A Favorable Outcome.

So, where am I?  Back on the 10th of September I had my two weeks post-op look-see.  I was hoping to be permitted to drive again and to be told that I could return to work--actually I had already gone back to work, being driven to and picked up afterwards since the Tuesday after the Labor Day holiday.  I was taken aback when I was told that it would be another 4 weeks before I could do either!  I decided not to reveal the fact that, in the absence of a spelled out restriction, I'd already been back to the lab.  I was told that the brain heals very slowly.  On the positive side I could stop wearing the compression stockings, that I could readopt my old habit of crossing my legs and that I could have a small glass of wine or a beer with dinner.

Last Thursday, the 8th of October, I had my six week post-op examination and this time both the driving and work restrictions were lifted.  This is a good thing since I've blown through all my accumulated sick leave and have been covering my absence from work with annual leave (Fed Gov speak for vacation) for the last two weeks.  I can tell you sitting around watching day time TV and going for short walks makes for a lousy vacation!  I can now add back activities as tolerated, including skating.  A session with the Chiropractor revealed that my balance is OK but not as good as before my fall.  Reintroduction of skating will be slow.  I know I've gone backwards skill and ability-wise.  Yesterday I went back to my yoga group for the first time and was able to hang in for the entire hour rather than just camp out on the floor in corpse pose after the first ten minutes.

This leads me to thoughts about protective headgear for skating.  As some readers know, there are no industry or government standards for ice skating protective headgear.  I contacted the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and they stated a need to be impartial and wouldn't name brands or models.  They suggested that I contact the manufacturers in question and ask if a given product is compliant with the following voluntary standards:  ASTM F1447,Snell B-90A, Snell B-95, Snell N-942.  

The ASTM info (which one must pay for) can be found here: http://www.astm.org/Standards/F1447.htm

The info for Snell (free) can be found here: http://www.smf.org/stds

I had previously purchased a Bern (Watts model) helmet with an EPS foam liner.  I planned to wear it when my skating got to the point where I was doing more demanding elements such as back threes.  In hindsight that was a huge mistake!  The EPS foam liner is good for one impact (which includes being careless and dropping the helmet on a hard floor) after which the helmet must be retired.  Although the Bern Watts EPS doesn't comply with the standards mentioned by the CPSC above, it does comply with the following standards:  ASTM F2040 and EN 1077 (for snow and ski sports) and EN 1078 (for bike and skate). The "skate" refers to skateboarding not ice skating but at least we're talking a standard which is deemed adequate for concrete sports.  More about EN 1078 can be read here 

This is what I plan to wear until I can learn more about the headgear which is marketed to figure skaters, like the Ice Halo and Crasche Middie.  So far I have found no mention of any of those products complying with with any standards at all.  If this is not so, please leave a comment with a link directing me to the standard(s) with which these products comply.