Helmet rash?

in message <[email hidden]>, David Bentley

(') said:

Went on a 70 miler yesterday morning in training for my charity ride
from Leicester to Hull and back over 2 days at the end of June. (BTW ,
no neck or elbow pain any more)

The weather was very warm and I did find the desire to scratch my head
a lot as I was sweating under that helmet. When I got home and took it
off I had a lovely red rash over the top of my forehead.

If it was up to me, I wouldn't wear one as I find that they are
uncomfortable in the heat (you do loose 25% of your body heat through
your head) but my wife insists!!!

I think the solution to this is to show your wife the research, which
people like Guy and the cyclehelmets.org committee have carefully
assembled. This shows that in so far as helmets make any measurable
difference to the safety of road cyclists, they are slightly negative
rather than slightly positive. In other words, you'd not only be more
comfortable without, you'd also be (ever so slightly) safer.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

Wise man with foot in mouth use opportunity to clean toes.
;; the Worlock

in message <[email hidden]>, Peter Clinch

(') said:

It's not unreasonable to assume they'll save you from a graze, bump
and bloddy awful headache in a minor spill, assuming you hit part
of your head covered by the hat in that spill, but (a) it's not a
foregone conclusion you will, (b) it's not going to kill you, and
(c) since we're down to simply reducing discomfort here as a Best
Case, and you will suffer discomfort in any case, it looks rather
moot...

Off road, I've fallen off my bikes hundreds - possibly even thousands -
of times. I've grazed knees many many times. I've grazed hips and
elbows many times. I've injured palms oh hands so often that I now
won't ride without track mitts. I've hurt shoulders now and again.

I've _never_ hit my head falling off a bike. Not once, not gently.
Never.

Apart from over-the-handlebars accidents I've never seen anyone hit
their head falling off a bike, and even then by no means always. It
just isn't easy to do - your natural reflexes will protect you if they
possibly can.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
Just as defying the law of gravity through building aircraft requires
careful design and a lot of effort, so too does defying laws of
economics. It seems to be a deeply ingrained aspect of humanity to
forever strive to improve things, so unquestioning acceptance of a
free market system seems to me to be unnatural. ;; Charles Bryant

Quoted message said:

[...] I've fallen off my bikes hundreds - possibly even thousands -
of times. <SNIPPITY>

I've _never_ hit my head falling off a bike. Not once, not gently.
Never.

Lucky bugger. Outside of childhood, fallen off once, hit head once. B'ah.
Must take up off roading to improve the ratio a bit.

Quoted message said:

Apart from over-the-handlebars accidents I've never seen anyone hit
their head falling off a bike, and even then by no means always. It
just isn't easy to do - your natural reflexes will protect you if they
possibly can.

No, my 'natural reflex' was to look where I was going :-/

On 2/5/05 4:29 pm, in article
[email hidden], "Mark Thompson"

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

[...] I've fallen off my bikes hundreds - possibly even thousands -
of times. <SNIPPITY>

I've _never_ hit my head falling off a bike. Not once, not gently.
Never.

Lucky bugger. Outside of childhood, fallen off once, hit head once. B'ah.
Must take up off roading to improve the ratio a bit.

I have hit my head a couple of times. Once I managed to hit both sides
(temples), destroy a pair of track mits, a pair of sunglasses and plenty of
skin. This was 1987 and I was enthusiastically leaning round a corner and
discovered that for the high grip road surface to be high grip, it has to be
attatched...

The other time was even earlier - head down riding the yellow line along
Hampton Court Way towards Kingston and I went straight into the back of a
parked van. Left a bit of a dent in the van and the chrome front wheel. Felt
a bit woozy so walked the next few hundred metres then got back on and rode
through the old Kingston one way system to get home. Of course, had I been
wearing one, a helmet would have saved my life..

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Apart from over-the-handlebars accidents I've never seen anyone hit
their head falling off a bike, and even then by no means always. It
just isn't easy to do - your natural reflexes will protect you if they
possibly can.

