Sports Safety

In addition to encouraging students to have an annual eye examination by an Optometrist, Rx Optical’s goal is to also educate students on how to “play it safe” when playing sports.  Last year alone, according to the Vision Council of America, there were 100,000 eye injuries caused by sports.  Almost all sports-related eye injuries are preventable by protective eyewear.  Children are especially vulnerable to eye injuries because they don’t know that their vision, and possibly a lifetime of healthy vision, is at stake.  For children, eye injuries happen mainly while playing so they should wear eye protection for sports and recreational activities.  Following is an article created by the Vision Council of America’s Check Yearly See Clearly campaign.  It provides a list of sports in which goggles should be worn and discusses the kind of sports goggles each child should have.

Keep Your Eyes On The Ball!

If you’re like most kids, you spend lots of time playing sports.  And this is where most accidents involving your eyes happen. Oh, sure, you say, nothing will ever happen to me.  I’m invincible!   Well, accidents DO happen, and if you can keep your eyes safe, that’s all the better.

Last year, there were 100,000 eye injuries caused by sports.  That’s way too many.  In fact, probably all could’ve been avoided by wearing sports glasses.  A number of your favorite athletes wear or have worn eye protection—either because they have had eye injuries, or they want to prevent them.  So, if you play any of the following sports, protect them peepers by wearing goggles or special sports glasses:

• Baseball or softball
• Basketball
• Football
• Racquetball
• Lacrosse
• Tennis
• Archery
• Badminton
• Fencing
• Soccer
• Boxing
• Ice hockey or street hockey
• Karate

What kind of sports goggle should you have?

• Padded or rubber bridges keep the glasses comfortable.
• Deep-grooved eyewires keep your lenses from falling out if the frame is hit hard. Groovy.
• A face-formed shape gives you a wider field of view, the better to see people with.
• Headband attachments keep the frames from slipping off your noggin. That’s using your head.

For more information on Rx Optical’s Sports Wear call our Student Development Coordinator at 1-800-Rx-CARES.