Mum Warns About Spinning Too Fast on a Swing After Child Collapses

Little children love swings and the thrills they come with. And most of the time they aren’t content with just going up and down. They love spinning on a swing – going round and round and twisting the ropes and then just letting go and holding on tight as the swing then spins back into action super fast.

But did you know that spinning on a swing super fast could be dangerous for your child? One mum recently shared about the horrific injuries her son received after spinning on a swing with his head leaned back.

Mum warns about dangers of spinning on a swing super fast

Mummy Rebecca Jordan recently shared about the scary incident on Facebook, “Our son loves to spin around, he’s a bit of a thrill seeker.”

“Yesterday he got on the swing and told the other kids to spin him around (like he does a lot), you know the famous line, “faster, higher, spin me faster”. (Except this time, he held his head out the entire time and he let it go too long. Who knew?)”

“As he spun faster and faster with his head back, the centrifugal force/pressure forced blood to rush to the top of his head causing blood to immediate pool/bruise, (which looked like his head was spray painted or burned).”

“Plus the blood vessels in his eyes and eyelids burst from the extreme pressure. They stopped him and as he got off the swing he collapsed (possible passed out for a few minutes).”

The boy soon came inside to tell his mum about what had happened. He apparently said he had trouble breathing and that his “brain hurt”.

The worried parents immediately took him to hospital.

“The doctors and nurses were puzzled and thought he spray painted his head because they have not seen this type of presentation of blood bruising before. They were very quick to examine his head, eyes and inner ears and sent him for a C.T.”

Thankfully, the results of the scan came out normal, and there were no internal injuries or brain swelling.

Rebecca has this advice for other mums, “We will be very cautious about spinning excessively from now on. So, not trying to cause fear or say stop letting your kids spin and have fun, but just food for thought to be careful of excessive spinning under these circumstances.”  

Here is her full post on Facebook:

theAsianparent asked Dr Adrian Wong, Senior Resident Physician at A&E, Gleneagles Hospital, about the possibility of such an injury from spinning on a swing. This is what he has to say:

“I have never come across such a case before, but looking at the Facebook post, this seems to be specific to the type of swing the child was using, which enabled the swing to spin very very fast coupled with the child extending his head out which increased the centripetal force he was exposed to.”

“I would venture to guess that the signs and symptoms the child experienced is possible if the centripetal force was great enough. However I think this kind of problem is unlikely to arise with the kind of swings we have in our playgrounds as they would not be able to spin around as fast as the one shown in the Facebook post.”

 “I would definitely do an MRI or CT scan for this patient if he had presented at the A&E. As for the dangers of swings or swinging, I think the greater danger is children falling off a swing and injuring themselves.”

“As long as there is a responsible adult supervising or watching, especially for younger children, swinging should be a safe activity.”

Meanwhile, here are some important playground safety tips that mums and dads should always remember:

• Always keep an eye on your kids. Ensure he/she is playing only on age-appropriate equipment.
• Don’t go down the slide with your child, as this can cause leg injuries.
• Make sure that the play equipment is safe, and that there are no sharp bits sticking out or any rusty surfaces.
• Make sure swings and other equipment kids sit on isn’t too hot.
• Dress your child appropriately. Make sure that their clothes can’t get snagged on the playground equipment. Make sure to remove necklaces, scarves, or strings that can get entangled. These could become strangulation hazards.
• When playing on the swing, make sure your child holds on tight and avoids standing on the seat.
• Choose a playground that has rubber or sand underneath the equipment rather than concrete or grass, as it can help soften the blow of a fall in case of an accident.

*This article is from our archives.

Also READ: Are children really safe in Singapore playgrounds?