Value of wearing head protection gear while playing hurling.

One of the three national games of Ireland, hurling is a contact team sport (15 a side) played with a metre long ash stick and a small hard leather ball. Over a 12 month period, 413 players were treated for hurling-related injuries at Cork Regional Hospital. While hand and facial trauma predominate, the proportion between the two sites has changed substantially from previous reports with a reduction in the level of facial injuries. The wearing...