretching out your lower back before you even pump the kite. youll fell like a bit of a knob getting sandblasted in the face as you work thru a couple stretches but its basicly a requirement if your getting on a bit and doing any actualy kitesurfing progression

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snapback27 said..
Thanks everyone for your help, I am magically healed. Praise be the kite gods. Testify.

Did you "seed" the church of the kitesurfer?

Testify to the church of the kite surfer - I also had lupus which I didn't know which is also healed.
If anyone wants to know where to send their "seed" money which will cure all aches and injuries contact me.

But seriosuly, would something like a hard back harness stop this from happening instead of a softer harness? (load transference over a larger circumference rather than a single weak point?)

Never underestimate a back injury,
One you've badly hurt your back your damaged goods
I've suffered with compressed discs in my lower 4 segments due to heavy impact landings,
I always have moments with my back from stiffness on a good day to being disabled and unable to move for a week or so,
It's a scary feeling when at it's worst
Only option medically for me is fusion or nerve burning,
Let it settle down , ice for a few days before heat, anti inflam meds rest with movement every 20 mins or so, light massage helps,
Lightly stretch your hamstrings laying flat , if you get a tweek it's likely you've done a disc, the yoga pose if difficult can be a sign of facets, if your getting spasms it's a sign something's not quite right, your surrounding muscles are working to protect the injury,
Don't let a chiro do any corrective work, an MRI not ct scan( heavy radio) can be very accurate in predicting what's happening,
Don't push it , if it heals up work on that core strength to assist , believe me you don't want a bad back

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snapback27 said..
Testify to the church of the kite surfer - I also had lupus which I didn't know which is also healed.
If anyone wants to know where to send their "seed" money which will cure all aches and injuries contact me.

But seriosuly, would something like a hard back harness stop this from happening instead of a softer harness? (load transference over a larger circumference rather than a single weak point?)

Stop what from happening? bending your body like a banana around the tow point on your harness when u get dragged under water? your actual question isn't very clear but I will give u somethings to consider..
- waist harness MUST be well fitted! if it rides up, your lower back takes all the power of your kite through to ur edge. Wider plate will obviously distribute the load and will definitely help back muscles but doesn't do much for disks ect as they get ****ed through compression when u land tricks or manage power to your legs.

- seat harness will help while cruising as it takes your lower back out of the equation when transferring energy to your edge but changes nothing when it comes to compression from landing boosts. Also can lock your hips increasing the twist/bend force on your spine as a waist harness would move around a bit and dampen the force.

If u ever have any issues with your back DO NOT DO UNHOOKED TRICKS... your kite takes none of the dampening from your fall and it all tranfers through your legs and back. Even unhooked wave riding propbably isn't good as stronger gusts cant be managed purely by ur arms and will shoot through your back.

This obviously isn't everything that will help you and some of it may not even relate to your case but I hope you can take something from it.

Go to see a Chinese Doctor. Not a massage plus plus type one, ( save that for a separate visit ) but one with acupuncture and all that. Get a decent massage, then rest up.

I also had compressed/bulging 4 &5 lower back and had sciatica through my legs , had every practitioners under the sun to try to fix ,and ended up with two injections which help in short term. Started gym in September 2014 using weights and never looked back