As the weather starts to warm up, many of us, as well as our family members, will be heading out to engage in a variety of sports activities. As a physician, I think that’s great—sports provides exercise, relaxation and camaraderie, which are all good.
However, as an eye physician, I am very conscious of the eye-health risks associated with many sports activities, which is why I support the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s (AAO) designation of April as “Sports Eye Safety Month.”
According to The Coalition to Prevent Sports Eye Injuries, more than 600,000 sports-related eye injuries occur every year, including 42,000 that are severe enough to require emergency room treatment.
For young athletes, baseball and basketball account for the largest number of injuries. Little League pitchers can throw the ball up to 70 mph, which is fast enough to break bones and do serious damage to the eye. Many other popular sports, such as lacrosse, tennis, soccer, football, golf, water sports and hockey, also put unprotected players at risk for serious eye injury.
Guo Jingjing | Photo by: gn01822678
The most important step we can take to protect our eyes during sports activities is to wear the right protective eyewear, which can prevent more than 90 percent of sports-related eye injuries.
Your eye physician can advise you on the right type of eye protection for a specific sport, but in general most protective eyewear should be made of polycarbonate plastic and should be professionally fitted. It is very important to keep in mind that regular street glasses and contacts do not offer enough protection for sports.
The risks to our eyes from some sports may not be quite as obvious as those posed by balls coming toward our faces at speeds over 70 mph.
Cappie Pondexter | Photo by: wnbafanclubs
I recently read about Guo Jingjing, of China, an Olympic gold medalist and the most decorated Olympic female diver ever. Her 20-year diving career was stellar, but the concussive impact of countless dives took a toll on her retinas, both of which required surgery. Competitive divers should probably have their retinas checked at least twice a year, so that any problems can be caught as early as possible.
And last fall, Cappie Pondexter, a star with the WBNA’s Phoenix Mercury, had to undergo retinal surgery
after accidently being hit in the eye by an opponent. Basketball is a sport in which eye protection is usually only worn by players after they have sustained an injury that threatened their vision (a little counter-intuitive, isn’t it?).
It’s unfortunate that so many leagues and schools don’t require their athletes to wear eye protection. And your child – or even you – might think it’s “not cool” to be the only player on the field or court wearing goggles or a mask—but, trust me, there’s nothing at all cool about vision-threatening eye injuries that can be prevented so easily.
Have fun—and be safe!
