Sports Eye Safety Guidelines
An athlete must take care of their vision as eyes help them determine timing, coordination and speed. Broken bones and bruises can be healed with time and cared but a serious eye injury can put one on the disabled list forever.
If your eyes are unprotected there are more chances that they may get injured. You can easily protect your ways by following some simple eye safety guidelines or procedures.
The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends the following eye protection for different sports. Foremost, certification labels on eyewear packaging should be the main selection criteria.
Baseball: During an errant pitch when a ball is lost in the sun or a bat is thrown in air, the player should wear a faceguard made of a sturdy plastic or polycarbonate metal material along with eye guards.
Basketball: It is advised to wear eye goggles while playing basketball to save your wu=yes from several risks like an errant elbow, a stray poke from an other player’s finger, or a basketball thrown in the wrong direction.
Soccer and football: While playing soccer and football, there is great scope of risk to your eyes through - an errant elbow, ball, foot or finger - if the players’ don’t have proper protection. Wear sports eye guards is very much needed, and especially in football one should wear a full faceguard.
Hockey: Sticks, pucks, and elbows all fly freely during the match which can easily hurt a player. Hence, the player should wear a full polycarbonate material or wire mask to prevent eye and other possible facial injuries. Full face mask for the goalie is a must.
Tennis or racquetball: Players of tennis should wear eye goggles to protect eyes from an errant or misjudged bal while playing.l
Ice Hockey: Helmet with full-face protection should be worn. This should be certified by the Hockey Equipment Certification Council (HECC).
Women’s Lacrosse: Full-face protection or sports goggles with polycarbonate lenses or wire mesh with proper certification labels must be used.
Paintball: Certified full-face protection gear should be worn.
Now a days many sports eyewear manufacturers design eyewear after taking into account various factors like an athlete’s activity and environmental factors, to give players an edge in the sport they participate. For outdoor games, it is very important for athletes to wear eyeglasses that contain UV protection for sunray blockage.
The use of faceguard attached to the helmet can help prevent injuries like scratches on the cornea, inflamed iris, blood spilling into the eye’s anterior chamber, traumatic cataract, and swollen retina.
Fashionable sunglasses, regular eyeglasses, contact lenses, and industrial safety glasses, are the types of eye-wear that should be avoided strictly.
Well written article.