Eye Safety At-a-Glance. Protecting Your Child s Vision in Sports

Transcription

1 Eye Safety At-a-Glance Protecting Yor Child s Vision in Sports

2 Eye Safety At-a-Glance Protecting Yor Child s Vision in Sports Page / 2 Eye Safety At-A-Glance Protecting Yor Child s Vision in Sports Sports-related eye injries are qite common, yet the nmber of children who se protective eyewear (safety glasses or goggles) is extremely low. More than 600,000 eye injries related to sports occr each year, and approximately one-third of these injries occr in children 1. When children participate in sports they not only increase their physical fitness and self esteem bt they also learn abot teamwork and self-discipline. However, not taking the proper safety precations can be hazardos to a child s health. Only 15 percent of children reported wearing eye protection always or most of the time when participating in sports, hobbies, or other activities that cold case eye injries 2. Yet, the majority of the eye injries that occr in school-aged children are sports-related 3. This isse brief, pblished by The Vision Concil, offers information on sports activities that have the potential for eye injry as well as helpfl tips on how to protect children s eyes and adlts. INCIDENCE Eye injries are the leading case of blindness in children 4 and most eye injries among kids aged occr while playing sports. Children s sports eye injries can range from abrasions of the cornea and brises of the lid to internal eye injries, sch as retinal detachments and internal bleeding. Nearly 43 percent of sports-related eye injries involve children nder the age of 15, 5 and boys between the ages of 11 and 15 are p to five times more likely to sstain eye injries reqiring hospital treatment than girls of the same age 6. Every 13 mintes an emergency room in the U.S. treats a sports-related eye injry 7 for children and adlts. It is also estimated that sports-related eye injries in the U.S. accont for more than 100,000 physician visits per year at a cost of more than $175 million 8. Of the 1.6 to 2.4 million Americans who sstain eye injries each year, an estimated 40,000 will be legally blinded in the injred eye Diagonal Road, Site 500 / Alexandria, VA / P: / F:

3 Eye Safety At-a-Glance Protecting Yor Child s Vision in Sports Page / 3 SPORTS ACTIVITIES THAT POSE A DANGER TO OUR EYES When participating in sports, many parents do not consider the potential for eye injries. Many do not realize how mch damage a stray ball, pck or bat can do if it hits the eye. Eye injries most often occr in baseball, basketball, ice hockey and racqet sports, yet few parents encorage their children to wear protective eyewear when playing these sports. In fact, the American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends protective eyewear for any sport even for children who don t wear glasses or contacts. Stdies show that protective eyewear does not hinder the player s sight, and some athletes even play better becase they are less afraid of getting injred or hit in the eye. PREVENTING SPORTS EYE INJURIES IS EASIER THAN YOU THINK As an eye care professional I see so many eye injries, from black eyes to blindness, which are attribted to sports and recreational activities. Even thogh more than 90 percent of these eye injries are preventable, many people don t take action to wear appropriate protective eyewear. It is amazing to me that some states and sport organizations have reqirements for shin gards bt not for sports protective eyewear. Parents are qick to eqip their children with helmets, knee and elbow pads and even moth gards. Eye protection shold be a mst for all players, bt especially for those who wear eyeglasses or contact lenses becase this eyewear poses a more severe risk of eye injry than participants sing no eye protection at all. I encorage all of my physically active patients to consider protective eyewear to sbstantially redce the nmber of avoidable eye injries that occr in today s sports and recreational environment. For children 14 and nder, baseball is a leading case of sports-related eye injry. Batted baseballs are 3.5 times more likely to case eye damage than a pitched ball, yet most players do not se protective eyewear when they are not at bat 9. Basketball is the leading case of sports-related eye injry among 15 to 24 year olds. 10 One in 18 college athletes will sstain an eye injry, the odds increase to 1 in 10 for basketball players. 11 Children participating in any activity that ses a ball or racket, involves rogh contact with other players, or reqires moving at high speed whether on a school team, in gym class or even jst playing with friends shold wear protective eyewear inclding safety glasses, goggles, safety shields and eyegards. Dr. Pal Berman, OD, FAAO, Chairman of the Coalition to Prevent Sports Eye Injries 1700 Diagonal Road, Site 500 / Alexandria, VA / P: / F:

