Every 13 minutes, a child goes to the emergency room for a sports-related eye injury, accounting for 42,000 sports related eye injuries each year. While playing sports is an important and enjoyable part of a child’s life that helps to improve and develop motor, visual and social skills, it’s very important that parents ensure their children’s eyes are protected when they are on the game field.

Sports-related eye injuries can include:

• corneal abrasion (painful scrape or scratch on the cornea)
• inflamed iris
• fracture of the eye socket
• blunt trauma
• penetrating injury
• traumatic cataract, causing blood to spill into the eye’s anterior chamber
• swollen or detached retina
• blindness

According to Prevent Blindness America, 90 percent of these eye injuries could be avoided through proper precautionary measures.

To ensure eye safety, children should wear sports-certified protective eyewear made specifically to withstand impact as well as provide UV protection. Sports eyewear can be worn for any indoor or outdoor activity, however, its use is fundamental when playing higher risk sports in which children are throwing, kicking, or hitting a ball (i.e. soccer or basketball), or swinging equipment (i.e. baseball or hockey).

It’s important to remember that sports-certified protective eyewear should be worn regardless of whether your child needs corrective glasses or has perfect vision. If a child does wear prescription glasses, these are not a substitute for sports goggles and will not protect them against injury. In fact, standard prescription glasses can be dangerous and my shatter if broken. Prescription sports glasses allow your child’s eyes to relax and focus on the task at hand while providing substantial protection.

For children who don’t wear glasses or use contacts, sports eyewear will still help protect their eyes from injury and UV rays.

Children younger than 14 years should be particularly careful when playing baseball, as it is responsible for the most injuries in this age range. Children over 14 years are subject to the most eye injuries while playing basketball. For lower-risk sports with less chance of eye injury, your child can participate in swimming and running.

If your child experiences an eye-related injury, make sure he or she knows to alert you right away so the eye can be examined by an eye care professional as soon as possible. I examined a young boy who suffered a tear in his retina after heading a soccer ball during a game. This young boy experienced some vision loss and the treatment could have been more effective had he reported his symptoms to his parents at the time of the injury.

While sports equipment is often the culprit when it comes to causing injuries – elbows, hands, and feet can cause just as much injury to a young athlete’s eyes. Additionally, it’s important to remember that eye injuries can occur both on and off the field. I have had two cases in the past year where the sports-related injury was caused by a bungee cord used to hold the sports equipment together.

I’m also happy to share some insight from one of my patients’ parents. “I’m so glad some of the NBA stars are wearing sports goggles,” she says. “Now my son wants to wear them without being told.”

Your eye doctor is the best source for information on sports eyewear and protecting your child’s vision while playing sports. To find an eye doctor near you, or for more information, visit  www.VSP.com.