Protective Helmets

[2vonnie]

More and more falls. Can anyone recommend a protective helmet to at least limit the damage. Thanks everyone x

[Hidden]

Something kind of cost effective may be one of those skateboarding models. They cover the back of the head, side and stop above the eyebrow line.

Ron

[Evertonian]

Rugby players wear protective helmets they are made of polyester and are padded you would obviously find in a sports shop or Amazon.

[JR61 in reply to Evertonian]

Just a word of caution with all helmets, they may prevent external cuts, grazes and bruising but as my son found out, who is a keen rugby player not a PSP sufferer, they do not prevent internal damage. He suffered severe concussion on one occasion when wearing a rugby skull cap during a match, not from a bang but as a result of whiplash from a fall, where his brain ricocheted backward and forward inside his skull. He lost his memory of the previous couple of days which included his Grandad’s 70th Birthday party and the match he was playing in, which was pretty scary. So please don’t be lulled into a false sense of security, it is the unseen that does the damage not the dramatic external stuff. My dad, who died 4th December 2017, fell many times split his head open, broke his nose, cut his mouth among other things but those things healed his brain did not. The other thing I found with dad was he was unable to go along with new things, old dog new tricks. He would remove his SOS falls sensor constantly (it was like a wrist watch) his hearing aids and glasses would be lost many times a day - sometimes his hearing aids would go through the washing machine and tumble drier in his pockets, they must have had nine lives! And he was never able to learn to press the buzzer for assistance so I know that a helmet would have been discarded immediately the moment our backs were turned, it was exasperating at times. So please try a helmet and all the best but please be aware that the falls may still have unforeseen consequences. Good luck, thinking of everyone still struggling with PSP and it’s effects. Ruth x

[Tttp]

Hi my brother had some nasty falls hitting his head with a severe brain bleed couple years back, the head gear they have at medical supplies is not that great we went to a sports store and explained to the guy what was happing with my brother he recommended a football helmet he took the face gear off for me it is the best very protective no injuries.

[abilitydesigns]

i purchased this for my mom when she used to walk . Helped her few times during falls. ( she is bedridden now so no longer using it ) headbuddy.com.au/

[Christine47]

My husband wears a bump cap I ordered off Amazon. It looks like a baseball cap. It does help if he wears it. His last two falls (one Christmas morning into the bathroom tub) he had decided to take it off before the fall. Sigh...

[ketchupman]

I got my wife this one. alimed.com/full-coverage-he... She hated wearing it but it probably saved us at least 3-4 trips to the ER and who knows, may have saved her life. Prior to the helmet, she was falling constantly and lots of backward falls. 6 ER visits in 18 months requiring her head to be either stitched or stapled. And often they would want to take a CAT scan to make sure there was no brain damage. I finally got our health insurance company to cover this, which should be a no-brainer as most ER visits ran $1500 and an extra $800 for a CAT scan. If you don’t wear the straps, then the helmet will often fall off during a fall and prove useless. But the straps make it more confining and uncomfortable. The color of this one was a little more appealing to my wife. But she still hated wearing it. I only made her wear it around the house. Whenever out in public, I always had her in a wheelchair or else I was tightly holding onto her.

Ketchupman

[crab2093]

We are in North Queensland , Australia. After numerous backward falls we bought Charlie a protective helmet which is of the type which we had seen worn by one of our Rugby League players every week for at least the last 5 years. The player is Johnathon Thurston and he was the Captain of the local Cowboys team and the Australian team. The helmet is lightweight but strong and sturdy. It has full head protection. Charlie has not had a head injury since we bought it even though he is quite active ( and very unsteady now) and falls 6 or 7 times a week. We bought it on line and cam reasonably quickly.

Good luck with your search and we hope this will be of some help.

Val