Protective eyewear could prevent blindness
Parents who make children wear protective eyewear for sports and teach their children about eye safety are providing help that could last a lifetime. “Much of the damage is “written in the book’ at the time of injury. There are certain things you can’t bring back,” says Dr. John B. Jeffers, a member of Prevent Blindness America’s Eye Safety Committee and director of emergency services, Wills Eye Hospital, Philadelphia.
“Parents should insist on protective eyewear for activities like tennis and baseball,”adds Dr. Mark B. Ruttum, Prevent Blindness board member and director of ophthalmology of the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin,
Jeffers and Ruttum observe that impact injuries – caused by a ball, puck or stick slamming into the eye, for example – lead to both immediate and delayed damage; glaucoma or other serious vision disorders may occur later. The Prevent Blindness America medical experts offered their warnings as part of Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month in September.
Prevent Blindness America said figures just released for 1994 show that toys led the list of products involved in eye injuries to children through age 14. Toys were involved in 9.8 percent and 9.1 percent of product-related eye injuries to children under 5 and ages 5-14, respectively. For children under 5, general purpose household cleaners were next at 6.9 percent; cigarettes, cigars and related products, 6.4 percent; and adhesives, 4 percent. The second and third categories for children ages 5-14 were baseballs, 7.7 percent, and basketballs, 6 percent.
Over the past year, in his work for Wills Eye Hospital, Jeffers has seen an increase in eye injuries related to street hockey, whether players are wearing athletic shoes or rollerblades. “No one thinks about wearing eye protection, other than perhaps the goalie,” he said. Boys aged 5-14 are usually the victims. Jeffers added that organized leagues require helmets with protective eyewear. Boys also often are hurt by BB guns, “usually by ricochet,” so it’s the bystander more often than a shooter who is injured, he said.
For girls, “one of the most dangerous products is the curling iron,” Jeffers said. Eyelid and corneal burns often heal successfully, “but they’re terribly painful,” he observed.
Both Jeffers and Ruttum observed that their experience reflected the 1994 information on products related to children’s eye injuries: toys, cigarettes and household products often are involved. “Round up the usual suspects,” Ruttum said. Both cautioned parents to take stronger safety precautions around the home and teach children about eye safety.
The doctors also agreed there is one cause of eye injury that parents can easily eliminate: pet bites. “Often times, a small child goes to play with the family dog while it’s eating, and the dog snaps at the child,” Ruttum said. “Parents of young children should be very careful to keep children away at such times.”
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