4 Eye Safety At-a-Glance Protecting Yor Child s Vision in Sports Page / 4 PREVENTING SPORTS-RELATED EYE INJURIES The best way to prevent a sports-related eye injry is to wear appropriate, sport-specific protective eyewear that is properly fitted. The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Ophthalmology and American Optometric Association all strongly recommend protective eyewear for all participants in sports in which there is a risk of eye injry. Many yoth and children s teams don t reqire eye protection, so parents mst insist that their children wear safety glasses or goggles whenever they play. Parents can set a good example by wearing protective eyewear themselves. Here are some helpfl tips to protect the eyes while playing sports: All children need protective eyewear regardless of whether or not they wear glasses or contacts. All sports protective eyewear shold meet the impact standards of the American Standards for Testing and Materials (ASTM). An optometrist can make sre that glasses and or goggles are fitted properly. There are also a wide range of polycarbonate face masks and gards that can be attached to helmets or worn by themselves. Everyday fashion eyewear is not held to the same protective standards as eyewear prodcts labeled as protective eyewear for sport se. The lens in a child s reglar eyeglasses cold easily pop ot and pnctre or ct the eye. A frame mangled from impact cold also injre the eyes and oclar region of the face. Lenses shold be made from polycarbonate materials becase they provide the highest level of impact protection; they can withstand a ball or other projectiles travelling at 90-miles per hor. Polycarbonate lenses are available in both eyeglasses and snglasses. Jst becase a sport reqires a helmet or face gard, it doesn t mean that yor child s eyes are protected from injries. They are still exposed to danger from sports eqipment or an opponent s fingers penetrating the openings of a face mask. Protective eyewear can be prchased at sporting goods stores as well as eye care professionals offices Diagonal Road, Site 500 / Alexandria, VA / P: / F:

5 Eye Safety At-a-Glance Protecting Yor Child s Vision in Sports Page / 5 Basketball, football, hockey and baseball aren t the only sports that contribte to the thosands of eye injries sffered each year. Soccer, tennis, golf and water sports also are dangeros to the eyes. Eye protection is available for many sports activities inclding: SPORT Protection Needed SPORT Protection Needed BADMINTON Batting: Face gard LACROSSE (MALE) Helmet and fll face protection BASEBALL attached to helmet Fielding: Sports goggles LACROSSE (FEMALE) Minimm: Sports goggles Max: Helmet and fll BASKETBALL face protection CYCLING Cycling eyewear RACQUETBALL FENCING Fll face cage SOCCER FIELD HOCKEY FOOTBALL HANDBALL Goalie: Face mask Others: Face shield attached to helmet SQUASH STREET HOCKEY SWIMMING Goalie: Fll face cage Others: Swim goggles recommended ICE HOCKEY Helmet with fll face protection TENNIS (DOUBLES) TENNIS (SINGLES) WATER POLO Swim goggles recommended DO S AND DON TS OF EMERGENCY EYE CARE If an eye injry does occr, it s important to see a medical doctor or an eye care professional as soon as possible since an injry may not be immediately obvios. The following steps can be taken ntil a medical professional can be seen. DO: Protect the eye from frther damage by holding a folded cloth over the eye, having it act as a shield. Bandage any cts arond the eye to prevent contamination or infection. Flsh the eye with water if there is small debris in the eye. Use a cold compress to treat a blnt trama injry sch as a black eye, bt be carefl not to apply additional pressre. DON T: Do not remove any objects that are stck in the eye as this cold case vital eye flids to leak ot. Do not wash ot the eye when dealing with cts or pnctres to the eye. Do not attempt to self-medicate. Stay away from applying ointments or taking any medications, inclding over-the-conter drgs. Do not rb the eye. Doing so cold case more damage Diagonal Road, Site 500 / Alexandria, VA / P: / F:

6 Eye Safety At-a-Glance Protecting Yor Child s Vision in Sports Page / 6 PROTECT YOUR EYES, PROTECT YOUR BODY As stdents head back to school and prepare to participate in physical edcation class, sport and physical activity programs, it is important to ensre safe and effective practice occrs. Proper instrction and practice can improve children s skills and confidence while the se of proper safety eqipment can keep them safe. Teaching kids to tilize and take care of their physical activity and sport eqipment and safety gear can prevent injries. Eqipment shold always inclde proper eye protection which can save players from an eye injry that cold have long term effects. Dr. Lynn Cotrier Chair of the Physical Edcation Department at SUNY Cortland and President of the National Association for Sport and Physical Edcation 1. Tri-Service Vision Conservation and Readiness Program, Eyes (Ears) and Workers Compensation. 2. National Center for Health Statistics. (2003) National Health Interview Srvey. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 3. Harrison, A., & Telander, D.G. (2002) Eye Injries in the Yoth Athlete: a case based approach. Sports Medicine, 31 (1), Harrison, A., & Telander, D.G. (2002) Eye Injries in the Yoth Athlete: a case based approach. Sports Medicine, 31 (1), American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness; American Academy of Ophthalmology, Eye Health and Pblic Information Task Force, Protective eyewear for yong athletes. Ophthalmology, 111 (3), American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Sports Medicine and Fitness; American Academy of Ophthalmology, Eye Health and Pblic Information Task Force, U.S. Consmer Prodcts Safety Commission. (2000). Sports and recreational eye injries. 8. Napier et al., Berman, U.S. Consmer Prodcts Safety Commission. (2000). Sports and recreational eye injries. 11. Berman, Diagonal Road, Site 500 / Alexandria, VA / P: / F: