Skating injuries differ according to the skating surface, and so should the protective gear children wear, according to new research from injury-prevention experts.

Researchers at the Center for Injury Research and Prevention in Columbus, Ohio, found that ice skaters tend to suffer more facial injuries than roller skaters or in-line skaters, who suffer more broken bones.

Researchers analyzed 10 years of emergency room injury data finding more than 1.2 million skating-related injuries in children. As expected, 83 percent of injuries were due to a fall.

Over the ten years, almost half the injuries occurred to in-line skaters, with roller skaters accounting for another third and ice skaters the remaining 15 percent. Roller skating injuries dropped off in the mid-90s, around the time that in-line skating gained popularity, and leveled off at about 30,000 to 40,000 injuries a year. In-line skating injuries ramped up through 1998, peaking at 80,000 that year, but then declined just as sharply to just 30,000 by 2003.

In 1998, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended helmets, wrist guards, and knee and elbow pads for in-line skaters, but no recommendation exists for ice skaters.

”Children should wear helmets during all recreational skating activities, especially ice-skating, because of the risk of serious injuries,” says Christy Knox, a research associate at the center. ”Wrist guards should be worn to protect against the common upper extremity fractures to the wrist and arm sustained during roller and in-line skating.”

In a previous study, the researchers used video analysis of skating falls to determine how those injuries occur. They found that all of the skaters tend to fall forward and break their falls with their arms or their hands. But the skating surface dictates how successful they are at breaking the fall, and what the resulting injury might be.

In a previous study, the researchers used video analysis of skating falls to determine how those injuries occur. They found that all of the skaters tend to fall forward and break their falls with their arms or their hands. But the skating surface dictates how successful they are at breaking the fall and what the resulting injury might be.

When ice skaters reach out to break their falls, the slippery surface does not allow the hands to stop the fall. As a result they hit their heads or faces on the surface.

Wheeled-skaters are much more successful at keeping their heads off the ground, but they absorb the force of their falls with their hands and arms leading to more broken arms and wrist bones.

Children ages 6 or younger experienced a higher proportion of head injuries compared with older skaters, which the authors attributed in part to their higher center of gravity and their weaker arm strength.

”An immediate reaction would be to require similar gear for ice skaters, but because most ice skating falls are forward in direction, the standard helmet may not adequately protect the ice skater’s face and front of the head from hitting the skating surface,” says Dr. Dawn Comstock, an Ohio State University medical professor and co-author of the study. ”For the most effective protection, ice skaters would need to wear a hockey-style helmet with a face mask, which most children would be unlikely to do.”

The researchers are working on a new wrist guard for ice skaters with a nonslip palm that could help outstretched arms gain purchase on the ice and protect the head and face. ”In the meantime, the best advice we can offer parents is that children should wear a well-fitted, appropriately worn helmet while ice skating to reduce the risk of head injuries.”