How common are sports-related eye injuries, and how can they be prevented?
H.K., Tucson A: Many sports activities can cause eye injuries. Basketball is no. 1 for eye injuries, primarily from a finger or elbow in the eye. Most baseball, softball, tennis and racquetball eye injuries result from the ball striking the face or eye. The most blinding eye injuries occur in golf and street or ice hockey. Because of the small size of a golf ball, the bones around the eye cannot provide protection from a direct hit to the eyeball. In hockey, the thin puck and stick can directly strike the eye causing severe damage. Of those who suffer sports-related eye injuries, males make up 75 percent and children under age 15 represent the second-highest group suffering injuries from sports. The severity of eye injuries ranges from corneal abrasions and bruises, fractured eye sockets and facial bones, eye hemorrhages and retinal detachments, to blindness from a direct hit crushing the eyeball. Although most eye injuries are relatively easy to treat, even the most minor trauma can d
