Football Helmets and Concussion Reduction Claims

[rachael7 1]

Not quite hockey related, but given the attention paid lately to concussions, and in particular the various issues with helmet manufacturers and claims about concussion prevention, I thought this was kind of interesting:

Senator wants FTC investigation of helmet makers

WASHINGTON – A U.S. Senator is asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate "misleading safety claims and deceptive practices" in the selling of new football helmets and reconditioning of used ones.

In a letter dated Tuesday — a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press on Monday night — Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., tells FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz that helmet companies "appear to be using misleading advertising claims" and that "some helmet reconditioning companies may be falsely selling used helmets as meeting an industry safety standard."

In his letter to the FTC's Leibowitz, Udall says he is "troubled by misleading marketing claims by Riddell, a leading helmet maker that supplies the official helmet to the National Football League."

I wonder if/when/how this will have any impact on the hockey market? We fly a lot lower on the radar than football, but with attention being raised...

[Chadd 916]

Sounds like the claims that were made against Cascade

[rachael7 1]

Sounds like the claims that were made against Cascade

Exactly why it caught my eye, although I wasn't sure if I should name names.

[Jason Harris 31]

Kerry Goulet has been the Director of Hockey for Shoot For A Cure, which raises money to fund research for spinal cord injuries (paralysis) and neurotraumas (concussions). Over the years, he's picked up knowledge while talking to the researchers involved, and one thing he said recently is one of the top scientists -- from the Mayo Clinic, I believe -- has intimated that helmets (and mouth guards) do virtually nothing in lessening the severity of concussions, let alone preventing them. The gentleman likened it to an egg; the shell (or the skull) could be protected from breaking, but the egg (brain) will still slosh around inside. Since a concussion generally occurs when the brain bruises after it slams against the inner skull, it becomes apparent that no helmet could ever prevent the brain from being jarred in its inner cavity.

[rachael7 1]

Kerry Goulet has been the Director of Hockey for Shoot For A Cure, which raises money to fund research for spinal cord injuries (paralysis) and neurotraumas (concussions). Over the years, he's picked up knowledge while talking to the researchers involved, and one thing he said recently is one of the top scientists -- from the Mayo Clinic, I believe -- has intimated that helmets (and mouth guards) do virtually nothing in lessening the severity of concussions, let alone preventing them. The gentleman likened it to an egg; the shell (or the skull) could be protected from breaking, but the egg (brain) will still slosh around inside. Since a concussion generally occurs when the brain bruises after it slams against the inner skull, it becomes apparent that no helmet could ever prevent the brain from being jarred in its inner cavity.

I think the physics there is largely correct, with a few possible exceptions. The padding in the helmet does increase the distance over which the head (and brain) decelerate, which will reduce the forces applied to the brain, and presumably reduce the trauma as well; less force = less trauma doesn't seem too big an assumption, in my engineering opinion. There are also some possibilities involving rebound and bounce, but those are likely minor compared to the damage of the first impact. Given that the helmets all have a pretty similar thickness of padding, and that it isn't much of a thickness really, I think the overall sentiment of the statement is largely correct. Of course, not cracking the shell is definitely an advantage that makes the helmet worth wearing, so it is certainly better than nothing... but as far as preventing concussions... *shrug*

[Trooper 8]

Kerry Goulet has been the Director of Hockey for Shoot For A Cure, which raises money to fund research for spinal cord injuries (paralysis) and neurotraumas (concussions). Over the years, he's picked up knowledge while talking to the researchers involved, and one thing he said recently is one of the top scientists -- from the Mayo Clinic, I believe -- has intimated that helmets (and mouth guards) do virtually nothing in lessening the severity of concussions, let alone preventing them. The gentleman likened it to an egg; the shell (or the skull) could be protected from breaking, but the egg (brain) will still slosh around inside. Since a concussion generally occurs when the brain bruises after it slams against the inner skull, it becomes apparent that no helmet could ever prevent the brain from being jarred in its inner cavity.

Absolutely, everything I've heard from anybody involved in real research echos this. Chip Burke was (maybe still is) on the NHL's committee studying concussions and he said the same thing years ago.

As for the padding changing the deceleration curve, maybe, but I would imagine the percentage of the rate of change is miniscule, almost to the point of being irrelevant in the equation, overall.

Edit- clarity

[Jason Harris 31]

Just intuitively, my guess is there probably would be some collisions in which padding could absorb the forces enough to prevent the brain from sliding inside the skull. However, once the impact exceeds a certain level, I'm guessing nothing could prevent the brain from moving inside the skull cavity.

Another interesting thing Kerry brought up is researchers are trying to interpolate (or should it be extrapolate?!) why football players seem to have lower incidences of severe concussions compared to hockey players, considering the football players generally are larger and have more collisions throughout the game. The prevailing wisdom is football players are more expecting of hits, particularly of a head-on nature, whereas many hockey hits have been blindside hits. Consequently, football players tend to consciously build up their neck muscles, to absorb some of the impact of their collisions. Of course, this then suggests that some level of padding or shock absorbency (muscles) can prevent concussions up to a certain level of impact. After that, nothing is keeping the brain safe.

[Trooper 8]

Just intuitively, my guess is there probably would be some collisions in which padding could absorb the forces enough to prevent the brain from sliding inside the skull. However, once the impact exceeds a certain level, I'm guessing nothing could prevent the brain from moving inside the skull cavity.

Another interesting thing Kerry brought up is researchers are trying to interpolate (or should it be extrapolate?!) why football players seem to have lower incidences of severe concussions compared to hockey players, considering the football players generally are larger and have more collisions throughout the game. The prevailing wisdom is football players are more expecting of hits, particularly of a head-on nature, whereas many hockey hits have been blindside hits. Consequently, football players tend to consciously build up their neck muscles, to absorb some of the impact of their collisions. Of course, this then suggests that some level of padding or shock absorbency (muscles) can prevent concussions up to a certain level of impact. After that, nothing is keeping the brain safe.

You'd have to know the forces to really even start to get into this kind of thing. I wonder if the difference is the whipping of the head. A lot of football contact is head on, with the head just kind of stopping with the impact. Some tackles do generate some whip but not all. With hockey, maybe there is more snapping of the head, so a given impact is magnified as the head acts like the end of a whip. Think about snapping someone with a towel. You accelerate the end in your hand a certain amount and the other end is traveling much faster.

Just conjecture though.

[Jason Harris 31]

I think you're correct about the whipping. It seems like it would be similar to a car stopping. If the car decelerates gradually, everything stays in its place. But if the car has to stop suddenly, anything that isn't buckled will propel forward.