Basketball, Baseball and Air/Paintball Guns Top the List of Leading Causes of Eye Injuries Scottsdale Eye Physicians and Surgeons and the American Academy of Ophthalmology offer guidance on how to protect sight during Sports Eye Safety Month in April.
Ophthalmologists Say Work Related Eye Injuries Can be Avoided
On-the-job safety goes well beyond avoiding slips, falls, and heavy lifting. Caring for your eyes should be a high priority and part of an overall workplace wellness routine. This is important because each day, about 2,000 U.S. workers sustain work related eye injuries that requires medical treatment[1]. However, 90 percent of these accidents can be avoided by wearing eye protection[2]. As part of an ongoing effort to stress the importance of workplace eye wellness, Scottsdale Eye Physicians and SurgeonsĀ and the American Academy of Ophthalmology, during the month of March, is encouraging the public to do right by their eyes and wear appropriate eye protection.
Donāt Let an Eye Injury Ruin Your Valentineās Day
Itās almost Valentineās Day and love is in the air. Ā But, if champagne corks go flying, an eye injury could turn your sweet celebration into a real-life nightmare! Every year, improper cork-removal techniques cause serious, potentially blinding eye injuries. A champagne cork can fly up to 50 miles per hour as it leaves the bottle ā fast enough to shatter glass. At such high speeds, you have no time to react and protect your eye. Ā That’s why it’s so important to learn how to open a bottle of bubbly correctly and avoid flying corks in the first place. This Valentineās Day, our ophthalmologist reminds you to be safe when opening champagne bottles. Before your champagne toast, watch this video demonstration of how to properly open a champagne bottle to prevent an eye injury. In the event that an eye injury does occur, seek medical help from an ophthalmologist immediately. For more information or to schedule an appointment with our ophthalmologist please call our office at 480-994-1872.
October is Eye Injury Prevention Month
October is Eye Injury Prevention Month!Ā You might think that the family home is a fairly unthreatening setting. And responses to aĀ recent public survey commissioned by the American Academy of Ophthalmology show that people generally agree. Less than half of survey respondents mentioned the home ā especially the yard or garage ā as the most common site of serious eye injury. Only 35 percent of those surveyed always wear protective eyewear when doing home repair or projects. However, medical statistics tell a different story: nearly half of all eye injuries each year occur in and around the home, and home-based injuries are increasing each year. This alarming trend is why the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American Society of Ocular Trauma now recommend that every household have at least one pair of ANSI-approved protective eyewear for use during projects and activities that may present risk of injury. (ANSI-approved protective eyewear is manufactured to meet the American National Standards Institute eye protection standard.) Here are some common places for eye injuries to occur: In the house: Using hazardous products and chemicals, such as oven cleaner and bleach for cleaning and other chores (accidents involving common household products cause 125,000 eye injuries each year) Cooking foods that can splatter hot grease or oil Opening champagne bottles during a celebration Drilling or hammering screws or nails into walls or hard surfaces like brick or cement; the screws or nails can become projectiles or fragments can come off the surface Using hot objects such as curling irons around the face; inadvertent contact with the userās eyes can cause serious injury Loose rugs and railings or other hazards that could cause falls or slips In the yard: Mowing the lawn Using a power trimmer or edger Clipping hedges and bushes In the garage or workshop: Using tools (power or hand) Working with solvents or other chemicals Any task that can produce fragments, dust particles or other eye irritants Securing equipment or loads with bungee cords For more eye-healthy tips, visit geteyesmart.org. This article reprinted with permission from the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s EyeSmartĀ® program (www.geteyesmart.org).