Put the Brakes on Heels With Wheels
All kinds of injuries come to the Emergency Department at Cincinnati Children's. But what's rolling in more and more are injuries related to those popular shoes with the wheels in the heels.
They look like ordinary athletic shoes. Yet when body weight shifts back on the heels, they transform into something akin to inline skates. Most parents consider them safe since kids are usually not going very fast. Still, plenty of kids right now are healing from their "heeling."
The injuries mirror those resulting from skateboarding and scooter use. But more serious injuries can occur.
"Hand and wrist injuries are very common. We also sometimes see head injuries, which can be more severe and sometimes life-threatening," says Lance Bolin, a physician's assistant in the Department of Orthopaedics at Cincinnati Children's.
Kids wheeling on their heels can collide with fixed objects. They can fall after running over something. It can happen indoors as well as out.
"The biggest misconception is that wheeled shoes are not really sporting equipment, but instead are more shoe-like. In fact, they are tricky to maneuver," says Bolin.
While many kids use wheeled shoes like inline skates, few wear any safety gear when they're in skate mode, despite doctors' and manufacturers' recommendations to wear a helmet, wrist guards and knee and elbow pads.
Bolin advises parents to require kids to wear the recommended safety equipment and to remove the wheels when the shoes aren't being used in skate mode.
