Please see our video about our safety precautions.

alarm-ringing ambulance angle2 archive arrow-down arrow-left arrow-right arrow-up at-sign baby baby2 bag binoculars book-open book2 bookmark2 bubble calendar-check calendar-empty camera2 cart chart-growth check chevron-down chevron-left chevron-right chevron-up circle-minus circle city clapboard-play clipboard-empty clipboard-text clock clock2 cloud-download cloud-windy cloud clubs cog cross crown cube youtube diamond4 diamonds drop-crossed drop2 earth ellipsis envelope-open envelope exclamation eye-dropper eye facebook file-empty fire flag2 flare foursquare gift glasses google graph hammer-wrench heart-pulse heart home instagram joystick lamp layers lifebuoy link linkedin list lock magic-wand map-marker map medal-empty menu microscope minus moon mustache-glasses paper-plane paperclip papers pen pencil pie-chart pinterest plus-circle plus power printer pushpin question rain reading receipt recycle reminder sad shield-check smartphone smile soccer spades speed-medium spotlights star-empty star-half star store sun-glasses sun tag telephone thumbs-down thumbs-up tree tumblr twitter tiktok wechat user users wheelchair write yelp youtube

Get In The Game, Protect Your Eyes

Is your vision a priority when you’re playing sports?

Eye Injuries Can Happen When You Least Expect Them

The crisp smell of freshly cut grass on the soccer field, the gleam of the basketball court before a game, the cheering fans at the football stadium, the feeling of the baseball bat, familiar in your hands… There’s no doubt about it–playing sports can be a magical thing.

Unfortunately, that magic can be shattered in an instant. No one understands this better than Aroldis Chapman, Chicago Cubs relief pitcher. In March of 2014, then pitching for the Cincinnati Reds, the four-time All-Star was hit in the eye by a line drive off the bat of Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez. After extensive treatment, including surgery, Chapman was lucky to retain full visual capacity and return to the game later that season.

While you or your child may not experience this type or level of injury, sports-related eye injuries happen frequently and unexpectedly, and can have severe repercussions as serious as permanent vision loss.

Know The Risks

[iframe https://www.youtube.com/embed/9NhvJECwMmo?rel=0 620 349]

Did you know that there are approximately 100,000 sports-related eye injuries each year? 30,000 of those are sustained by children. While that may seem frightening, we’d like to emphasize that 90 percent of sports eye injuries can be prevented through the proper use of protective eyewear.

It’s important to know what the risks are for the specific sport you are involved in, as certain sports are riskier than others. For example, baseball, hockey, basketball, water polo and racquet sports result in more eye injuries than other sports. In addition, different types of sports may pose unique risks. Cyclists, skiers and snowboarders (to name a few) are more in danger of radiation injuries caused by exposure to the sun.

Wearing protective eyewear may not be able to completely protect your eyes in all cases, but it can drastically reduce the frequency and severity of injuries. Talk to us about the sports you and your child are involved in. We can recommend the most effective type of eyewear and gear for the specific sports you participate in.

Your Vision Is Precious

Sports-related eye injuries can change a person’s life in an instant. As the saying goes, prevention is the best treatment! The next time you don your uniform, don’t forget to put on your protective eyewear with it. Your vision is precious, remember to protect it.

Thank you for being such wonderful patients.

Top image by Flickr user Bob Stephan used under Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 license. Image cropped and modified from original.
The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.