• Question: How much do helmets help if you fall off your bike??

    Asked by emilyc9s to Fiona, Jane, Joanna, Michelle, William on 14 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Fiona Randall

      Fiona Randall answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      Hi Emily! Helmets protect the surface of your head and also your face to some extent. They help to protect you from serious bangs to the head if you come off, which could potentially damage your brain. And the peak at the front can protect your face a bit too, and noone wants to smash up their face.

    • Photo: Michelle Murphy

      Michelle Murphy answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      Hi Emily,
      Lots!! The brain is very clever but very fragile. It doesn’t like to be shook about or bumped. If you fall of your bike without a helmet you could get bleeding between the scull and the brain, bleeding in the brain, the brain could swell none of these things are good even on a small scale. Wearing a helmet reduces the chance of these things happening. Better to be safe than sorry!

    • Photo: Joanna Brooks

      Joanna Brooks answered on 14 Jun 2010:

      This is a great question! The answer is they help you hugely. If you damaged the parietal lobe on the right side of your brain (at the top towards the back), you may find that you start to perceptually neglect things on the left side of space – this is a common observation in our patients with right hemisphere impairment. Alternatively, if you damage your frontal lobe (at the front) you might lose control over your facial expressions or start acting strangely – you might lose all your good manners in school for example 🙂 Or you might lose your ability to recognise faces. So it’s best not to take that chance and wear a helmet!

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