So I got knocked stupid

[siuski]

Last thursday I spent 4 hours in the ER with my first ever concussion. I was trying to take my tantrum up more, over rotated, and caught my hs edge...slam. Anyway I wasn't knocked out but just stupid, couldn't remember my birthday, glazed over eyes, etc. I lost my short term memory (still don't remember being on the boat or going to the hospital).

My question is this, in the past, I've only worn my helmit when hitting sliders and kickers. Should I wear it when I get back on the water in a few weeks, or would it help protect my noggin at all against the water...would like to avoid getting a second concussion any time soon.

[LakeIolaLuke]

dang man, same thing happened to me on a raley this weekend, but I didn't go to the er, just slept it off...

[westcoast_canadian]

Man to be honest from the two concussions I've had, one wakeboarding, the other on a manta ray kite tube, I think the feeling is really tranquil and almost enjoyable. Sure your head kills but it felt like I was dreaming when I was back in the boat....everything so care free....wierd feeling hahah.

And I wouldn't recommend "sleeping off" a concussion and hours soon after it happened or apparently you can go into a coma...that'd suck

[J.M.B]

[HHI Dave]

Cut it out you guys, yer scarin' me!

[alafiaboarder]

i've only had 4 so im still straight.... wait, what am i talking about.... where am i?!

just kiddin but ya don't sleep, we just sat around and i enjoyed my time in my own little world... i think. they told me a bunch of funny stories so i provided them with entertainment by slammin my brain against my skull... worth it to me, bringin smiles to my friends faces one black out at a time

[wakeboardnut]

I've yet to wear a helmet while boarding, but my buddy took a few spills to the back of his head this weekend that caused him to see stars, so i think im going to consider the protec ace helmet very soon.

[CasWakes]

I had almost the same thing happen to me except i was doing a backroll and over rotated into my TS edge, i face planted pretty hard. I didnt believe that i had wakeboarded that day until they showed me the video.

[steve-o]

last summer i was knoced out cold on a ts front roll. Overroated right on my face.

I'm not sure that a helmut would have prevented my injury.
It's just a theory but i think a helmut will only protect wakeboarders against solid objects. Not sure it softens the impact of the water that much.

does that make any sense?

[Pacco LF]

i wear the protec ace helmet,and have to say it has saved me LOTS of times from having concussions...i highly suggest it

[heroldmike]

personly i dont wear a helmet but most of my friends that are doing inverts always wear a helmet and they havnt had any problems,

[Stewie]

I got a concussion last year on an underrotated HS R2R. I really wanted to go to sleep, but my dad was watching me to make sure I didn't. After like 2 hours of being in a daze he let me sleep, and I only slept for about an hour, but truly thought that I slept for a whole day. It took my parents half an hour to convince me that it was still the same day.

About the helmets, I don't suggest them. The can actually hurt you more often than save you. The can catch water and pull up on the strap and give you major whiplash. I rode with a helmet on when I was trying batwings on a wakeskate, and it did pull my head back a few times, luckily not bad though. Plus their uncomfortable.

[k9fxr]

Wear the helmet
They decr the impact,
a second concussion is v. serious and a dr. will suggest you lay off the sport

[-relk-]

ya same thing happened to me in a hockey game. Apparently i waws hit adn the ref had to help me to the bench cuz i couldnt wallk straight adn then the cpoaches checked me adn said i was fine (idiots tehy were) and i went back out. O well i apparently scored a goal anyway adn got mvp lol. How my dad found out was that when were drivign back form the game he kept askign me what the score was in the game and i couldnt remember. Went to the hospital adn they told me a bunch of crap. Anotehr thing was that it was teh day before new years so that kinda ruined my new years lol.

EDIT: this was my second adn more serious concussion as well so i would suggest weraring a helmet when wakeboarding cuz that will most definitly decress the effect admn maybe even prevent a concussion. Also this migh sound stupid but i have been told to wear a mouthgurad to prevent concussions as well because u can get concussions from biting down too hard on ur teeth too fast (thats what i ahve been told by my parents , dont know if its true though)

[hyperlite58]

yea my firend just got a concussion the other week from doing a hs backroll...so we bought a helmet...

P.S. dont get a capix, they do stuff, those are the ones that give u whiplash...u should by a protec, they work amazing

[shadowfox]

I started wearing a helmet after blowing my ear drum last summer. So, I got the ProTec Ace with ear protection. Anyway I took a really hard slam to the back of my head and without the helmet I would have been knocked out, but I only got a slight headache. Then again I am an old fart so I need all the help I can get.

[siuski]

Thanks all for the input, I've got the protec w/o the ear protection, but I'll definatly be wearing it for the rest of the season...

