( From major league baseball stadiums to ...)AAO Urges Athletes to Wear Protective Eyewear,Health

From major league baseball stadiums to small town basketball courts, athletic competition builds physical fitness, entertains millions and teaches the values of hard// work and teamwork.

But for more than 40,000 athletes each year, these lessons can be marred by an errant finger or misjudged catch. That’s the number of sports-related eye injuries that occur annually in the United States. Approximately one-third of the victims are children.

April is Sports Eye Safety Month, and Eye MDs at American Academy of Ophthalmology urge athletes to wear appropriate, sport-specific protective eyewear properly fitted by an eye care professional.

“Athletes need to choose to use protective eyewear because eye injuries can be devastating,” said Monica L. Monica, MD, PhD, MHA, clinical correspondent for the Academy. “Eye injuries are one of the leading causes of visual impairment in children. The injuries range from abrasions of the cornea and bruises of the lids to internal eye injuries, such as retinal detachments and internal bleeding. Unfortunately, some of these young athletes end up with permanent vision loss and blindness.”

Many sports create risk for eye injuries; however protection is available for many activities, including basketball, baseball, hockey, football, lacrosse, fencing, paintball and water polo, as well as racquetball, soccer and downhill skiing.

“Athletes can select from various types of lightweight and sturdy protective eyewear,” said M. Bowes Hamill, MD, associate professor of ophthalmology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and clinical correspondent for the Academy. “Eyewear properly fitted and worn does not hinder performance in any way, and can prevent most sports eye injuries.”

Protective eyewear lenses should be made of polycarbonate, which can withstand impact from a ball or other projectile traveling at 90 miles per hour, Dr. Hamill said.

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