Olympic curling gold medalist Brad Gushue took a hard face-first fall on the ice last week, igniting discussion about whether the sports requires head protection.

Gushue’s accident was cringe-worthy, but after being stitched up, he was able to return to the game. Of course, such a fall could have been much worse, but it’s possible that the public’s reaction is a bit overzealous.

Now, we here at GelDefender will never tell anyone who is concerned about their head safety to risk it. If you think there’s a good chance that your head will be in danger during any pursuit, then please, wear head protection.

But curling isn’t a contact sport. It isn’t even a terribly fast-paced sport. Gushue’s fall, as awful as it was to watch, was a fluke; no outside force caused it. He just fell, as humans are wont to do from time to time.

It’s safe to assume that at the professional level, curlers are sufficiently adept at skating to make such incidents rare. Thus, requiring every single one of them to wear a helmet all the time may be just a bit extreme.

That being said, for lower levels of the sport, with less skilled skaters and where falls may be more common, perhaps better head protection bears exploration.

*Scientists have no conclusive evidence as to whether or how the reduction of g-forces during impacts reduces the number or degree of concussions and head injuries. GelDefender products provide supplemental padding as well as cooling and comfort benefits when used with helmets and caps. Participants in activities in which head impacts can occur should always use tested and approved helmets for protection. However, no helmet or supplemental padding can protect the user from all serious head or neck injuries that can result from impacts.