[kevthayer]

My buddy has worn a helmet for years, he never takes it off, he drools a lot too. Helmets in water sports? Rails and sliders, Yes I can see that but it seems to me that when your head hits the water it hurts, when your head hits the water with a helmet on you now have more surface area that must penetrate the water, which in turn puts more pressure on your neck. I'll take a concussion over a broken neck.

[k9fxr]

Kevthayer, you dont know what you are talking about
listen to those of use who have had conccusions, riddern with and without helmets.

The fact is, there is less pain on impact cuz there is more surface area,
would you ratherjam a finger into the wall or your fist, same thing

[jdmcivicman]

the faster you are going, the harder the water is...
sounds funny but it's true i used to surf before i moved to vegas. crashes on a surfboard @6-10mph were nothing compared to wakeboarding @20mph. i couldnot believe it when i fell for my first time this past sunday. it was my second time wakeboarding. i can just imagine what it feels like when you fall from a trick, hell i tried to jump the wake and i got about 2ft of air and caught my hs edge when i landed, it was crazy hard.
back to my point the helmet has to help your melon, unless it snaps your head back or something.
one guy that was with us on sunday should have worn a helmet in the boat, he cracked his head on the tower 3 times.

[kevthayer]

k9fxr, No comparison, a wall is solid water is not. Simple physics here, simple physics. The larger the object, the more difficult it will be to penetrate the surface. Speed does come into play as jdmcivicman mentioned but it only makes it worse. The only thing I think a helmet may assist with is not slapping your head on the water, so your face wont sting, but again that huge helmet needs to get through that water eventually even at the risk of injuring your neck.

[Roos]

well I wouldn't say simple physics...
You can read about fluids at wikipedia.org
Read about incompressible fluids and compressible fluids if you wan't to know about the more complex physics behind this.

But sure it is harder to move a helmet through the surface than a head since the helmet will be bigger.
But have you considered which "object" that is better hydrodynamically shaped?
What is inside the helmet, well it should be compressible material that is softer closer to the head and then gets harder and harder until finally the shell of the helmet. When the helmet hits the water the softer material inside the helmet absorbs some of the power put on you head and therefore makes the crash seem softer. The same thing applys to your neck and I don't think that the neck will take that much more strain of the crash with a helmet.

Since the pressure between you and the water will increase when you go faster I guess the water seems harder since you hit the water with a higher speed and the water will push back since you can't really compress it. The faster you hit the water the harder the water pushes back. I've seen a video with a guy that hits the water at 130 mph and he bounces several 100 feet before he finally stops and sinks through the surface. But I can't really tell you exactly how it works, but I can see how it is possible that the water is harder as you go faster.

Anyhow... use a helmet seems smart when you do raleys and inverts and such...

Mike

[Wakebrad]

I agree with kevthayer. A helmet for wake-riding is more risk than the benefit it provides.

[arof]

This thread should be in the running for a "Wurst Gramer Exer" contest. Have you all graduated elementary school? I think the irony is in the fact that it's about concussions

[siuski]

Both sides have a valid argument. I've thought about it somemore from an engineering standpoint (i'm a ME). I can see that if you hit such that the water would grab the helmet and try to rip it from your head that would be bad on the neck and I wouldn't want to wear one, however I don't normally take falls that would cause that, and I would bet that the strap/buckle would break before then.

From the other side of the argument about smacking your head on the water, specifically on the back of the head, (like the fall I took and want to prevent the same type of injury in the future), I'm in favor of wearing the helmet. To expand on what Roos said, although there is a greater surface (helmet) area to create lift/resistance (think about airplane wing, because lift is what makes a boat/wakeboard plane and cause the rapid deceleration of one's head) there is foam in the helmet to absorb energy. There's a very small percentage difference in the area creating the resistance w or wo a helmet. Remember that curved surfaces that angle upward from the water doesn't contribute a whole lot of additional force or contribute force later from the initial blow.

When one's head hits the water, it creates resistance or lift force on the head in the opposite direction from which it is traveling and causes deceleration, potentially rapid...which causes the brain to hit the skull. With the foam absorbing some of that energy the skull has a smaller deceleration value, and thus smaller trauma to the brain that try's to keep going.

Now, I'm not going to advocate that everyone go use a helmet while freeriding, but I definitly think the pro's outweigh the con's after sustaining a head injury.

[siuski]

arof, and yes, I haven't got my spelling or gramer back to 100% Which that isn't saying a whole lot anyway!

[kevthayer]

I love those Grammar posts becuase they are so educational! Who cares about the spelling around here, I lost all of my fingers when I was a kid lifting a man-hole cover, this is the best I can do with my thumbs! By the wya I can type 36 WPM.

Here are the new Pro-Tec helmets, have fun getting them through the water:

[WakeBoarder44]

kevthayer,

I wear a helmet most of the time...