Talk to me about head protection

[mapleleafmama]

After my fall last Sunday, I'm looking into some sort of protective headgear. I have a Crasche band and I hate it - I bought it after I took a fall & hit the back of my head about a year and a half ago - I have a history of concussions (5 over the last 25-ish years), so I do take it seriously, but I stopped wearing my Crasche when I regained my confidence. It gives me a headache and I've never been overly confident it will stay on when I need it. (Also, I tend to hit higher up on my head and I don't think it would protect the right spot if I fell and hit that spot, anyway.)

I was looking into the Ice Halo but - as with the Crasche band - I'm not confident it would protect me where I most need protection. I don't want to wear a hockey helmet - I don't want to wear a helmet when I compete or test and I think the extra weight will create issues if I'm learning/practicing wearing it but competing/testing without it.

Ice Halo has a soft helmet that looks interesting. I've seen good reviews about the Ice Halo in terms of being adequate to cushion the head in a fall & I think the extra coverage will mean it protects me where I need protection. I'm wondering if anyone else has experience with it that they can share.

Or are there other suggestions?

I'm also interested in hearing about how easy or difficult it is to adjust between wearing it in practice but not in competion/testing. The only other skater I know who wears a helmet is a club member learning basic skills so it hasn't been an issue for her. I have a friend who wears the Crasche hat & she likes that but I think I'd feel more confident with the high-density foam of the Ice Halo helmet than with the inserts in the Crasche.

I'm probably overthinking this but I can't risk another brain injury (my husband is already a bit annoyed that I insist on continuing to skate with my history) and I also don't want to spend a ton of money on something that may or may not protect me the way I need protecting.

[Christy]

I'd avoid the Crasche. I bought one and the material I got was really silky so the band just slides off my hair. I contacted them and asked if other colors / designs were less slippery but they didn't really answer the question, and their customer service was really poor. Since then people have told me that their Crasche head bands have fallen off when they've fallen so not provided any protection, although a couple on people on here do seem to like them.

[Live2Sk8]

I have the Ice Halo.  I have had no trouble adjusting to wearing it for practice but not wearing it for competition.  I don't even think about it.  Most of my falls are not from jumps but from stupid fluke things, like hitting a rut in the ice while doing nothing.  I wear it fairly tight and low (at the eyebrow).  If it starts to give me a headache, I just push it up for a few seconds to relieve the pressure.  Once I take it off, any little bit of headache is gone immediately.  I have not hit my head while wearing it so I have no practical experience, but I have witnessed 2 falls.  On one, a very large adult male who fell completely backwards and landed on his head, the Ice Halo stayed in place and he was very happy with the protection.  On the second, a smaller adult female fell backwards in an ice dance move.  The Ice Halo cushioned her head for the first hit but flipped up and did not cushion her head for a rebound hit.  The rebound hit was at much lower speed and force.  Still, it did come off.  I have really slippery hair so I do worry that I'd have the same problem. 

You are wise to think about all of this - you only have one brain!  It is worth protecting.  Good luck in finding the right solution for you.

[Leif]

I used to wear a skate boarding helmet like these:

https://www.skatestation.co.uk/protection/helmets/c111

You might feel a bit stupid but it does provide protection, albeit with some weight which may well be too much for a figure skater. I wear hockey skates, so no jumps and spins. That said, a helmet will help to protect you from the impact and dissipate some of the force, but it won't prevent the deceleration which will do some of the damage.

I have a range of pads for arms etc made from various materials. The best use foams based on non Newtonian fluids. Basically it means that they are soft until an impact at which point they harden. D3O and G-form are two I use. One option would be for you to sew some g-form pads into a soft cap, such as a pom pom. D3O tends to be much less flexible so less suitable unless you can find some smaller ready shaped pieces.

