Set Your Sights on Safety

by Tanisha Coleman (BPRW)

Basketball, Baseball, softball, racquetball, tennis, badminton, soccer, football, ice hockey, boxing and karate. These are all sports that many of us enjoy playing to stay in shape and remain physically active. However, anyone participating in these sports should wear protective eyewear. Why? A serious eye injury can put the best athletes on the sidelines and out of sight.

According to www.preventblindness.org, it is estimated that there are more than 600,000 sports related eye injuries in America every year. And 40,000 of those require emergency room care. The good news is that 90 percent of all sports-related eye injuries can be prevented just by wearing the proper eye protection. Who wants to experience eye injuries such as painful corneal abrasions, blunt trauma and penetrating injuries? Severe injuries can result in vision loss and in some cases, blindness.

Basketball was the number one cause of eye injuries in recent years. Based on a recent study by the U.S. Eye Injury Registry, however, fishing has surpassed basketball in injuries. In fact, eye injuries from fishing make up approximately nine percent of all sports eye injuries, with 38 percent of fishing injuries involving hooks to the eye.

So, what is the solution? The best prevention of eye injury while involved in sports and recreation is to wear specially designed protective eyewear. While they cannot eliminate risk, eye guards greatly reduce the chance of ocular injury.

When choosing your protective eyewear, make sure that all sports protective eyewear you use meets the American Society of Testing Materials (F803) Standards. Be sure to ask your eye care professional what specific eyewear meets these standards. Specifically, you should look for the following according to www.checkyearly.com:

• Padded or rubber bridges to keep the goggles comfortable.
• Deep-grooved eye wires to keep the lenses from falling out if the frame is hit hard.
• A face-formed shape to provide a wider field of view.
• Headband attachments to keep the frames from slipping.
• Lenses made from polycarbonate, a type of clear plastic that is impact resistant.
• 100 percent ultraviolet (UV) protection and a scratch-resistant coating.

Setting your sights on safety is the best way to be out of harm's way!