April is “Sports Eye Safety Awareness Month” and we have put together 8 helpful tips to keep your eyes safe and prevent eye injuries while enjoying your favorite sports!

Everyone knows that taking care of your eyes and preventing eye injuries is important.  And many times we are more concerned with eye safety at work than we are with the safety of our eyes when we’re engaged in recreational activities or playing sports.

Interestingly, there are certain sports where eye injuries occur more often, such as; basketball, baseball and sports where a racket is used (tennis, racquetball, etc.).  And any full-contact sport where eye protection is nonexistent like boxing, martial arts and especially MMA fighting or wrestling, poses a high risk of serious eye injury that may lead to the injured person becoming blind.

Eye Injury Prevention

The best ways to protect and prevent eye injuries while enjoying your favorite sports:

  1. Wear a face mask with a shatterproof shield during sports such as hockey, baseball and football.
  2. Wear goggles or other protective eyewear with poly-carbonate lenses for sports that include the use of a racket, basketball, field hockey and soccer. Protective eyewear not only protects your eyes from flying objects, etc. but can also reduce sun glare when tinted.
  3. Choose eye protectors that have been tested and adhere to the American Society of Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards and/or that pass the CSA racket sports standard.
  4. Invest in a sport-specific eyewear
  5. Choose protective eyewear that fits well (not too tight or too loose) and that is padded along the brow and bridge of the nose – this will help prevent it from cutting into the skin.
  6. If you wear contact lenses, wear soft contacts when possible, and make sure you have a backup pair
  7. If you sustain an eye injury, make sure you see an ophthalmologist immediately to determine the severity of the injury.
  8. Depending on how active you are, you may want to consider LASIK surgery so that you don’t need to wear glasses or contact lenses while playing sports. However, this does not relinquish the need for protective eyewear.  And you will definitely need to take extra care when playing sports immediately following LASIK surgery.

Thousands of people experience an eye injury while playing sports each year.  And, it is estimated that at least 42,000 people visit the emergency room each year because of eye injuries.  You can avoid your chances of being another eye injury statistic by adhering to these eight tips listed above.