Introduction
Helmet therapy and head injuries both require immediate care, depending on their seriousness. Ensuring safety during children’s playtime, especially when they start walking or riding bicycles, is most important for caregivers as well. From bumping the head causing minor bruises to deep cuts and wounds, babies are more susceptible to head injuries that cause health issues or deaths.
There are many types of fatal injuries a contusion, which causes bleeding and swelling inside the brain; concussion, which causes loss of consciousness to loss of orientation due to brain injury; skull fracture, which breaks the skull bone, creating an emergency, and sometimes death.
What Is the Reason Behind Bone Deformity?
There are two conditions that cause bone deformities; craniosynostosis and positional skull deformities. Each stage of embryo development has its importance. Craniosynostosis is a birth defect that is caused by early fusion of the skull, even before the full development of the brain. This causes an abnormal shape of the skull as the brain develops. The other is positional skull deformity plagiocephaly or flathead and brachycephaly.
There are many reasons that cause this deformity in children. Such as, it can occur because of crowding in the womb or infants spending a long time sleeping in a certain position. When a child sleeps on one side continuously, it causes flattening of the side of the skull, known as plagiocephaly. Another side effect of this is misaligned ears. Moreover, when a child sleeps in a supine position continuously, it causes the front of the skull to bulge, which is known as brachycephaly. Both of these solely depend on prolonged sleeping time in the same position.
How Is a Helmet Used for Safety?
These days children play varied outdoor games like skating, bicycling, and many other sports. No matter the age, head injuries are very common due to banging the head against objects or falling from bicycles, or during other playground games. Wearing protective gear like helmets, hand pads, and knee pads can be a lifesaver in many unfortunate incidents.
Why Should a Helmet Be Compulsory?
By putting their safety and health first, children should be asked to take safety measures. A simple concussion can cause life-threatening situations like loss of consciousness, locked-in syndrome - where a person is conscious but loses the ability to speak, loss of eyesight, and, much worse, death.
According to IIHS (The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) fatality facts, “Each year, about two percent of vehicle crash deaths are bicyclists,” and reports show significantly more deaths are due to riders not wearing a helmet”.
While wearing helmets, there are a few things everyone should keep in mind. For instance, the size of the helmet and color should be brightly visible during the day and night; it should be replaced after a big fall or big impact during a fall. Keeping these aspects in mind is very important for parents.
How Is a Helmet Used for Therapy?
In children, there are many developmental disorders that affect the size and growth of the skull. Disorder such as craniosynostosis, where the premature fusion of the sutures in the skull causes a misshapen skull in newborns. If the deformity is not serious, changing sleeping positions or using a baby pillow can be a help. Also, there is physical therapy for them for the same issue. However, with a severe condition, it is advisable to see a pediatrician and follow the suggested treatment plan. Although positional deformity does not cause any serious changes to a child’s brain, with time, it may become the reason for social awkwardness for them.
Depending on the age and developmental growth of the skull, helmet therapy can have different recovery times. While some young ones show promising effects in a few months, there are some examples taking a longer time. It is very important for parents to know and understand the detailed diagnosis and treatment plan from their doctors.
Bony plates are joined by sutures, and with them, the skull is made. It is a suture that allows a space for the growing brain when a child’s skull grows with age. It is wise to see a doctor, especially in the developing stage when the child suffers from deformities related to bone. The helmet should be worn during this developing time as it is relatively easier to guide the growth of a bone, and with age. On the other hand, it is impossible to correct any deformities after the age of 2 years when brain growth is completed.
What Are the Advantages and Disadvantages of a Helmet?
It can be very overwhelming for parents to see their child with a helmet all the time during the therapy phase. However, for children, it is as normal as it is without one. Additionally, there are a few advantages and disadvantages of wearing a helmet, such as
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Advantages:
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Safety: Helmets protect the little ones from falling and hitting their head or banging it against some objects.
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Therapy: It can be very useful for therapy where the bone abnormality of a skull is related. Helmet therapy is not only used as a corrective therapy at a young age, but it also saves the child from social awkwardness as a young adult.
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Disadvantages:
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Discomfort: Children might feel discomfort at the start with rashes or skin irritation and pain. All of these can be solved with simple therapy, time, or topical ointments that soothe rashes and skin irritation.
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Conclusion
There are many disorders related to bone growth seen in children. Many of them involve bone abnormalities related to the growth of the skull. Helmet therapy can not only be used for safety purposes, but also it can be a protective headgear for children during outdoor activities. However, wearing helmets comes with pros and cons, but using them as safety gear or in therapy can be advantageous in the long run.