No, my 'natural reflex' was to look where I was going :-/

Simon obviously hasn't ridden on ice ;-) Wham, bam thankyou maam.

A dusting of powder snow on an inch of water ice at -10C is jsut so slippery
when you don't have studs.

...d

in message <[email hidden]>, Mark

Thompson (') said:

Quoted message said:

[...] I've fallen off my bikes hundreds - possibly even thousands -
of times. <SNIPPITY>

I've _never_ hit my head falling off a bike. Not once, not gently.
Never.

Lucky bugger. Outside of childhood, fallen off once, hit head once.
B'ah. Must take up off roading to improve the ratio a bit.

There's probably a serious point there. Practising falling off - which
is what much mountain biking practically amounts to - is probably good
training for on road riding. Apart from clipped-in prat-falls when
stationary or almost stationary I haven't fallen off a road bike in
thirty years.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

to err is human, to lisp divine
;; attributed to Kim Philby, oddly enough.

In message <[email hidden]>, Simon
Brooke <[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

in message <[email hidden]>, David Bentley

(') said:

Went on a 70 miler yesterday morning in training for my charity ride
from Leicester to Hull and back over 2 days at the end of June. (BTW ,
no neck or elbow pain any more)

The weather was very warm and I did find the desire to scratch my head
a lot as I was sweating under that helmet. When I got home and took it
off I had a lovely red rash over the top of my forehead.

If it was up to me, I wouldn't wear one as I find that they are
uncomfortable in the heat (you do loose 25% of your body heat through
your head) but my wife insists!!!

I think the solution to this is to show your wife the research, which
people like Guy and the cyclehelmets.org committee have carefully
assembled. This shows that in so far as helmets make any measurable
difference to the safety of road cyclists, they are slightly negative
rather than slightly positive. In other words, you'd not only be more
comfortable without, you'd also be (ever so slightly) safer.

My wife's first husband died from a head injury (after falling off a
ladder). This is why she insists on my wearing a helmet! There is no
way that she will be convinced that riding a bike without a helmet is no
more risky.

--
David Bentley

Simon Mason said:

After seeing two of my colleagues who have just taken up cycle commuting
nonchalantly cycling on a cycle path across busy roundabouts and junctions
convinced their magic hats will protect them, I'm sure they are more of a
danger than a bare bonce. I've never wore one at all.

Did some mountain biking in the Lakes on Sunday. Saw one couple cyling
along, lady with helmet on back of the head at 45 degree angle. Shortly
after saw them stopped adjusting her helmet straps. When next saw them
helmet was now vertical on the back of her head!

--
Tony

"A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought" Lord
Peter Wimsey (Dorothy L. Sayers)

Tony Raven said:

Simon Mason said:

After seeing two of my colleagues who have just taken up cycle commuting
nonchalantly cycling on a cycle path across busy roundabouts and junctions
convinced their magic hats will protect them, I'm sure they are more of a
danger than a bare bonce. I've never wore one at all.

Did some mountain biking in the Lakes on Sunday. Saw one couple cyling
along, lady with helmet on back of the head at 45 degree angle. Shortly
after saw them stopped adjusting her helmet straps. When next saw them
helmet was now vertical on the back of her head!

This is to be welcomed.

There have been far too many cyclists killed falling backwards off their bikes.

On Tue, 03 May 2005 05:37:01 GMT, David Bentley <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

My wife's first husband died from a head injury (after falling off a
ladder). This is why she insists on my wearing a helmet!

What brand of ladder helmet does she recommend?

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

88% of helmet statistics are made up, 65% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

Paul D said:

Quoted message said:

Did some mountain biking in the Lakes on Sunday. Saw one couple cyling
along, lady with helmet on back of the head at 45 degree angle. Shortly
after saw them stopped adjusting her helmet straps. When next saw them
helmet was now vertical on the back of her head!