[Query]

BTW, I've seen a lot of kids, including pretty good figure skaters, wear an Ice Halo. If you pick a color that matches your outfit, they don't look so bad - their website http://www.icehalo.ca shows they think about style a lot, and they have a lot of models and colors to choose from. They have "soft helmet" styles that cover more of the head. If I were worried about concussions, I'd go for one of those.

I wonder if most judges might be OK with an ADULT wearing a helmet during tests and comps. 5 concussions is A LOT. This is a truly terrible thing to ask, and it does seem exceedingly unlikely, but if you insist on NOT wearing helmets, is it vaguely possible your husband is even a little bit right?

A band can't protect the whole head. Even most helmets don't: I've twice hit my forehead on rocks while whitewater boating with a helmet. (A helmet with a face shield or maybe a bigger brim would have prevented that.)

People make extremely lightweight bicycle helmets - e.g., I had one that was nothing but thin polystyrene foam, with a piece of cloth over it. It possibly saved my life in a bike accident, though I still took damage. But those super-light helmets are only designed to survive one fall. After that, they either break apart completely, or provide little protection. Which can potentially make them expensive to keep replacing - but so might a concussion be, and the after effects could be severe.

I personally believe that fall practice can help a lot. Maybe it won't prevent all damage, but it helps improve reflex speed, so that you can often avoid hitting your head. One idea is to spread the impact by rolling or sliding over soft parts of your body. For example, if you fall backward, it helps to relax and curl your head forward, and to try to direct your roll slightly off center. I admit I'm a fall fanatic, and spent a lot of time practicing falls, and I know sane people don't do that (not a problem for me ). In many other sports where falling is common, extensive fall practice is often advocated. The best instructor for gentle falls I found was a modern dancer, who used falls in her routines.

For you, skating is clearly a contact sport, so maybe fall practice makes sense. But maybe wearing protection does too?

Anyway, good luck with whatever you choose.

[mapleleafmama]

I'd avoid the Crasche. I bought one and the material I got was really silky so the band just slides off my hair. I contacted them and asked if other colors / designs were less slippery but they didn't really answer the question, and their customer service was really poor. Since then people have told me that their Crasche head bands have fallen off when they've fallen so not provided any protection, although a couple on people on here do seem to like them.

I have heard this from a lot of people. I never had a head-hit fall when I wore the one I have but I never felt like it would be good protection. My friend who has the hat sewed on a chin strap & said that helps, but I'd rather find something that works right out of the box, so to speak.

[mapleleafmama]

I have the Ice Halo.  I have had no trouble adjusting to wearing it for practice but not wearing it for competition.  I don't even think about it.  Most of my falls are not from jumps but from stupid fluke things, like hitting a rut in the ice while doing nothing.  I wear it fairly tight and low (at the eyebrow).  If it starts to give me a headache, I just push it up for a few seconds to relieve the pressure.  Once I take it off, any little bit of headache is gone immediately.  I have not hit my head while wearing it so I have no practical experience, but I have witnessed 2 falls.  On one, a very large adult male who fell completely backwards and landed on his head, the Ice Halo stayed in place and he was very happy with the protection.  On the second, a smaller adult female fell backwards in an ice dance move.  The Ice Halo cushioned her head for the first hit but flipped up and did not cushion her head for a rebound hit.  The rebound hit was at much lower speed and force.  Still, it did come off.  I have really slippery hair so I do worry that I'd have the same problem. 

You are wise to think about all of this - you only have one brain!  It is worth protecting.  Good luck in finding the right solution for you.

Fantastic info - thank you so much. I've heard from a few other people who have had good experience with the Ice Halo. I was resistant to it at first because it looks...weird...but you know, I'd rather not scramble my brains. I was thinking about the soft helmet they make, which has a strap, so I'm hoping that would keep it in place.

[mapleleafmama]

BTW, I've seen a lot of kids, including pretty good figure skaters, wear an Ice Halo. If you pick a color that matches your outfit, they don't look so bad - their website http://www.icehalo.ca shows they think about style a lot, and they have a lot of models and colors to choose from. They have "soft helmet" styles that cover more of the head. If I were worried about concussions, I'd go for one of those.

