HOUSTON – This time of year, during football season, concussion prevention is a big topic. You may have also noticed the NFL taking an extra step to keep players safe. Some players have opted to wear the “guardian cap.”
“Guardian cap is a newer, what they call an ‘add on’ to football helmets,” said Dr. Ken Podell, a neuropsychologist with Houston Methodist. “The whole intention of the guardian cap is to help reduce concussions. That’s the bottom line. And it’s designed with pads on it that will allow one to reduce the amount of energy that kind of goes into the helmet and then into the head in causing concussion.”
The data showed the way the cap worked was different than anticipated, although seems beneficial.
“The intention is that the pads will absorb the energy of the hit. What the data in the lab tends to show is that that’s not what’s making the cap effective. What makes it effective for reducing the energy is that it’s slippery and it will move against the helmet. So, when there’s a hit to the helmet, then by moving the cap, it deflects the energy away from the helmet,” Dr. Podell said.
So far all of the data has been collected over two pre-seasons.
“The NFL is reporting a 50% reduction in concussions in the preseason. Preseason in the NFL tends to be the highest time when there are concussions,” Podell said.
This is the first year the NFL has allowed players to use the cap in the regular season. It’s entirely optional.
Should parents get these for their student-athletes?
The caps weigh seven ounces. Dr. Podell said there’s not enough data to know if that’s enough weight to lead to injuries in smaller athletes.
However, he recommends parents check the website for Virgina Tech Helmet Ratings to find the safest helmets to match your budget.
“You can still get a really safe helmet for about $200,” Dr. Podell said. “Using their formula that they come up with for concussion risk, you can see it can be a pretty substantial reduction risk.”
