Keep Your Eyes off the Injured List
IN WEIGHT MANAGEMENT
“It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye.” You’ve probably heard this saying plenty of times, but how seriously do you take it? According to Prevent Blindness America (www.preventblindness.org), nearly 40,000 people go to the emergency room each year for treatment of sports-related eye injuries, many of which could have been avoided. What do you do to protect your eyes? Find out how to keep your eyes safe so you can stay in the games.
Guard against What?
You may think that wearing eye protection will keep you from being able to play your best. However, Major League Baseball player Chris Sabo and NBA player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar both proved that it’s possible to be the best on the court or field while keeping eye safety in focus. Here are a few of the injuries you can prevent by wearing the proper eye protection:- cornea scratches
- detached retina
- traumatic cataract
- swollen retina
- inflamed iris
- blindness
Proper Eye Gear
Athletes who wear glasses, whether prescription or stylish sun shades, should know that these glasses aren’t meant to offer protection. Though both will keep you from squinting at the catcher’s mitt or the goal post, neither offer protection when a ball, elbow, or foot smashes into them.
Good face guards or shields can be purchased at sports stores, as can eye guards (goggles). Also, if you wear prescription glasses, your eye doctor can make prescription sports goggles so that you see your best when in the game. When you’re looking for face guards or sports goggles, make sure that they- fit properly
- have lenses that stay in place or pop outwards if struck
- are made of polycarbonate material
- are padded along the brow and bridge of the nose
- have anti-fog lenses or ventilation
The Scene of the Injury
According to Lighthouse International (www.lighthouse.org), 13 percent of all eye injuries are sports related. But do you know what causes the remaining 87 percent of eye accidents? Check out these statistics.- 40 percent of eye injuries occur at home.
- Streets/highways and industrial environments each account for 13 percent of eye injuries every year.
- The remaining eye injuries are defined as coming from an other source (12 percent) or are unknown (9 percent).
Surprised? Look around for possible threats to the safety of your eyes and take measures to protect yourself, such as investing in a quality pair of protective eyeglasses or putting hazards out of eye level. Be good to your eyes, because they’ve been good to you. |
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