NECK BRACES: DO THEY PROTECT YOUR NECK? Cross Training Enduro

Neck braces for enduro, motocross and dirt riding in general! Should you get one? Do they really work? How much do they reduce neck injuries? And which particular injuries?
There are no black and white answers with neck braces, but this vid might help you to decide. The age old question with any protection is how much to wear? So first you need to look at your type of riding, skill level, how often you like to run into trees or hit the ground, and at what speed. There are online discussions about neck braces causing other injuries but I can't find any evidence to back up these claims. If you ride in hot weather, you will probably notice a bit less airflow with a brace around your neck. With a bit of luck we might see some decent independent research on neck braces with high tech crash test dummies, great methodology and specifically applied to various types of dirt riding.
NECK BRACE BIBLIOGRAPHY
ibrc.osu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Abstract_2016_Sathyanarayan.pdf
One study showed 10% of motocross injuries in motocross are neck and upper spine fractures. Whereas a study of enduro competitors found no spinal fractures at all, just mild strains which only accounted for 5% of total injuries. It found no significant effect although they did note they only tested at one specific impact and angle of orientation, and that more research was needed. Now that's actual racers, so slower everyday riders will probably have even less spinal injuries. And anecdotal evidence suggests the faster you ride, the more likely you are to have a neck injury. So what are the drawbacks of neck braces? Some riders hate the restricted movement, others don't notice it after the first hour. Do neck braces work? First we are only talking about neck braces, not these flimsy neck collars... these might keep the sun off your neck but will do little else according to the research. Second, we won't rely on anecdotal evidence. They also commented that the gap between the helmet and neck brace could be an important consideration. Unfortunately there isn't a lot of money available for high quality research with big sample groups and high tech dummies so read all the research you can and make your own conclusions. So let's look at the pros and cons. It appears speed is a big factor. Neck braces are way more common in desert racing and motocross, compared to enduro riding. Some riders say they find it very uncomfortable, others say they barely notice it. And of course it's a bit of extra weight. Do neck braces break collarbones? There's no hard evidence for this, but if it's because of a transfer of the impact I'd go for a broken collarbone than a broken neck any day. For example, a guy lands head first into a whoop and says without his neck brace he would have been dead or paralysed. Anecdotal evidence is extremely unreliable, we'll try to rely on more solid research. First, this informal report from basic statistics gathered by emergency services personnel. It makes the most positive claims for neck braces based on a lot of accidents but unfortunately the methodology isn't very good from a research angle. Personally I think it needs analysis and interpretation from experts. A white paper from Leatt, creator of the first motorbike-specific neck brace. I'll go out on a limb here and say there is probably limited evidence for neck braces working, at least if your helmet is within 5cm of the brace and your helmet works well with your neck brace and existing body armour. The methodology is much better in this study, but of course there's the potential for a lot of bias here. Not surprisingly, the report found Leatt neck braces do work in preventing or reducing injury. It would be good to see this paper published in a peer reviewed journal, this would give it the stamp of approval from independent sources but no luck so far. It's also very interesting that Acerbis did a study on neck braces but never released it. I wonder why... So.... Confused about neck braces? I am. Next this properly independent study said their results were unclear and they felt the dummy being used in all tests so far needs to be replaced with a better model to really prove neck braces work. Another independent study showed neck braces had a moderate effect but only if the gap between the helmet and neck brace was less than 5cm. And finally this French study testing the Leatt and EVS neck braces along with one of those foam collars.

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