Q&A: Personal experiences help ‘drive home’ the importance of sports-related eye safety
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
With Prevent Blindness declaring September as Sports Eye Safety Month amid a sharp increase in sports-related eye injuries, it is more critical than ever for optometrists to stress the importance of safety and awareness with patients.
According to annual data from Prevent Blindness, more than 32,000 sports-related eye injuries were reported in the U.S. in 2022 — nearly 20% higher than the previous year. The International Sports Vision Association (ISVA) has published similar trends, reporting that approximately 30,000 eye injuries each year are severe enough to require an emergency room visit.
“Our goal at ISVA is to educate the population — that includes coaches, parents, athletes, athletic trainers, pretty much everyone — to understand that eye injuries can be devastating,” Alireza Somji, OD, the association’s president, told Healio. “They can be minor and heal pretty quickly or, in severe cases, cause permanent vision loss. Most of these injuries are preventable with good sports-specific protective eye wear.”
Healio also spoke with Adam Clarin, OD, an ISVA advisory board member and owner of two private optometry practices and a sports vision therapy center in Miami, about trends he has seen in practice and how clinicians can discuss sports eye safety with patients.
Healio: Please explain the importance of sports eye safety awareness.
Clarin: Clearly, as optometrists, we are very interested in making sure eyes are healthy and remain healthy, and sports is one of the biggest issues I see for trauma and injuries to the eye. It is important that our athletes and patients know they need to protect their eyes. Sports are fast-moving, and getting into them is fun and exciting, but we do not always think about the implications. When you are moving fast, when balls are flying around, there is obviously a greater risk of injury.
Education and awareness, like with any ocular condition, makes a lot of sense, for professional athletes to weekend warriors and amateurs.
Healio: How often do you see injuries related to sports in your practice?
Clarin: I see sports injuries quite a bit. Being in South Florida, a lot of people participate in year-round sports. At least a couple of times a week, I have athletes who come in because a baseball or softball hit them in the eye. Oftentimes in basketball, fingers and elbows are flying around at eye level, so it is common to see trauma or an abrasion. I see a bunch of injuries from soccer as well. A lot of kids are heading the ball and missing, or sometimes they head into each other, or the ball hits them right in the face.
Healio: Have you seen any trends in sports-related eye injuries?
Clarin: Especially with younger athletes, parents are more aware of injuries and are getting them checked out sooner. In the past, parents may have taken a “wait-and-see” approach, whereas now they are being more proactive to bring children in.
I play basketball a few times a week, and I am definitely seeing more basketball injuries lately. I think more people are participating in that sport.
Not eye issues per se, but concussions and TBIs are definitely a growing trend. People playing sports are more aware of what to look for, so we are seeing a lot more issues coming from trauma to the head and concussion-type injuries as much as actual eye injuries.
Although we don’t really work on the vision with a TBI, I am seeing more and more patients who have symptoms that linger; and symptoms that exist 2 or 3 weeks post-concussion are usually visual in nature. A lot of the problems that these athletes are having due to TBI-related injuries are distortion in their vision and trouble focusing, seeing up close, concentrating or walking down supermarket aisles. Whenever peripheral vision and peripheral stimuli do not match up with what they are seeing, it can cause dizziness and fatigue.
We are doing a lot more rehab in that space lately. In the last couple of years, that has had a huge impact on my practice, more so than it was even 5 years ago. A lot of that has to do with awareness and a lot also has to do with the interdisciplinary nature of rehab. I think more neurologists and more MDs are looking to optometry to help in that rehab process. It has really opened up doors for us to get in and be part of that critical care.
Healio: How do you approach the topic of sports eye safety with your patients?
Clarin: I try to bring it up. I try to get to know my patients pretty well: What are their hobbies, their jobs, things they enjoy doing? Sports is a big topic because I play sports. I have a baseball and basketball background, so it comes up a lot. I always tell my patients when I know they play sports to be careful and what to look for.
I am a shining example, because I had an orbital bone fracture about 10 years ago from an elbow, while playing basketball. Ever since then, I wear sports safety glasses while I play because I do not want to go through that again. I think it helps to have that first-hand experience. You can connect with a patient and say, “Hey, I didn't think it could happen to me either, but here we are.”
A lot of people wear glasses or contacts anyway, so that is a good segue to say, “OK, when you play sports, here is what you need to think about.” It is especially important to make sure eye wear is sport appropriate. Safety goggles are difficult to wear with some baseball helmets; they need to have certain dimensions so a hat or helmet can fit over.
Obviously, with basketball you worry about peripheral vision and a lot of movement. It’s the same thing with lacrosse. In girls’ lacrosse, players wear masks that block their eyes and protect them from the ball, but in boys’ lacrosse, their eyes are more exposed. That is another sport where I see more athletes come in with eye injuries from sticks or balls. Hopefully just creating awareness will help.
Another good story I have is that when I was 12, I had a friend playing third base, and he took a baseball to the eye, resulting in a retinal detachment. I think these personal stories really help drive home the importance of sports safety and eye wear safety in sports.
Healio: How does your approach differ if you are working with kids vs. adults who play sports?
Clarin: Kids are a little bit easier to get to wear sports goggles, mostly because it is not their choice. Left up to our own devices, people want to have as few intrusive devices on them as possible, especially during competition where every movement, every second counts. But for kids, we as adults can interject with what is best for them. If we know our kids are playing a sport that is dangerous, we are more likely and able to get them to wear goggles or some sort of safety equipment.
Adults are left to make their own decisions, and sometimes they are poor decisions. Unfortunately, compliance seems a bit lower in adults until they have had an injury. I am the case in point, because I did not think it could happen to me and, once it does, you never want it to happen again.
References:
- New data from Prevent Blindness shows more than 32,000 sports-related eye injuries were treated last year, an almost 20% increase over the previous year. https://preventblindness.org/sports-eye-safety-month-2023/. Published Aug. 29, 2023. Accessed Sept. 12, 2023.
- Protect. Prevent. Play. https://www.sportsvision.pro/wp-content/uploads/ISVA_PPPPDF_FINAL_31721.pdf. Accessed Sept. 13, 2023.
Editor’s note: This article was updated Sept. 25, 2023, to correct one of Dr. Somji’s quotes. Healio regrets the error.
Collapse
Healio Interviews
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts