- Approximately 42,000

sports-related eye injuries occur every year in the United States.

- More than one-third

of the victims are children.

- Sports are the number

one cause of eye injuries in children under the age of 16.

- Injuries range from

corneal abrasions and eyelid bruises to internal eye injuries, such as

retinal detachments and internal bleeding.

- Many of these injuries

lead to vision loss and permanent blindness.

- Many of these injuries

could have been prevented by the use of proper eye protection.

Sports with the highest risk

for eye injury - and for which eye protection is available - include basketball,

baseball, hockey, football, lacrosse, fencing, paintball, water polo,

racquetball, soccer and downhill skiing. In baseball, most eye injuries

result from the ball hitting the eye. Batters are the most common victims,

though pitchers and outfielders can also be injured. In basketball, most

eye injuries result from the eyes being poked by fingers and elbows.

Athletes participating in high-risk

sports - especially young athletes - should wear appropriate sport-specific

protective eyewear as recommended and properly fitted by an Eye M.D. or

other eye care professional. Athletes today can choose from various types

of lightweight and sturdy protective eyewear that look and fit better

than in the past.

Eyewear properly fitted and

worn does not hinder performance in any way, and can prevent 90 percent

of sports eye injuries. Many professional athletes excel in their sports

while wearing protective eyewear. In Canada, eye injuries decreased by

90 percent after certified full-face protectors attached to the headgear

were made mandatory in organized amateur hockey.

Protective eyewear lenses should

be made of polycarbonate, which is 20 times stronger than typical eyewear

lenses. Polycarbonate can withstand impact from a ball or other projectile

traveling at 90 miles per hour. Contact lenses offer no protection, and

street wear glasses are inadequate to protect against any type of eye

injury.

Because many children's

sports leagues, schools and teams don't require children to wear

eye protection, parents must insist that children wear eye protection

every time they play and set a good example by wearing eye protection

themselves whenever they play sports.

In addition, parents can get

involved at the local level and help pass ordinances that require children

under the age of 16 to wear batting helmets with protective face shields

when playing baseball, as the City of Baltimore did recently. Also, parents

can work to mandate the use of softer baseballs, which are available (and

would cause fewer head injuries), but are generally not used. Similar

requirements could be applied to other sports as well. The important thing

is to take active, preventive steps to ensure that we all protect our

most valuable sense - sight.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology

is the world's largest association of eye physicians and surgeons

- Eye M.D.s - with more than 27,000 members worldwide.�For more

information about eye health care, visit the Academy's partner Web site,

the Medem Network, at www.medem.com/eyemd.

To find an Eye M.D. in your

area, visit www.aao.org.

- M. Bowes Hamill, Eye

M.D.

(Dr. Hamill, associate professor

of ophthalmology at Baylor College of Medicine, is a spokesperson for

the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Eye M.D. Association, and chairman

of the Academy's Eye Safety and Sports Ophthalmology Committee.)

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