**BEWARE: graphic, painful eye images below!**
Summer is here. I know kids are thrilled to be away from school and enjoying the sun and freedom that summer vacation elicits in our imaginations. How many of us adults long for the days when the final school bell rang and “freedom” rang with it. 3 months with nothing to do but enjoy ourselves outside!
Well, some things change, but others don’t. Kids still love to hear that final bell, but many times find themselves indoors staring at computer screens or now more than ever, phone screens. I can remember growing up and going to the basketball court at the park to play ball with friends. Other times just riding bikes, playing king of the hill, playing croquet, yard darts, etc. If it was outdoors and competitive, I was there. I loved watching as well as participating in sports.
I can remember watching a basketball game one night and one of the players was sporting a clear plastic mask similar to this:
My first thought was what happened to this guy that made him have to wear such an ugly thing on his face! The commentators talked about a recent injury and how his doctors required that he wear this gadget in order to be able to play.
I played minor league baseball when I was young. I had experienced being hit by baseballs thrown from inexperienced pitchers. Fortunately at that age a fastball was equivalent to a slow pitch softball.
Of course, in optometry school, I was exposed to “sports vision”. One aspect of it was safety. Up until that point I still didn’t realize the risks involved in playing many of the sports that I had. Sure I wore the baseball and football helmets. I wore the knee pads and football pads. I had never really considered my eyes at until that time. But then, I was exposed to the following:
Although infrequent, sports induced eye injuries are indeed a real thing, leading to everything from having to leave the game, to permanent loss of vision. Injuries can include things like a hyphema (bleeding INSIDE the eye) and retinal detachments
Only then did I realize why the device I thought was ugly a few years ago was such a necessity. The good news is that as time has passed, people have learned to make eye protection much more appealing.
And even unique!
Sports vision has even evolved into using eye training, glasses and tints to improve performance ability. The military has picked up on it as well and has issued eyewear to enhance their troops.
Cataracts are a very common and natural part of the aging process. Join Dr. Wesley Dunnam in the following video as he explains cataracts, their causes, symptoms and treatment options.
Bottom line is this. If you don’t see a safety reason for wearing protective sports glasses, now you can just rock ’em because they make you look so LIT!
