Preventing Eye Injuries

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Preventing Eye Injuries

Eye injuries are a common occurrence and can effectively be prevented by taking the proper precautions and wearing safe eye protection.

Protective eyewear is so crucial that according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, 90% of eye injuries can easily be prevented if individuals are willing to wear the proper protective gear. This is especially true for individuals who work with power tools or in dangerous jobs. Protective eyewear is also recommended for activities like lawn mowing, drilling, blowing leaves and other tasks that take place around the house.

Safety goggles tend to have an excellent frame that sometimes wraps around the side for the purpose of reducing the likelihood of particles in the air reaching your eyes. In case you wear corrective lenses, there are goggles that can be fitted over your glasses with much ease which you can find in hardware stores. It is always better to wear safety eyewear when you live or work in an environment that can cause eye related accidents. In addition, keep these handy if you are travelling because when you are passing through regions that pose a threat to the eyes, you may have to wear protective gear.

Make sure that the protective eyewear is fitted appropriately and is comfortable. If the eyewear is too loose or tight, then you might not be able to achieve the complete benefit of the goggles or the glasses. If the existing designs or sizes are not comfortable or simply not right for your face, order a custom design for the right coverage. Protective eyewear comes in a range of prices and is a worthwhile investment to protect your vision.

Prevention of Eye Injuries at Home

A survey conducted by the American Academy of Ophthalmology revealed that merely 35% of the participants used protective eyewear when engaged in home repairs and upkeep and even less people reported wearing the proper gear to protect their eyes while playing sports. According to the reports published by hospital emergency rooms, a large number of victims of eye injuries are caused by sports activities or toys and home equipment. Especially when it comes to children, the leading cause of damage to the eyes is unsupervised presence of children in playgrounds and misuse of the varied equipment present.

There are various tasks around the house that require proper protection to avoid damage to your eyes. The following is a list of tips to keep in mind when engaged in different types of activities, such as:

DIY projects: it’s important to wear protective eyewear for any activity that involves chemicals, flying particles or dust
Working in the yard: make sure to wear goggles when mowing the lawn or trimming the leaves and keep children far away when taking part in these chores. Also, be sure to store any hazardous products safely and away from small children.
Cooking and cleaning: Use caution when working with chemicals or sharp objects and keep them away from you and your family members’ eyes and from your children’s reach. Wearing your regular prescription glasses is not enough to protect you from chemicals.
Recreation: make sure to wear suitable protective eyewear when participating in sports activities. Also, be sure to check the instructions on your children’s toys to ensure proper safety measures are taken during play time.

Prevention of Eye Injuries at Work

When it comes to work, often the focus is on adherence to deadlines or completing tasks and unfortunately safety and security of the body could sometimes be the last thing in mind. If you are involved in a job that may cause a threat to eye safety then your priority should be acquiring protective eyewear immediately. Damage to the eyes is accounted as one of the most common injuries that can happen at work. Some injuries tend to be so severe that they require you to take leave from the office or may even cause permanent damage to your eyesight. Apart from traumatic eye injuries, it is important to consider the possibility of an infectious disease impacting your eyes at work. If the infections are not treated in time, they also carry the ability to cause severe harm to your eyesight.

Common causes of workplace hazards to your eyes, include any one or combination of the following:

Tools
Flying objects
Chemicals
Radiation

The best way to protect yourself from eye injuries at work is to be completely aware of all potential risks to the safety of your eyes. Then do your best to eliminate any potential danger to your eyes, when possible. Last but not least, make sure that you wear the proper eye protection at any given point when your eyes could be at risk. In addition, anyone passing through areas at work or elsewhere where there could be potential danger to the eyes should wear protective gear.

If the employer is unable to provide the proper number of protective eyewear that you need, it is wise to order one for yourself and wear it regularly to avoid any disasters, injuries or accidents in the best possible manner.

Individuals who are required to work with chemicals on a daily basis, should be aware of the eye flush stations present in different parts of the infrastructure. In case you are new and do not have the right amount of information, be proactive and do you part to find out. Flush the eye for 15 minutes if your eye has come in contact with a chemical splash. Then seek emergency care from your nearest eye doctor.