This is to be welcomed.

There have been far too many cyclists killed falling backwards off their bikes.

Hmmm. And in the Lakes, you have plenty of hills steep enough to dump
you off the back. Locally here (Dartmoor) I had to move the weight
around yesterday to avoid falling into deep ... let's call it mud ...
covering a couple of sections of semi-road through a farmyard.

Does a h***** protect one from farmyard ... erm ... mud?

--
Nick Kew

Nick Kew said:

Paul D said:

Quoted message said:

Did some mountain biking in the Lakes on Sunday. Saw one couple cyling
along, lady with helmet on back of the head at 45 degree angle. Shortly
after saw them stopped adjusting her helmet straps. When next saw them
helmet was now vertical on the back of her head!

This is to be welcomed.

There have been far too many cyclists killed falling backwards off their bikes.

Hmmm. And in the Lakes, you have plenty of hills steep enough to dump
you off the back.

That post was intended to be ironic 🙂

Nick Kew said:

Does a h***** protect one from farmyard ... erm ... mud?

Not wearing one certainly doesn't. My worst cycling "injury" was violent
vomiting and crippling stomach pains several hours after cycling through
farmyard "mud". The key thing is not to get any in the mouth, so a
forward-fallen helmet might protect, at the expense of a loss of vision.

Colin

David Bentley said:

If it was up to me, I wouldn't wear one as I find that they are
uncomfortable in the heat (you do loose 25% of your body heat through

Quoted message said:

your head) but my wife insists!!!

It's a tricky one - I can see your wife's point of view. The girlfriend
of a good friend of mine broke her arm recently in a nasty fall and
both he and she assumed that Her Helmet Saved Her Life. I tried to
point out the obvious flaws in his reasoning, but despite him being a
sensible chap, his emotional response overwhelmed his rational
abilities. So I let it lie - he's a good mate and it's not worth the
argument. I presume you feel the same way about your wife - probably
more so. From her point of view, it's easy to jump to the conclusion
she has about helmets. It's not surprising for anyone to think like
that when they've been the victim of an accident, or know someone who
has - more so if it was a fatal accident.

I've recently given up wearing a helmet on Sunday morning club outings,
putting me in a minority of one in the club. I've managed to convince
my wife that I'm safe without a helmet and I've had just a couple of
non-judgmental comments from clubmates. There's only one of them that
is really strongly pro-helmet and he hasn't said anything - presumably
because he doesn't want to start a fight (I used to wear a helmet when
I was the club new boy for the same reason, but now I know them a bit
better I feel more comfortable going lidless in their company).

However, this Sunday (which, despite early rain, turned out to be a
scorcher) I got a comment from one clubmate who has been away in France
for the last few months and so hasn't seen me out without a helmet
before - his remark was not to tell me off for not wearing a helmet but
to say that he was envious and wished he had left his at home, and that
he only wore his because he knew everyone else would be wearing one.
(While he was in France he mostly rode without a hat, and even took
part in several sportive rides /sans lid/.) Maybe he'll be bare-headed
next time...

I have to say that I was very appreciative of the wind in my hair on
Sunday. A much more useful precaution than a helmet would have been
some factor 30 suncream - my face, arms (up to just above my elbows)
and legs (up to just above my knees) are now somewhat red and sore.
Ouch!

d.

davek said:

I have to say that I was very appreciative of the wind in my hair on
Sunday. A much more useful precaution than a helmet would have been
some factor 30 suncream - my face, arms (up to just above my elbows)
and legs (up to just above my knees) are now somewhat red and sore.
Ouch!

My problem on Sunday too. I didn't pack a helmet but then I also forgot
to pack some suncream so I'm now a little tender on top.

