[JoshGG]

False. Helmets are shown to reduce concussion and other head injuries in sport.

For example:

https://ufhealth.org/news/2021/headgear-significantly-reduce...

Female high school lacrosse players are significantly less likely to sustain concussions and other injuries if they wear headgear, a landmark study led by University of Florida Health researchers has found.

Girls who play the sport in states that don’t require headgear had a 59% higher concussion rate than players in Florida, the only state with a headgear mandate. The researchers also found lacrosse games were more hazardous than practices: Concussions were 74% higher during competition among players in states without headgear requirements when compared with Florida players.

Those details emerged from data collected during 357,225 games and practices in Florida and other states during three seasons from 2018 to 2021. The findings were presented today at the American Academy of Pediatrics national conference

[aidenn0]

3 players on my daughter's lacrosse team are out with concussions. I really hope helmets get mandated; for various reasons nobody wants to be the only player in a helmet.

[edit]

I'm also glad there's data; one reason the players are resistant to the idea of a helmet is that they fear that reduced visibility would lead to increased injury.

[thaumasiotes]

> one reason the players are resistant to the idea of a helmet is that they fear that reduced visibility would lead to increased injury.

They are definitely right about that. The point of the helmet is to make injuries less serious, not less frequent.

[aidenn0]

But a 37% reduction in concussion rate (as implied by the Florida data) could make increased frequency of other injury worth it; if the effect on concussions were negligible, then wearing helmets would be a net-negative.

[JoshGG]

No. They do both, and that is directly shown in this study and in other studies. They eliminate many types of injury and make others less frequent.