Heads Up by Elvira Maricic Accidents will happen, but there are measures you can take to protect your eyes from sports injuries print article      send to a friend

"The most common injuries in kids are due to baseball and basketball, because more of them play those sports than hockey or racket sports," says Jack Gardener, OD, a Chicago optometrist. "In the older age group, between 25 and 35, basketball far and away outstrips everything else as a cause of eye injuries," he adds. Other high-risk sports are football, hockey, lacrosse, racquetball, and soccer.

Going for Cover

The most frequently seen injuries associated with sports are abrasions and contusions, detached retinas, corneal lacerations, cataracts, hemorrhages, and in the worst cases, the loss of an eye. So with all these potential dangers, what can you do to protect your eyes?

According to Dr. Gardener, goggles offer the best protection, but American sports enthusiasts resist wearing them. "What's interesting is that Canadian and European players will wear shields and things like that and Americans will not, " he says. In fact, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, ocular trauma in Canada decreased by 90 percent after certified full-face protectors attached to the headgear were made mandatory in organized amateur hockey.

But if adults won't wear safety goggles, the next best protective measure may be to wear contacts. "Contact lenses, particularly soft lenses, hold their position very well and are tough to knock out of the eye," says Dr. Gardener.  "I think it's actually safer to wear contacts, because people don't use the goggles the way they should. This way, at least you know their vision is sharp and having sharp vision will be able to tell their body to get out of the way or to make the play," he adds. 'In racket sports, they should still wear a polycarbonate shield, but they will not get the peripheral distortion looking through the edge of the lens."

Athletes, both young and old, who don't wear contacts but still need glasses to see should invest in polycarbonate safety glasses. Polycarbonate is 10 times more impact-resistant than other plastics and can withstand the force of a .22 caliber bullet. The glasses are lightweight, scratch-resistant, and thin.  "There are frames that are specifically designated as safety frames for athletics, and they're almost always made of polycarbonate plastic. That is what kids should be wearing when they're playing," says Dr. Gardener.

After the Fact

Accidents will happen, with or without goggles or safety glasses. But when is an injury severe enough to warrant a trip to the emergency room or eye doctor?

"If there's some problem with your vision following the impact, get to the doctor right away," says Dr. Gardener. "The phrase I use is 'see well, look well, feel well.' If the eye doesn't look good and if it doesn't feel good, those are indications for a further exam.

"You can have an occult injury, a hidden injury, and even though your vision is still pretty good and it doesn't feel so bad after you put ice on it, there may still be an internal injury. To be on the safe side, I urge anybody who is hit in the eye with anything at a high rate of speed to see a doctor," he says.

Dr. Gardener's philosophy about eye protection and post-injury treatment spans a lifetime. "I always talk to people about the three things they'll need to maintain their independence as they get older--they'll need their brain, their eyes, and their legs. When we talk about going in to see a doctor following an eye injury in a pick-up basketball game when they're 24, I tell them to try to think of themselves at age 64. Just take care of it."