Our eyes are one of the most important organs of the body. Unfortunately, they’re also the most delicate and susceptible to injury.
Over the years, we have treated several eye injuries for professionals from various industries. Construction, sports, and medical labs are some of the highest risk industries when it comes to the human eye.
Every year, approximately 2.4 million eye injuries occur in the U.S., both in and outside the workplace. It’s estimated that nearly 50,000 of those victims lost some degree of their eyesight.
According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), ninety percent (90%) of eye injuries could have been prevented by wearing safety eyewear. Eye injuries can happen anywhere – at work, at home or at play. Safety eyewear is the first and foremost form of protection against them.
Sports with high impact, such as football, ice hockey, lacrosse, and youth baseball require a face shield mounted on a helmet designed for the sport. Paintball enthusiasts require protector shields to avoid eye injury. Basketball injuries sustained from an elbow to the eye or an orbital injury from a direct hit of a tennis ball are equally devastating.
Fishing disasters following a hook in the eye is completely avoidable. Flying shrapnel into the eye on a job site is also completely avoidable. At Dedham Ophthalmic Consultants and Surgeons, we cannot emphasize the importance of eyewear for contact sports or construction site employment enough.
Eye injuries are the most preventable cause of blindness.
With an average of 1,000 eye injuries happening at work each day, along with 40,000 sports-related incidents and 125,000 more at home, the time to invest in protective eyewear is now.
When it comes to the eyes, there is no better way of preventing vision problems than by using appropriate safety glasses and goggles This protective item stops or reduces the impact of potential hazards. Wearing them has a significantly positive impact on a person’s long-term eye health. At best, eyewear can prevent injuries. At worst, safety glasses and goggles can lessen the extent of the injury to prevent permanent blindness.
Choosing the right kind of protective eyewear.
Your eye care professional is well versed in the safety eyewear options, which can include prescription or non-prescription lenses. There are lots of factors to consider when it comes to safety eyewear, both at home and on the field:
- All safety eyewear should be made of polycarbonate lenses which provide the highest level of impact protection (as well as ultraviolet protection, which is a plus on the sports field).
- Safety eyewear used at home must meet the requirements by ANSI and include the “Z-87” logo stamp.
- Safety eyewear used in sports should reflect the ASTM logo (this means it’s approved by the American Society for Testing and Materials).
- Whereas eyewear can be uncomfortable, allow time to adjust to your safety eyewear.
- Most important. For the eyewaer tobe effective, keep the eyewear on at all times during the activity.
If you are in a job or play a sport that you would benefit to have custom fit protective eyewear, contact our offic TODAY and schedule an appointment to be seen.
