If you play sports, or even watch them on television, you know how common injuries can be. What you may not know is how commonly the eye is subject to one of these injuries. If you’ve been watching the Little League All Stars or the College World Series recently, you probably noticed the players wearing safety glasses.

Professional athletes know their eyes are precious, and they take protective eyewear seriously. Professional volleyball, basketball, and baseball players are among the many athletes who wear eye protection on the field. Even water sports athletes including swimmers know the importance of wearing proper eye protection.

Sports-related eye injuries are very common. In fact, thousands of adults and children suffer these types of injury every year. The most common of these injuries is the corneal abrasion or scratch and laceration (a cut).

While a scratch to the cornea is a minor injury that can be treated fairly easily, it can also lead to vision loss if not treated at all. Other more serious sports injuries can include a traumatic cataract, a fractured eye socket, bleeding in the eye, a penetrating injury that punctures or ruptures the eyeball or even a retinal detachment, all of which can lead to blindness.

Children are particularly prone to eye injuries due to their underdeveloped depth perception. There are a number of ways a child’s eye can be injured while playing sports. Direct impact from a baseball, an elbow or finger to the eye, sand in the eye and even glare from the sun can cause an eye injury.

Protect Your Eyes

It’s important to protect your eyes with proper eyewear anytime you engage in athletics to prevent injury. But it’s also important to wear the right type of eyewear to protect your eyes.

Most athletes wear protective eyewear made with polycarbonate lenses. Polycarbonate is a type of high-grade plastic that is impact resistant and about 20 times stronger than regular eyeglass lenses. It is also pliable, which means it can be used to make a variety of eyewear to protect your eyes including safety glasses, face shields and sunglasses.

When choosing eyewear to protect your eyes, it is also important to make sure the materials used meet the American Society of Testing and Materials, or ASTM, standards for your particular sport. Our eye care professionals can help you decide which eyewear is best to protect your eyes.

Wondering what is recommended by professionals in sports protective eyewear? Get our checklist and know you’ll be protected. CLICK HERE or on the image below.