Your eyes are invaluable to you. There’s no way to know what could happen when you step out onto the court or the field for your favorite sport. Every play can mean your eyes are put at risk. Unfortunately, damage to eyes is not often easy to reverse. And, in some cases, the damage may lead to severe vision impairment. Yet, protective eyewear can be an excellent way to avoid this risk. Do you need it?

Do you or your child need protective eyewear?

It is no longer uncommon to see players of all types wearing protective eyewear. Whether they are stepping up to bat a ball, hitting the basketball court for a few layups, or spending their time on the field with football, soccer, or other sports, protection for the eyes is essential. From Little League play to professional sports, many organizations are putting rules and requirements in place for protective eyewear.

If it is possible to wear it, do so. If you need to improve your vision on the field and wear glasses off the field, you need to have a pair designed just for the sport you participate in. Even if your son or daughter may not want to use it, it can be an essential investment, nonetheless.

What does protective eyewear do for you?

There are several versions available. When you come in to see your eye doctor, you’ll learn more about which type is best for you. In general, they work in several ways.

• They work to improve vision. Many pieces are fitted with lenses that boost your vision, much like your glasses do.
• They can take the place of contact lenses, which can sometimes blur or become hard to see through during sports play.
• They work to reduce the risk of something striking your eye during the game, whether that is someone’s finger or an object in the air.
• Many times, they can be used to enhance a player’s ability on the field. Seeing better makes that possible.
• They can also help manage glare and sunlight, limiting the amount of risk to the eyes from multiple ways, including the sun’s UV rays.

These types of products can be customized to meet your individual needs. That’s what makes them so versatile for today’s athlete.

How do you get protective eyewear like this?

Individuals who come in for an appointment with their eye doctor can easily talk about the options in protective eyewear. Because your vision is so important to your wellbeing and quality of life, be aggressive in selecting protection for your eyes. This may include options such as sports goggles which can provide a level of protection for the eyes. It may also include the use of bike helmets or other helmets that have built-in protections.

Many people who need protective eyewear also need a prescription. If you are wearing glasses or contact lenses right now, this may be one of the most important steps you take to improve your eyesight while on the field. You can choose sports goggles or sports glasses designed with your prescription in them to achieve this. Even better, there are plenty of colors and styles to choose from for most ages.

Many people worry about the way they will look. They also worry about the risks. The key here is to recognize that protecting your vision needs to be your priority if you want to keep playing.

Need to update your protective eyewear? Schedule a consultation with us today.

It’s important to come in for an eye exam at least one time a year. This should be more frequently if you have any known eye conditions or when you need new or updated protective eyewear. We encourage you to make an appointment before the summer season of your favorite sport gets underway. Call Andrea Stein, OD, and Eye See Ravenswood today for an appointment, or you can book online for even more convenience.

Have you ever scratched your eye or splashed it with a chemical and wondered if you needed emergency care? A quick Google search may say to call your eye doctor, while another search may recommend flushing your eye with cool water.

At Eye See Ravenswood, we understand the worry and frustration that can occur when you have an eye emergency. That’s why we’re here to help you learn when your eye injury is an emergency and when to seek care.

Symptoms of an eye injury

We recommend seeking immediate medical attention anytime you experience swelling, redness, or pain in your eye, especially if it occurs after an injury or having a foreign object or chemical in your eye. When left untreated, these injuries can damage your eye even more, leading to partial and/or permanent blindness.

If you’ve injured your eye and experience symptoms, you may also need emergency eye care. While not all eye injuries require emergency care, we suggest seeking immediate medical attention if you have:

• Vision loss
• Different size pupils
• Double vision
• Bleeding from the eye
• Swelling
• Eye pain that doesn’t lessen on its own
• Eye pain accompanied by a headache

Some eye scratches may also need medical care. If you think you’ve scratched your eye but you don’t know with what, don’t rub it, which can make your scratch worse. Instead, try rapidly blinking your eye to see if you can remove the debris.

Wash your hands and look in your eye to see if you can find anything. Look under both your bottom and top lid (use a cotton swab to flip your upper lid and allow you to see underneath it). Opt for artificial tear eyedrops to flush your eye and rinse away any foreign object. If this doesn’t solve your problem, seek emergency eye care.

Specific eye injuries that require emergency care

With certain eye injuries, it doesn’t matter what type of symptoms you’re having — you should seek emergency medical attention. For instance, if you have glass, metal, or plastic enter your eye at high speeds, it can become stuck in your eye. Do not remove it on your own, and try to keep eye movement to a minimum. Leave the object in place and head to your closest emergency center.

