Protective Eyewear Reduces Eye Injuries

Here are some facts and statistics about eye injuries in sports and how wearing protective eyewear can reduce the number of such injuries:

• Eye injuries are the leading cause of blindness in children

• Sports are the major cause of eye-injuries in school-age children, with up to 30% of the injuries occurring to children under the age of 16.

• Sports-related eye injuries more than doubled (from 41,000 to 100,000) in the three years from 1995 to 1998

• Most sports-related eye injuries are caused by blunt objects 

• Trauma from objects such as hockey sticks, ski poles, paintballs that are smaller than the eye socket can cause devastating injuries.

• Objects larger than the eye can still injure, as they deform on impact. These injuries tend to be less serious, and most often occur in baseball, basketball, racket sports, and soccer. 

• According to 1996 statistics from the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the National Society to Prevent Blindness, the four sports in which eye injuries are most common are basketball (20.7%), baseball (13.3%), swimming and pool sports (8.0%), and racket and court sports (6.7%, but accounting for 25% of all sports-related eye injuries seen in private ophthalmology practices). 

• The most effective treatment for sports-related eye injuries is prevention. Wearing protective eyewear may prevent as many as 90% of all eye injuries. For instance, youth hockey players suffer 70,000 fewer eye and face injuries than they would have had they were not wearing now-mandatory face protectors. 

• The American Academy Of Ophthalmology believes that eyewear should be mandatory for children participating in school-related or community-sponsored athletic events. 

  • The Academy recommends that young athletes be fitted by eye-care professionals and wear shatterproof goggles, constructed of non-breakable 3mm polycarbonate, which are twenty time stronger than ordinary eyeglasses. 

  • The Academy urges parents of young athletes to lobby for and support mandatory eye protection for young athletes in their hometowns.

• Face protectors meeting ASTM standard F 910 (Face guards For Youth Baseball) attached to approved helmets are strongly recommended for youth baseball batters and baseball runners.