This post has good news and bad news for my gender.
First, the good news: A recent survey conclusively determined that men are better than woman at something.
The bad news is what we are better at, which is sustaining eye injuries.
This spring, in its seventh annual “Eye Injury Snapshot” survey, the American Academy of Ophthalmology determined that men are much harder on their eyes than women. In fact, according to the survey results, men account for 73.5 percent of all eye injuries.
As an ophthalmologist who also happens to be a man, I find these results disconcerting, but not surprising.
Any practicing eye doc will probably look at the results and say something along the lines of, “I could have told you that!” When we get a weekend summons to the ER to treat a sports injury or one related to a do-it-yourself project, the gender of the patient is fairly predicable.
A deeper dive into the survey findings indicates that:
- One in four of the eye injuries occurring at home were due to play and/or sports.
I’ve posted several times on this blog about how effective quality protective eyewear is for preventing sports-related eye injuries; in fact, nearly all sports-related eye injuries can be avoided with the right eye protection. Any sport that involves balls, racquets or flying objects can cause eye injuries, but baseball and basketball account for most of the injuries to boys and young men. Think of the baseball and basketball games that you’ve watched – how many of those athletes were wearing eye protection? If you’re a dad, have you ever worn protective eyewear when you play ball with your children? Something to think about!
- Another 25 percent were due to home repair or power tools.
I think it’s safe to say that men are the primary users of power tools around the home. Just about any kind of activity involving home repair or the use of power tools poses a risk to the eyes, and using the right eye protection can dramatically lower the risk they pose. But I wonder how many of us use eye protection every time we use a hammer, a saw or a power drill.
If you don’t have protective eyewear in your toolbox, why not order it today so you’ll have it before you start your next project? It doesn’t have to be expensive and there are a lot of options from which to choose. (And, guys, don’t take it just from me that you need to protect your eyes when using tools – watch the video below to see master carpenter Norm Abrams of “This Old House” fame back me up.)
I’ll close this post with an obvious but important observation: boys grow into men. Chances are that the boys we see playing sports without eye protection will turn into men who don’t wear it and fathers who don’t encourage it. So, as dads, the best thing we can do for our sons is model the safe behaviors that will protect their vision and the vision of the men they will become. And, of course, the same goes for our daughters.
