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A Look At Sports Protective Wear

By Lila Barry


There is growing concern over the safety of participating in sports in recent years as injuries seem to be more common with more people taking part in these types of activities. Rules designed to protect the players have evolved and there is more emphasis on properly maintaining and caring for facilities and equipment. The most visible safety measure, however, is the use of sports protective wear, which is also seeing a significant increase in its use.

A wide variety of this type of gear is available, varying according to which sport is being played and the particular needs of the user. Certain sports have rules requiring the use of specific types of protective wear because of the intrinsic dangers involved. There are also additional options for those with special needs or conditions.

A sport that uses an obviously large amount of protective padding is American football. Anyone playing this game must, by rule, wear a helmet, a face mask, a mouth guard and shoulder pads. In most cases hip, knee, thigh and tailbone pads will be required as well.

Another sport in which the players have seemingly every body part covered is ice hockey. This game is also a demonstration of how the use of protective gear has evolved over time. Many years ago helmets were not commonly worn in hockey despite the violent nature of the game and the hardness of the ice. Surprisingly, not even goalies used head or face protection even though their role is to use their bodies to stop a hard piece of rubber that is flying at a great velocity. Now, however, helmets are mandatory in nearly every hockey league and goalies are well-padded.

Probably the most commonly-seen variety of safety wear is the helmet. These are used in a wide variety of sports due to the importance of protecting the head in general and the brain specifically. The two games mentioned above use these as do others including auto racing, horse riding, cycling, baseball, snowboarding and skiing.

The examples mentioned so far are rather obvious, but some are less apparent than these. One example is the rash guard used by surfers. One reason it is used is to provide protection from the sun while another is to prevent irritation of the skin from the board rubbing against it. One could also consider the leash that is worn on one leg and attached to the surfboard in this way as it prevents the board from getting loose and potentially hitting other surfers.

There are times when items beyond what is required by the rules may be needed. When one has suffered an injury and is returning to play, they many choose to wear some type of brace or tape, such as with a sprained ankle. This is also commonly done for chronic injuries, for example bracing or taping an ankle that is not currently injured but has been in the past.

Every sport has its inherent dangers and injury risk. Anyone who chooses to participate should consider taking measures to ensure their safety. Using sports protective wear is an easy and effective method of doing just this.




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