Sports and other related recreational activities open new horizons to many young kids who aspire to become good athletes one day, enlisting a great number of beginners to its fabulous world each year. But with all the potential brightness of the sports universe, comes the ever-changing risks of sports-related injuries as well, with eye injuries prevailing on the list as one of the high-risk injuries associated with a varied type of sport. Young enthusiasts like children or adolescent kids within the age of 5-24 years tend to be more susceptible to these kinds of injuries, mainly because of their lack of athletic maturity and judgment along with the innate nature of carefree aggressive playing. Sports eyewear comes to the rescue here.
Sports with a high threat of eye injuries
As much as unfortunate these sports injuries might seem, they can be effectively kept aside to a great extent by using properly fitted sports eyewear. Ophthalmologists and pediatricians recommend the use of protective sports eyewear to everyone participating in athletic activities that come with greater risks of injuries. Some of the games, observed to be involved more in the eye injuries of the young athletes are as follows-
- Baseball
- Basketball
- Cricket
- Hockey (Field and Ice)
- Racquet sports
- Boxing
- Air rifle etc.
Types of protective eyewear
There are few types of protective sports eyewear according to the type of particular sport of the need of the concerned athlete. The main types are listed below.
- Goggles- Mainly polycarbonate goggles, most of the time with elastic bands are used in the majority of the high-risk games along with swimming and skiing.
- Eye shields- Used mostly in football, ice hockey, and baseball.
- Face masks- Mainly hockey goalies use them.
- Sports sunglasses and underwater masks- Used in case of sports with lesser risks.
Essential requirements of an efficient protective sports eyewear
The characteristics that are essential and crucial for a perfect protective sports eyewear are as follows-
- Lightweight yet sturdy material with effective resistance to impact
- Proper fitting
- UV protection
- Anti-fogging, anti-glare, and preferably with anti-reflective coating
- Compatible with prescription insert
Thus, it can be concluded that proper protective eyewear doesn’t only add the safety shield to the performance of a young athlete but also may result in improved performance too.
