Abstract: When people fall they tend to fall on their side. This can lead to them breaking their femur particularly at the head around the trochantheric region. The head of the femur includes a portion called the greater trochanter which projects outwards and which is covered by very little flesh. A pad for use in protecting trochantheric region of the body comprises at least two separate layers, a substantially rigid layer, and a layer of dense, closed-cell resilient foam material. The substantially rigid layer includes a protecting boss which, in use, is located in the region of the greater trochanter to increase the spacing between the outside of the rigid layer and the greater trochanter. Preferably, the layer of closed-cell foam material extends over a greater area than the substantially rigid layer so that the periphery of the rigid layer lies entirely within the periphery of the foam layer.