--
Tony

"A facility for quotation covers the absence of original thought" Lord
Peter Wimsey (Dorothy L. Sayers)

David Bentley said:

Went on a 70 miler yesterday morning in training for my charity ride
from Leicester to Hull and back over 2 days at the end of June. (BTW ,
no neck or elbow pain any more)

The weather was very warm and I did find the desire to scratch my head a
lot as I was sweating under that helmet. When I got home and took it off
I had a lovely red rash over the top of my forehead. This has now
progressed today into a multitude of very tiny pustules overlying a
blotchy red rash. I do suffer a little bit with psoriasis (one of the
charities I'm riding for) and it may be related to that, although I've
never had it on my forehead before.

Has anyone else suffered a similar rash from wearing their helmet in hot
weather? I've had no problems before on shorter runs in cooler weather.
About a month ago I bought a new helmet with more vents in it to try and
keep cool. It fits comfortably and is not too tight/too loose.

If it was up to me, I wouldn't wear one as I find that they are
uncomfortable in the heat (you do loose 25% of your body heat through
your head) but my wife insists!!!

Probably already been suggested but have you been washing the little
pads inside the helmet? They soak up loads of sweat and are great
breeding grounds for all things ewwie. Most are velcro-detatchable and
handwashable, or machine wash on low temp if you can restrain them in a
net bag for smalls or similar.

--

Velvet

Tony Raven said:

My problem on Sunday too. I didn't pack a helmet but then I also forgot
to pack some suncream so I'm now a little tender on top.

I wore a Buff over the weekend and found that in 'skull-cap' mode it was
very good at preventing sunburn to the scalp and keeping the sweat out
of my eyes.

In message <[email hidden]>, Velvet
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

David Bentley said:

Went on a 70 miler yesterday morning in training for my charity ride
from Leicester to Hull and back over 2 days at the end of June. (BTW ,
no neck or elbow pain any more)
The weather was very warm and I did find the desire to scratch my
head a lot as I was sweating under that helmet. When I got home and
took it off I had a lovely red rash over the top of my forehead. This
has now progressed today into a multitude of very tiny pustules
overlying a blotchy red rash. I do suffer a little bit with
psoriasis (one of the charities I'm riding for) and it may be
related to that, although I've never had it on my forehead before.
Has anyone else suffered a similar rash from wearing their helmet in
hot weather? I've had no problems before on shorter runs in cooler
weather. About a month ago I bought a new helmet with more vents in
it to try and keep cool. It fits comfortably and is not too
tight/too loose.
If it was up to me, I wouldn't wear one as I find that they are
uncomfortable in the heat (you do loose 25% of your body heat through
your head) but my wife insists!!!

Probably already been suggested but have you been washing the little
pads inside the helmet? They soak up loads of sweat and are great
breeding grounds for all things ewwie. Most are velcro-detatchable and
handwashable, or machine wash on low temp if you can restrain them in a
net bag for smalls or similar.

Thanks for the tip. I'll try it.
--
David Bentley

Mike K Smith said:

I wore a Buff over the weekend and found that in 'skull-cap' mode it was
very good at preventing sunburn to the scalp and keeping the sweat out
of my eyes.

Works for me too, though I usually take the Bandana style myself. With
the skull cap you may wish to make sure there's not a wee hole in the
crown where you've doubled the fabric back, but it's not really a problem.

But I prefer an Actual Cycling Cap. The peak keeps sun and rain out of
my eyes as well.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Peter Clinch wrote:
[of Buffs]

Quoted message said:

Works for me too, though I usually take the Bandana style myself. With
the skull cap you may wish to make sure there's not a wee hole in the
crown where you've doubled the fabric back, but it's not really a problem.

I would have made that mistake, but my wife spotted it and refolded it
for me.

Quoted message said:

But I prefer an Actual Cycling Cap. The peak keeps sun and rain out of
my eyes as well.

My Actual Cycling Caps are past their best these days. Can you still buy
new ones? I used to wear sweatbands either with or without cycling caps
depending on the conditions. I bought a peaked Buff recently, too, so
I'll see how that works.