While special attention is drawn to sports eye safety in the month of April, eye safety should be a focus year round with any of your patients who participate in sports.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology estimates that there are 100,000 eye injuries due to sports each year. Roughly 40-45% will go to the emergency room; that’s one person every 13 minutes. One in three will be a kid. An astonishing 13,500 individuals will be blind as a result of their injury.

What leads to these eye injuries? Loosely, it’s balls, fingers and racquets. Some of the top offending sports include baseball, basketball, hockey and lacrosse. The risk of injury, however, should not deter participation. Rather, increasing the awareness of the potential risks along with following recommended safety measures should be the route to take.

Educate Your Patients
Based on the injuries, approximately 90% could have been prevented had the athletes been wearing eye protection. 90%! So what can you do to help? To begin with, get to know your patients and their families. What activities do they participate in? If they mention sports with fast flying objects, such as balls, paintball pellets, and pucks, or with sticks and racquets, take note. Also listen for contact sports, such as basketball, soccer and football, where fingers and elbows can poke the eye. Even fishing, in many instances a rather calm sport, runs the risk of eye injury due to fish hooks.

Ask what your patient does to protect their eyes while playing. Remember, open ended questions provide more insight than a simple yes or no question. Not surprising, many people will not wear protective eyewear. Some will mention sunglasses, but as you know, sunglasses don’t offer total protection. Lenses could shatter if they are not polycarbonate or something can enter the eye from the open side. Express concern for their overall well-being and recommend the use of protective eyewear. At the same time, share with them some of the statistics. While we all like to believe we will not fall victim to such an injury, all it takes sometimes is a brief glance in the other direction.

Protective Eyewear is a Must
If you do not already, consider offering a line or two of protective eyewear. Be sure to have styles available for kids and adults as well as wrap around styles to prevent objects from entering from the side. Prescriptive lenses will keep your athletic patient on top of their visual game.

Additional Sales
Selling protective eyewear, ASTM F803 approved, is an opportunity for additional sales beyond a pair of eyeglasses or contacts. For maximum impact, create a complete package that includes a retainer to keep the eyewear on in the toughest of events as well as a lens cleaner or antifog for lens maintenance.


Jodi Groh is a marketing professional with 20 years experience in the optical community. An expert in lens care, she is passionate about growing business at the customer level. She is an ABO speaker and has been recognized as one of Vision Monday’s Influential Women in Optical.