By: Dr. Brandon Callow, Grabill Eye Center
September is National Sports Injury Awareness Month. More than 25,000 people seek treatment for sports-related eye injuries each year. Basketball, baseball, football and soccer are among the top sports with related eye injuries each year, according to Prevent Blindness America. The good news is that almost all of these injuries can be prevented with the proper eye protection.
Types of injuries that can occur are painful scratches on the cornea (front, clear part of the eye), different types of inflammation, traumatic cataracts, the retina (back tissue of the eye used for vision) can swell, bruise, or detach, and blood can leak into different parts of the eye. You can also fracture the bones surrounding your eye which can have long term effects on vision and eye health.
There are easy steps to take to ensure you are protected against any of these eye injuries. Wearing safety goggles with polycarbonate lenses for racquet sports or basketball is the safest way to protect your eyes. When playing baseball, use batting helmets with polycarbonate face shields. When playing hockey, use helmets and face shields approved by the U.S. Amateur Hockey Association. It is important that any eye guard or sports protective eyewear are labeled as ASTM F803 approved. This eyewear is performance tested to give you the highest levels of protection.
Being prepared is also important. Keeping a first aid kit with a rigid eye shield and commercial eyewash is a good idea. Do not assume that any eye injury is harmless. For any blows to the eye, apply a cold compress without putting pressure on the eye. For cuts and punctures of the eye or eyelid, do not wash out the eye with water because water can be contaminated. Instead use a sterile saline solution. Do not try to remove the object that is stuck in the eye. A lot of times this can make things worse by damaging the eye further. Cover the eye with a rigid shield without applying pressure. If you do not have a shield, one can be made with the bottom half of a paper cup. In any of these situations or other cases of pain, reduced vision, or discoloration (black eye) following an injury, see an eye doctor as soon as possible.
Your optometrist is a primary eye care provider that is trained to evaluate your vision and level of injury and initiate the proper treatment or get you to the right specialist. Eye injuries not managed correctly can have long term effects on vision causing glaucoma, cataracts, or scarring. Some of these lasting effects can be avoided with proper care and monitoring.
If you need to schedule an appointment for safety eyewear, want to see a selection of sport and work safety frames, or have questions on eye injuries, you can contact Grabill Eye Center at 260-627-1091.
