The road is slippery on snowy days. Here is a biomechanical guide to help you fall properly.

Heavy snow has fallen across the northern part of the country in recent days, creating beautiful scenery (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Fun on a snowy day

However, snowy days also have annoying problems. The roads are slippery and people can easily fall. The mildest fall is unbearable pain, while the worst fall may result in fractures.

Arm fractures are the most common, followed by leg and hip fractures.

Therefore, we often hear "experts" say that the correct posture for falling on slippery roads in snowy weather is to use your elbows as little as possible to land on the ground, and instead land on the buttocks, middle of the legs, shoulders, back and other thick fleshy areas, and to protect your head with your arms and roll over.

Today, I will talk about the "correct posture for falling on slippery snowy roads" from a biomechanical perspective, and whether it is just as the "experts" say.

First, when a person is about to fall, they are not prepared. Subconsciously, they will first use their hands and feet to support their bodies (Figure 2). Therefore, they cannot control the posture of their body or choose where to land.

Figure 2: The road is slippery in snowy weather and it is easy to fall

Secondly, not to mention whether a person has enough time to prepare for a fall, even if he can find the correct "pose" for falling, the consequences may be very different from what the "experts" expected!

The human body is a multi-component, multi-joint motion system consisting of the trunk, head, and limbs. The musculoskeletal system of the limbs (abbreviated as the musculoskeletal system) forms an important segmental motion unit and can resist external forces and absorb vibrations like springs connected in series. Therefore, whether it is daily running and jumping, or landing in extreme sports (such as skiing and parachuting), people try to let their limbs land first (Figure 3), so as to use the musculoskeletal system of the limbs to absorb vibrations and avoid impact and damage to the trunk and head.

Figure 3 Landing movements in extreme sports (such as skiing and skydiving)

This shows that since human evolution, the natural falling posture is to land on all fours, with the purpose of protecting important core organs.

Think about it, if you fall on a slippery road in the snow, is it more dangerous to break your arm or your shoulder, hip or skull?

Let's understand it from the perspective of bionics. We have all heard of the stories of animals such as geckos and lizards "cutting off their tails to survive". Why can "cutting off the tail" "survive"? Of course, the end tissues of the body are not fatal. "Reluctantly" giving up the "scraps" at the end of the body can better protect the important organs in the core. This is the optimal result of the survival of the fittest and continuous evolution of species in the cruel natural environment. Humans have also evolved in this way, so it is not difficult to understand similar principles.

So, from the perspective of "medical biomechanics", if you fall on a slippery road in the snow, the natural way to fall is to land on all fours. Arms are important, but not as important as the core organs. Landing on the ground with arms can also use the musculoskeletal system of the limbs to buffer and absorb vibration, reducing the impact damage to the core organs.

Dear readers, do you think that the way the “experts” tell you will cause you to fall harder, or the way “medical biomechanics” tells you will cause you to fall harder?