Ear and Head Protection for Cricket
How Can Playing Cricket Affect Your Ears
The speed and impact from a hard and heavy cricket ball can do quite a bit of damage when it hits your head. If it is to head on to your ear, this can cause a number of further complications.
Ear drum Rupture
The force of a hard ball hitting your ear has the potential to cause a rupture to the ear drum, resulting in pain, pontential infection, tinnitus and hearing loss.
Inner Ear Trauma
A hard hit with a cricket ball to the head can potentially damage the structures in your inner ear including your cochlea and vestibular system. This means you could be left with permanent hearing damage, tinnitus or dizziness.
Best Cricket Helmets
With a demand for faster, higher paced sports has come an increase in a more fierce battling technique, this has lead to a number of facial and head injuries while batting.
After a number of high profile cricketer injuries, British Standards for Helmets in cricket was developed in 1998 which formed the basis of the strength required for a safe cricket helmet. The standards were renewed in 2013 with the aim to prevent the cricket ball from accessing the area between the helmet peak and the facial grill and that the grill be made to reach out further from the face. A profesional cricketer needs to wear a helmet that meets the 2013 British Standard (BS7928:2013).
A cricket ball can be bowled up to 90 miles per hour. A helmet should be worn with a faceguard when facing a hard cricket ball whether this batting, or being the wicket keeper. A good cricket helmet should cover the whole skull and protect the face with a grill or visor. A strong hard helmet is designed to deflect a cricket ball as well as protect the wearer from impact. It is also worth noting the helmet only protects certain areas of your head therefore use of a Stemguard that will protect your neck from injury also serves as a worthwhile purcase.
Tips for Cricketers To keep Their Ears and Head Safe
- The best way to protect your ears is by using head gear with a facial grill that protects your ears too
- Make sure the headguard you use is correctly fitted, if too loose it could move on impact and the ball could end up hitting your head
- Trauma to the ear via sport is becoming more and more common be aware of the risks and prevention methods and help share prevention methods with other players