The injuries of the eye In sports it is not uncommon and often lead to vision problems that irreparably affect the quality of life.
It is estimated that each year more than 600,000 people around the world are injured during professional and amateur sports activities. In our country, a recent study in Crete showed that nearly 5% of non-working injuries in the eyes of adults in 2015-2019 was due to participation in a sport.
The causes of these injuries are usually sports that contain objects and/or physical contact, such as football or basketball, but practically in any sport there may be a similar injury.
“Eye injuries during sports are a common reason for the arrest in the emergency departments of hospitals and represent a significant proportion of all penetrating eye wounds. They disproportionately affect young men, probably because they have the highest rates of sports participation.
Different sports have a different risk of ocular injury, as it depends on factors such as the level of contact (eg with other players), the type of equipment used (it can cause blunt or penetrating trauma) and the size, speed and weight and/or density of the object. Kanellopoulos, MD, Ophthalmologist Surgeon, Founder and Scientific Director of the Laservision Institute of Ophthalmology, Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of New York.
The above factors play an important role in the severity of the wound that the eye will suffer, he adds. Injuries can affect the ocular bulb, surrounding soft tissues (including the optic nerve) and/or the structure of the ocular conch.
The most serious injuries are the open wounds of the eyeball. May be limited to cornea tunic or penetrate the underlying hard tier of the eye. It is the minority of ocular injuries, but at the same time those who are more likely to cause permanent disorder or loss of vision.
The open wounds of the bulb can be ruptures and penetrating or piercing wounds. They are usually due to smaller sports objects or equipment with sharp corners, such as chromatosoleo pellets (paintball), Special balls with wings of the replacement (Badminton) or Darts. However, they may also be secondary injuries to the breakage of materials, even from the broken glasses of athletes.
Similarly, non -penetrating ophthalmic injuries can damage all the structures of the eye without causing an open wound to the ophthalmic bulb. Are usually due to contact with another player or his equipment. They include scratches and bruises of the eyelids and cornea to bleeding under the conjunctiva, heavenly (blood between the cornea and the iris) and the retinal detachment.
Other possible non -penetrating eye injuries are the fractures of the ocular conch (is the bone shell of the eye bulb) and traumatic optic neuropathy (the damage to the optic nerve due to immediate or indirect stroke).
However, eye injuries do not only have short -term consequences. In the long run increase the risk of problems such as traumatic cataract and glaucoma.
Sports with the highest risk of injury to the eyes
In the US, where there are more detailed data, the sports in which most injuries occur is basketball, the baseball, the softball, the rugby, the sports with rackets and football. In Europe the first is football but in individual countries such as Finland is the hockey in indoors. In Brazil, most injuries occur in football played in outdoor and indoors.
Even during the cycling Many eye injuries occur. This is e.g. The case of Singapore, where the fractures of the ocular cone is quite common in people who cycling off -bike lanes.
Each sport has a different mechanism with which the eye is injured. In basketball, the high speed and close contact of the players leave the players exposed to elbows in the Eye and other involuntary strokes. Many eye injuries also occur when playing players. Possible consequences range from minor scratches to the cornea to severe injuries, such as retinal detachment.
To sofbol The high risk comes from the fast -moving balls. The same risk exists in rackets with rackets, such as tennis, squash, the Badminton and Ping. A ball in the eye causes blunt trauma that can lead e.g. In a fracture of the ocular conch, bleeding internally in the eye or even permanent loss of vision.
Similarly in football, the big enemies of the eyes are the heads, the conflicts between the players and the involuntary strokes. To boxing, In addition, in the martial arts with full contact between practitioners, there is a very high risk of serious eye injuries from direct strokes in the eye. These strokes can cost vision.
All of these injuries, however, are not inevitable. “It has been estimated that in 90% of cases, sport -related eye injuries can be avoided using appropriate eye protectors. This is why their use is strongly recommended by scientific bodies such as the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), as almost half of the eye injuries occur in children and adolescents.
Eye protectors recommended must have durable polycarbonate lenses. Finally, the spectators of the games should be careful, because objects and players can fall on them, “Mr Kanellopoulos concluded.