Prevent Blindness America has dedicated September as Sports Eye Safety Awareness Month to educate the public on the necessary steps to help keep eyes healthy for life.
To accomplish this, PBA is partnering with the Coalition to Prevent Sports Eye Injuries and Liberty Sport to provide consumers and eye care professionals with free information and materials throughout the month.
“Our healthy eyesight is something that we can sometimes take for granted. But, in an instant, a severe eye injury can have life-changing results,” Hugh R. Parry, President and CEO of Prevent Blindness America, said. “By consistently wearing the right eye protection while playing sports, we can help eliminate vision loss and permanent blindness in children and adults.”
PBA advises sports players to never wear regular eyeglasses while playing their respective sports because they may shatter on impact. PBA also recommends that sports eye protectors be padded or cushioned along the brow and bridge of the nose to prevent them from cutting the skin, and that all sports eye protection should have 100% ultraviolet protection.
Every 13 minutes, an emergency room treats a sports-related eye injury. And, 43 percent of sports-related eye injuries are to children ages 14 and younger. Fortunately, 90 percent of all sports-related eye injuries can be prevented just by wearing the proper eye protection but only 15 percent of children and 33 percent of adults reported that they consistently do that.
More information on sports eye injury prevention and information on sport-specific eye protection recommendations is available HERE.
Online users can also join the Prevent Blindness America Vision Web Forum HERE to discuss sports-related eye health and safety topics with other concerned adults.
