Prevent Sports-Related Eye Injuries

Did you know there are roughly 40,000 sports-related eye injuries every year in the U.S. alone?

Eye protection is important for everyone with an active lifestyle, but especially for young people who play a school sport. In fact, most victims of sports-related eye injuries are children.

Sports-related Eye Injuries Are Preventable

A staggering 90 percent of reported sports-related eye injuries are preventable! Rather than suffering from a painful and possibly detrimental eye injury, choose the right eye protection for the particular sport you play. Sport-specific eyewear recommendations:

• Basketball: Wrap-around sports goggles or glasses.
• Football: Both eye and facial guards and a polycarbonate shield attached to the helmet.
• Soccer: Sports goggles or glasses.
• Tennis: Lightweight wrap-around sports glasses.
• Lacrosse: Padded, form-fitting face mask.
• Baseball/Softball: Helmet with face shield, wrap-around sports goggles or glasses (shatter proof).
• Hockey: Full-face helmet.
• Swimming/Diving: Swimming goggles and diving masks.
• Track and field: Lightweight wrap-around sports goggles.
• Volleyball: Sports goggles or sunglasses, if outside.

Regular Eyeglasses Are Not Enough

Regular eyeglasses can end up doing more harm than good in a sports-related accident. Glasses made for everyday wear are not built to the same protective standards as safety eyewear and can break upon impact. Excessive contact can shatter lenses and brake frames—putting the eyes and face at serious risk of injury.

We Can Help Protect Your Sight

While other injuries—like a broken leg or a bruise—easily heal, sometimes eye injuries cannot. As your lifelong vision partner, we want to help protect your vision so you can reach your peak performance on and off the field. If you have any questions or you’d learn more about custom made eyewear, please contact one of our Vision Souce® partners!

Thank you for reading our blog and being our valued patient and friend!

Top image by Flickr user Steven Pisano used under Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 license. Image cropped and modified from original.