If you get a harsh chemical in your eye, we recommend the following:

• Wash your hands before looking at your eye
• Turn your head to the side so your injured eye is down
• Hold open the eyelid and rinse the eye with cool tap water for 15 minutes
• Remove your contacts
• Head to the closest emergency room or urgent care
• Continue flushing your eye while you wait to see the doctor

Anytime the eye or the skin surrounding the eye receives a blow or gets cut, you should seek emergency medical care. Use a clean cloth to cover your eyes until you can see the doctor.

Avoid further eye damage

Once your eye is injured, it’s important that you don’t do further damage. Some important things to avoid include:

• Rubbing your injured eye
• Taking out your contacts unless you experience rapid swelling or a chemical injury
• Removing a foreign object that’s embedded in your eye
• Using tweezers or cotton swabs directly on your eye

Many eye emergencies can be treated with little lasting effect, but you must seek medical attention right away. When left untreated, some eye injuries can lead to permanent damage, including blindness.

Wearing contacts gives you great freedom over glasses, but for many, the struggle and frustration of learning how to insert and remove contact lenses is too much. Here’s your expert guide to worry-free contact wear, complete with troubleshooting for common contact-wearing problems.

1. How to remove a contact lens that “disappeared”

If a contact disappears, it may have fallen onto the floor to be lost forever, but, in some cases, it could still be stuck under your eye. You may feel a prick under your eyelid after a contact has disappeared because the contact has likely folded or otherwise moved out of place on the eyeball.

If you can’t see it, don’t try to lift your lid up enough to grab it because you’ll hurt yourself. Instead, close your eye and look down as far as you can, and then, while still looking down, gently pull the lid up slowly. This dislodges the lens so that you can easily remove it. If this doesn’t work, please contact Dr. Stein for an appointment and he will assist you.

2. How to remove a contact lens first thing in the morning

It’s not advisable to sleep in your contacts, but some contacts are designed for 24-hour wear, making sleeping in them less risky. When you first wake up, your eye may be dry, and the contact may have temporarily adhered to the cornea. Trying to remove it in this state may damage your cornea, so make sure your eye is sufficiently lubricated with eyedrops before removing the contact.

3. What to do if the contact keeps falling out during insertion

The trick is to gently hold the contact on the eye for about 1 second and then very slowly move the eyeball back and forth slightly. This helps the fluids on your cornea pick up the contact from your finger.

Without blinking, move the eyeball slowly down and then around to secure the lens in the eye. Now you can blink, and the lens should stay in place. With practice, this takes fewer than 2 seconds to do.

4. What to do if your contact falls out at an inconvenient time

As a contact wearer, you should always be prepared. Carry a travel-size bottle of saline in your backpack, satchel or purse. Keep a contact case with you at all times. If the contact falls out, don’t attempt to re-insert it immediately. Instead, put some fresh saline into your case, place the contact in there, and then get to the nearest restroom to thoroughly wash your hands and the contact before reinserting.

Never rinse contacts with tap water even in an emergency! Well water and even some city water may have microbes and parasites you do not want in your eyes.

5. How to properly insert a contact lens (step-by-step)

To insert:

1. Wash and dry your hands on a clean towel.
2. Remove the contact from its case with your thumb and index finger and place it on the index finger.
3. If the contact is not a bowl shape, turn it the other way.
4. Use your other hand to slowly lift your eyelid.
5. Look up and slowly place the lens on the eye, giving it 1 second to suction to your eye fluids.
6. Once you feel it attached, blink slowly to strengthen its bond in the right position.
7. Dump any solution left in your case into the sink and allow the case to dry completely. A CDC study found that as many as 55 percent of contact wearers don’t use new solution every time, which is scary given the number of dangerous eye infections you can contract with poor contact hygiene.

To remove:

1. Wash your hands.
2. Prepare your case with new solution.
3. Pull your eyelid up with one hand.
4. Look up.
5. Gently slide the contact onto the white of your eye.
6. Grab the contact with a thumb and index finger.
7. Place the contact carefully in the case and close the case.

6. How to stop dropping the contact during insertion or removal

Be patient with yourself. The main reason people struggle is they see how quickly others can insert and remove contacts, but the people who do it quickly have been wearing contacts for at least a couple of weeks. Give yourself a little extra time in the morning to get the hang of it, and soon, you’ll be as fast and flawless as they are.