Types of Protective Gear

If you are exposed to flying particles or dust, use safety goggles with side protection
If you’re working with chemicals, wear goggles
Exposure to dangerous radiation requires specialty safety glasses, face shields or helmets that are suitable for the activity

Symptoms

While in many cases identifying an eye injury can be very straightforward and the symptoms of the eye injury can be severe, that is not always the case. If you are facing any one or more of the below listed symptoms, you should visit an eye doctor right away:

Pain
Blurry vision
A cut in the eyelids
Difference in one or both pupil sizes
Sensation of a foreign particle in the eye or under the eyelid
One eye protruding forward more than the other

When to See an Eye Doctor

If you recognize a work-related eye injury, treat it as an urgent matter. The signs of an eye injury are usually straightforward. Do not try to treat an eye injury yourself. As soon as you identify the injury, go see an eye doctor as soon as possible to get the best treatment and to save your eyesight.

One should not rub or touch the eye after the injury has occured. Attempts to remove a foreign particle from your eye could cause further damage. It is essential that you consult with an eye doctor rather than trying to solve these issues yourself. The best way to protect your eye and the vision from long-term damage is to get professional help immediately. Depending on the severity of the cause of harm and the symptoms, you can try to first get an appointment with an eye doctor immediately and if no time slots are available, go to an urgent care facility or emergency room.

Common Questions

What must workers do to prevent harm to the eyes?

Workers should find out the best stores to find the right protective gear and buy items that best suit your needs and environment. You can’t always rely on the employers to always be attentive to the possible hazards. However, in order to uphold safety and security of self, workers should consider all the possible protective eyewear that would help in reducing the chances of an injury or disease. Your safety is in your own hands. Be vigilant about the type of hazards that can have an impact on your eyes. In addition, you should also be aware of the different protective equipment you need, the environment in which you are exposed and the equipment that the company is using. The coverage provided by the eyewear should be your focus. The protective gear should be adjustable, comfortable and must allow for proper peripheral vision.

What is the safest way to apply makeup?

If you have a teenager, make sure you talk to your child about picking the right kind of makeup, its application and how to prevent the possibility of an eye injury. Some of the safety and preventive tips are as follows: Products should be allergy safe and unscented. Avoid the use of pearls, shimmers or glittery liners and eye shadows. These might scratch the eyes in one way or another. Application of creams should not be very close to the eyes. Eye makeup should only be applied when you’re standing still and not when you’re in motion, such as in a moving car. In order to prevent the contraction of infections, the following recommendations are given by specialists: Make sure the brushes are washed and cleaned as often as possible Avoid lending or borrowing of eye makeup between friends and family members Old mascaras should be thrown out Water or saliva should not be used to liquidate the mascara or the eyeliners Avoid the use of eye makeup if the eyes are swollen, show an infection or are red

Where do most eye injuries occur?

Each year in the United States, more than 2.5 million eye injuries occur with at least 50,000 people losing some or all of their vision. Almost half (44%) of the millions of eye injuries that take place each year occur at home and 40% occur during sports. Miscellaneous and work-related injuries make up the remaining 16%. It has been suggested by the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and the American Society of Ocular Trauma (ASOT) that all Americans should have at least one pair of protective eyewear in their homes and to use those eyeglasses regularly.

Summary

Eye safety is of the utmost importance so it is strongly recommended to take the proper precautions to protect your vision and eye health. Please assess your surroundings and the daily activities you participate in to take the proper steps in reducing risk of harm to your eyes. If there is any chance of eye injury, please do what you can to prevent damage and make sure you have the proper protective eyewear. Patients with eye emergencies visit our clinic from all over Washington, and we are proud to be a leading provider of urgent eye care for patients from Olympia, Lakewood, Tacoma, and Lacey.

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Family Vision Clinic changed our lives! My daughter was frequently car sick, and she was getting headaches every day, often painful enough that they brought her to tears. We saw a string of doctors and therapists, but we made no progress. Finally, we found Dr. Levi Zurcher and his eye therapist Rain. After ten weeks of eye therapy my daughter no longer gets headaches, and she no longer gets car sick. Daily tears are a thing of the past. I really can’t say enough about this clinic. It was fascinating to watch Dr. Zurcher work. For the first time, someone who knew what they were doing was intently studying my daughter, really trying to figure out all of her eye issues, and his therapist Rain is one of the most patient and lovely people that I’ve ever had the good fortune to meet. We’re finished with eye therapy—yay!—and I have switched to American Family Vision Clinic for all of my family’s other eye health needs.

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