I wonder if most judges might be OK with an ADULT wearing a helmet during tests and comps. 5 concussions is A LOT. This is a truly terrible thing to ask, and it does seem exceedingly unlikely, but if you insist on NOT wearing helmets, is it vaguely possible your husband is even a little bit right?

A band can't protect the whole head. Even most helmets don't: I've twice hit my forehead on rocks while whitewater boating with a helmet. (A helmet with a face shield or maybe a bigger brim would have prevented that.)

People make extremely lightweight bicycle helmets - e.g., I had one that was nothing but thin polystyrene foam, with a piece of cloth over it. It possibly saved my life in a bike accident, though I still took damage. But those super-light helmets are only designed to survive one fall. After that, they either break apart completely, or provide little protection. Which can potentially make them expensive to keep replacing - but so might a concussion be, and the after effects could be severe.

I personally believe that fall practice can help a lot. Maybe it won't prevent all damage, but it helps improve reflex speed, so that you can often avoid hitting your head. One idea is to spread the impact by rolling or sliding over soft parts of your body. For example, if you fall backward, it helps to relax and curl your head forward, and to try to direct your roll slightly off center. I admit I'm a fall fanatic, and spent a lot of time practicing falls, and I know sane people don't do that (not a problem for me ). In many other sports where falling is common, extensive fall practice is often advocated. The best instructor for gentle falls I found was a modern dancer, who used falls in her routines.

For you, skating is clearly a contact sport, so maybe fall practice makes sense. But maybe wearing protection does too?

Anyway, good luck with whatever you choose.

Thank you for such a thoughtful & helpful post.

Of the options I am aware of, I'm definitely leaning toward the soft Ice Halo helmet. I think it will give me the best protection I'll find outside of a hockey helmet & still be light enough that I won't feel like I'm skating with a brick on my head.

I'm definitely planning to wear a helmet - I bought my Crasche band after a fall a few years ago (no concussion on that one; I did hit my head but not very hard, but I wanted to be safe) but it was so uncomfortable & as my skills and confidence improved I think I got a little overconfident and stopped wearing it. I tend to fall in the sort of out-of-control way where I can't control *how* I fall mostly when I am learning something new - either a new element or, as was the case the other week, a new program (I was practicing my footwork "one more time" before my lesson & got my feet caught up doing a freakin' 3-turn) - I think I am a little stiffer then & so when I fall I go down hard and awkwardly. So...by the time I am to the point of testing or competing, I skate much looser & when I fall I have a bit better control over it, which is why I'm thinking if I wear it all the time when I practice and leave it off only when I test or compete, it won't be such a risky proposition.

Definitely also want to work more on falls. I think learning how to fall "right" might help me even if I do have one of those stiff, out-of-control falls because I'll have practiced what I want my body to do.

Thanks for all the food for thought.

[Query]

Wouldn't it be cool if ice skating rinks could reduce gravity so we would fall slower and softer?

Oh, wait - people would just jump higher, and still fall hard. 

To some extent fall practice and wearing protection might do that - make you confident enough to try more dangerous things. (It did, to some extent, for me.)

So, dream about what figure skating would be like in low gravity. And do it!    But I hope you don't take it too far.

[ChristyRN]

I had an ICU-worthy concussion four years ago and wear a Crasche band now. I usually wear my hair in a high pony, so it doesn't slide off. I have hit my head a couple of time since, once that completely protected my head, and the second where my head bounced and the second hit was above the band (yikes!), but nothing I couldn't handle.

The band is made of what seems to be normal stretch nylon, so it could be slippery, but I've never had a problem with it slipping. Just be sure to measure your head correctly.

I'd rather skated with a nekkid head, but my family won't allow me on the ice unless I wear protection. Since I won't wear a helmet, Crasche it is.