Eye Safety Tips For The Weekend Warrior
Many of us work long hours and have little time for activity during the week. But when the weekend comes, it’s time to go out and play!
Eye Protection Is Important In An Active Lifestyle
Whether you’re a passionate runner, avid climber, or someone who enjoys the occasional round of golf, it’s important to remember to protect your eyes when you’re on the go. It is estimated that 40,000 sports-related eye injuries occur every year in the United States. The good news is, 90% of those accidents are avoidable.
Choose The Right Protection For Your Activity
No matter what activities you participate in after putting in a long week of hard work, it’s important to wear the right vision protection. Here are a few sport-specific suggestions:
- Hiking and outdoor activities: Sturdy street-wear sunglasses with UV protection
- Running or Bicycling: Sturdy street-wear frames with polycarbonate or CR-39 lenses
- Racquetball: Sports goggles with polycarbonate lenses
- Squash: Sports goggles with polycarbonate lenses
- Swimming and pool sports: Swim goggles recommended
- Tennis (singles): Sturdy street-wear frames with polycarbonate or CR-39 lenses
- Tennis (doubles): Sports goggles with polycarbonate lenses
Find Eyewear With Proper UV Protection
While there isn’t an increased risk of eye injury in every sport, all outdoor sports have one common threat to our vision health—UV rays.
Ultraviolet or UV rays are emitted from the sun and prolonged exposure can do lasting damage to our skin and our eyes. Health risks of continued UV exposure include:
- cataracts—a clouding of the eye’s lense,
- photokeratitis—a temporary but painful sunburn on the surface of the eyes—also known as snowblindness, and
- skin cancer—a common form of cancer which can even develop in our eyelids and in the skin surrounding our eyes.
The sun also provides other risk factors to our vision health. Continual exposure to blue light–another harmful portion of the solar spectrum–has been found to cause macular degeneration. Even a few hours in the sun can hamper our eyes’ ability to adjust in the dark, making it difficult to drive at night after a day outside.
We Can Help Protect Your Vision
Whether you’re a weekend warrior or a professional athlete, it’s important to take the necessary steps to protect your vision health. As your lifelong vision partner, our Vision Source® practices are committed to protecting your vision and whole body health so you can continue to enjoy your active lifestyle. If you have any questions or you’d learn more about custom made eyewear, schedule an appointment with one of our Vision Source® partners or leave a comment below!
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Top image by Flickr user Laurel F used under Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 4.0 license. Image cropped and modified from original. The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.