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Injuries Related to Heelys in Children
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Posted on: 07/24/2008
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Basketball, football, and bicycle accidents are still the most common causes of fracture in young children. Less often, monkey bars, skateboarding, jumping on a trampoline, and using heelys leads to fracture injuries.
Heelys are shoes for children that have rolling wheels in the heels. The child lifts the toes up and glides along on the heels. One foot is slightly in front of the other foot. Each shoe may have one or two wheels. The activity is called heeling.
In this study, physicians at a large urban emergency room (Miami, Florida) tally up the number of bone fractures linked to the use of heelys. They report on how often these injuries occur, who is affected the most (boys or girls), and the type of injuries.
Children coming into the emergency department with a bone fracture over a period of 90 days were reviewed. Less than two per cent were caused by heely injuries. Ages ranged from as young as five to eleven.
Girls between eight and nine years old were involved much more often than boys. This may simply be because more girls purchase heelys than boys. It's possible girls are more prone to injury. No one knows for sure why this difference occurs. Most of the fractures were located in the wrists and forearms. A lack of safety equipment was noted in all cases.
Heeling seems like a fairly simple activity. The child stops by shifting the body weight to the front of the shoe. The wheels stop turning and the child can resume walking. But like all play equipment, problems can occur.
Forward falls outdoors onto an outstretched hand were most common. Rocks stuck under the wheel caused several of the falls. Cracks in the road or sidewalk also tossed the children down. Inexperience (using Heelys less than one week) was a factor. But even kids who had worn Heelys for more than one year had a fall and fracture.
The associated costs can be quite large even with a simple fracture. Total cost of care adds up with the charge for the emergency department visit, X-rays, cast application, follow-up X-rays, and any cast changes needed over time. No surgical costs were incurred by the patients in this study. If surgery were needed, then that could drive the cost up even more.
A survey of the parents and children showed that most would not purchase (or use) heelys in the future. Most of the participants said they weren't going to continue using (or allow children to use) the current pair of heelys.
The authors note that accidents are going to happen in active children. Heelys don't really put a child at greater risk of injury than other commonly enjoyed games and sports. However, safety is still a concern.
It is recommended that children using heelys should be supervised and wear protective gear at all times. This includes helmet, forearm and kneepads, and gloves with wrist padding. More effort should be made to alert parents to the safety hazards of these shoes.
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References:
Chad Aarons MD, MPT, et al. Pediatric Heelys Injuries. In Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics. July/August 2008. Vol. 28. No. 5. Pp. 502-505.
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