Head injuries - How often have you seen them?

[Query]

I love the form fitting memory foam pillows. Though, in truth, they don't completely equalize pressure - they could be better.

For energy absorption, maybe a viscous fluid, in a bladder? And a regulated emergency fluid release valve could give you the velocity sensitivity you crave.

If memory foams are "viscoelastic polyurethanes", they are pretty heavy. So are most viscous fluids.

You could have a mechanism that inflates an air bag around the head, as well as a neck collar to protect the neck, when the head comes within a foot of the ice. But there are figure skating moves where the head skims just over the ice. So it should only trigger if the downwards velocity is too high. Pretty complicated mechanism. Heavy and bulky. It would never sell to the figure skating market.

Larry Niven solved similar problems using "stasis fields". Just before the collision, you stop time around the body. Work on that.

[VAsk8r]

I feel like I've seen a lot of (mostly minor) head injuries in my 9 years of skating. More than any other kind of injury...and unfortunately adults seem to be by far the most susceptible.

I fell years ago on a 3-turn going into a flip jump and hit my forehead on the ice. I had to get 17 stitches to close the cut, but it healed really well, and I didn't have any other ill effects, not even a concussion.

Another time, I fell on a slip and hit the back of my head on the ice. It was only maybe six months after the cut, and I was mortified and tried to pretend like it hadn't happened (people saw me fall but nobody saw my head hit). I had whiplash for a few days, but with ice and rest, it got better.

We have one young skater at our rink who falls really hard, really often, and she hit her head once and got a concussion. For awhile after that, she wore one of those halo headbands.

Most of the adult skaters who I've talked to have hit their head. Maybe twice a year, I see an adult fall on public or in Learn to Skate and get a head injury. One was going in and out of consciousness and was taken away in an ambulance; most of the others insisted they were fine and just got off the ice.

It's scary, and I always feel a little shaken afterward.