What are the most common types of sports-related eye injuries?
Common types of eye injuries are blunt trauma, penetrating injuries and radiation injury from sunlight. Blunt trauma occurs when something hits you in the eye. Blunt trauma causes most sports-related eye injuries. Some serious examples are an orbital blowout fracture (a broken bone under the eyeball), a ruptured globe (broken eyeball) and a detached retina (the part of the eye that is sensitive to light and helps you see). Bruising of the eye and eyelid (a “black eye”) looks bad but usually is a less serious injury. Penetrating injuries occur when something cuts into your eye. These injuries are not very common. You can get a penetrating injury if your eyeglasses break while you are wearing them, if another person’s finger scratches you in the eye, or if a fishing hook gets caught in your eye. Penetrating eye injuries range from mild to deep cuts. Radiation injuries are caused by exposure to ultraviolet light from the sun. These injuries are most common in sports such as snow skiing, w
