0 Sports Protective Wear For Injury Prevention

By Lila Barry


With more and more people being active in sports these days, safety is becoming a bigger issue than ever before. There are several ways to help ensure the safety of those who participate, including specific rules designed to protect their well-being and proper care and maintenance of equipment and facilities. One area that has seen tremendous improvement in this regard is in the design, production and use of sports protective wear.

Many types of protective wear are available and can be chosen depending on the specific needs of the person playing as well as the demands of the chosen sport. Some types of protection are mandated by the rules of the games, particularly in more dangerous sports. In some instances people may choose to utilize additional equipment to suit their needs.

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.

Ice hockey is another sport that necessitates the use of lots of protective wear due to its violent nature and the hard surface on which it's played. In the past, players did not wear helmets. Even goalies, whose main job is to get in the way of a high-speed object flying their way, did not wear anything for protecting their face or head. Nowadays though, all players are almost completely covered in padding, with the goalies in particular being well-protected.

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.

In addition to required equipment, bracing and taping is commonly used to protect an injured body part. If one is returning to action after recovering from a sprained ankle, this may be an option for preventing a recurrence. This is also the case with chronic injuries, for example using a brace or tape on one's ankle to prevent further sprains even when there are no current problems with it.

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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