Data analysis was performed considering the seacoast of Paran��, with no comparisons between municipalities. RESULTS In the Paran�� seacoast, surfers’ age was 27 �� 6 years, and 70% declared themselves as recreational and 2% professionals. It has been found that most of the individuals surveyed (47%) have surfed for 10 years or read FAQ more; and 65% of people surf two to four times a week for 2 to 4 hours per day (92%). Analyzing the three categories of surfers, it was found that 78% of the individuals surveyed perform stretching exercises before surfing. Stretching exercises are performed especially in the upper (33%) and lower limbs (32%), both lasting about 30 seconds or more. The most common warming up activity practiced before surfing was to the upper limbs (38%) lasting 10 minutes.

However, after surfing, most of the subjects (68%) did not perform any type of exercise. (Table 1) In the professional category, there was a higher prevalence of muscle/ligament injuries and burns (33% each), and the anatomical most affected part was the lower limbs (33%). In the amateur category, it was found that the most frequent injuries were contusions (31%), followed by burns and lacerations (24% and 22%, respectively). The anatomical part most affected was the lower limbs (46%), equally distributed between the legs and feet, and upper limbs (25%). In the recreational category, the most frequent injuries were similar to those of the amateur category, with most frequently contusions (29%), followed by lacerations (25%) and burns (23%).

The anatomic part most affected was the lower limbs with 47% of all injuries (27% legs and feet 20%) and upper limbs with 20%. (Table 2) Table 1 Prevalence of exercises performed before and/or after surfing among surfers in the seacoast of Paran��. Table 2 Lesions due to surf practice by category in surfers of the seacoast of Parana. Overall, we found 387 injuries that occurred among all surfers evaluated on average 6.5 injuries per athlete, 12 of them (3%) in professional surfers. The lower number of injuries in professional surfers may be attributed to the reduced number of surfers in this category in the total sample. On the other hand, amateur and recreational surfers presented 99 lesions (26%) and 276 lesions (71%), respectively.

Considering the total sample, the most frequent injuries were contusions (29%), followed by lacerations and burns (23% each), musculoskeletal and ligamentous sprains (9% each), dislocation (4%) and other injuries (2%). The anatomical most affected parts were the lower limbs (46%), especially legs (26%) and feet (20%), followed by upper limbs (22%), head/neck GSK-3 (16%) and torso (15%). Considering each type of injury in various body parts, feet laceration was the most frequent (9%), followed by legs contusion (8%) and burns in the upper limbs (7%). (Table 3) Table 3 Distribution of injuries by body part and type of injury among surfers in the seacoast of Paran��.