engleski

The rise of ski helmets: what have we learned in last few decades?

Looking at the ski slope footage from thirty years ago, the difference that one observes is the head protection garment e.g. ski helmet. The part of the equipment which was basically unknown till the last few decades, became almost unavoidable. The prevalence of skiers using ski helmets rose from less than 5% in 1990 to around 50% in 2000, and is currently pushing high 80-90%, depending on region. The estimated number of active skiers in the world is 115 million, and with recommendations that a helmet should be replaced every 5 years (no matter the amount of impacts), the potential of the market is huge. The chance of dying while skiing is estimated to be 1 in 1.4 million but despite that the majority of skiers would consider a helmet primary as a lifesaving garment. Nevertheless, there are many other benefits of helmet, maybe even as simple as its warmth. Of course, it protects from some forms of head injuries and it seems to protect from concussions. There is very little doubt left whether the helmets are useful overall, but still the biggest concerns of scientists address three to four major problems ; The first one was raised, among others, by ski patrols who reported impairment of hearing and sight. Several studies eventually concluded that vision should not be a problem, whilst there is still some doubt whether helmets reduce the environmental sounds, especially the sounds of danger and distort the sound localization and especially with music (Ruzic, 2015). The next concern was so called "risk taking theory". It was proven before that when a person holds to somewhat as to the "lifesaving cushion" he compensates in behavior for this additional sense of security. This might be a reason that even though the number of helmet users increased dramatically, the overall skiing mortality did not follow the same pattern. This issue is still being debated (Ruedl, 2015). 11 Studies dealt also with transfer of impact forces from head to neck and spine during helmeted falls and few researchers did not prove higher chance for neck injury. Unfortunately, recently, the new suspicions emerged as two studies agreed that helmet wearers suffered less bone skull fractures, but they suffered more complicated bleeding injuries, intracranial hemorrhages, neck injuries, and they were more likely to fall from a jump or hit a tree (Porter, 2019). So, the old questions emerged again. Does that all bring us back to risk taking theory, to helmet/head combined weight problems, to speed/impact force related helmet limitations and basically to need for more research?

ski helmets safety

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