Eye Safety In Sports

At any age, participating in sports can greatly benefit your physical and mental well-being. The fall is a busy sports season, so it’s important to know how to protect your eye health while enjoying physical activity, and ensure your kids stay safe during their games and practices!

Types of Sports-Related Eye Injuries

There are several types of eye injuries that can arise from participating in a sport. Here are a few to be aware of:

Blunt trauma: This is the most common sports-related eye injury. In sports, blunt trauma can occur when the eye is struck by a ball, a puck, a shoulder pad, a knee in soccer, or a finger in basketball. This can cause glaucoma, retinal detachment, internal bleeding or other damage, cataracts, or external fractures of the orbit. It can also cause the wall of the eye to break or rupture.

While football players wear protective helmets with facemasks to protect their eyes, it isn’t just football players who should wear eye protection. There are several ways to better protect your eyes from sports-related injuries. Taking the steps to protect your eye health is key to maintaining clear vision for many athletes; better safe than sorry! These methods don’t completely prevent an eye injury from occurring, but they can act as preventive measures.

Corneal scratches: This is a painful scratch on the surface of the eye. Corneal scratches can be caused by airborne debris getting into the eye or being scratched by another player.

Penetration: Eye penetration can be very dangerous. It can happen when an object (such as broken sports equipment) pokes the eye tissue.

Excessive sun exposure: Consistent exposure to UV rays can harm your eyes if you play outdoor sports in the sun or the water.

Chemical burns: The chemicals from field paint, chalk, or pools can get kicked up into your eyes and cause irritation.

Sports Eye Safety Tips

There are several ways to better protect your eyes from sports-related injuries. Taking the steps to protect your eye health is key to maintaining clear vision for many athletes! These methods don’t completely prevent an eye injury from occurring, but they can act as preventive measures.

Don’t only wear traditional eyewear: While it may seem like traditional glasses or contacts can successfully protect your eyes, this is a myth! Regular glasses are prone to shattering and can actually cause more harm than good for athletes.

Wear protective eyewear (polycarbonate): Wearing protective sports eyewear, such as goggles, face masks, and helmets, is the best way to protect your eyes. It’s even better if the eyewear is made of polycarbonate material. This material is impact-resistant and shatterproof, so it is ideal for keeping your eyes safe.

Monitor sweating: Sweat can interfere with the effectiveness of protective eyewear. You can monitor sweating by wearing a headband to keep sweat out of your eyes.

Eye Care Tips for a Sports-Related Injury

If you suspect that your eyes have sustained a sports-related injury, it’s important to quickly evaluate the severity and determine next steps. Here are a few tips for action:

When to self-treat: You should only attempt to self-treat minor eye irritations. If you bruise your eye, you can apply a compress or lightly wash out debris with cold water.

When to call our office: Please contact our office to schedule an appointment within 24 hours (48 if it’s the weekend—call during the weekend since there is someone on call) after a serious injury or if you are experiencing excessive tearing, pain, distortion, or light sensitivity, even if you didn’t think the injury was serious.

When to visit the ER: If, for some reason, you are unable to reach us for an eye problem that requires urgent attention, but you are experiencing persistent, intense eye pain or vision loss, see blood inside your eye, or if your pupil looks disfigured, you should go to the ER right away.

It’s important to stay aware of your and your children’s eye health during sports involvement. With concerns about an eye injury or with further questions about eye protection, call us at (908) 276-3030 to make an appointment today.