Keep kids' eyes protected on the slopes

January 6, 2011

According to FamilyDoctor.org, sports cause more than 40,000 eye injuries each year, 90 percent of which can be prevented with safety eyeglasses.

While many families are hitting the slopes to ski and snowboard this winter, experts remind them that participating in these sports without proper eyewear can result in many different kinds of injuries. These include blunt trauma injuries, penetrating injuries and radiation injuries caused by sunlight.

Radiation injuries are most common in sports such as snow skiing, as participants are exposed to ultraviolet rays and glare known as snow blindness while outside for long periods of time.

According to the National Ski Areas Association, "Kids should have sunglasses and goggles with them. Always wear eye protection."

Goggles protect vision on the slopes by preventing flying snow and ice from obscuring vision during high-speed descents and it helping protect the eyes from twigs or debris.

Sunglasses can block UV rays that can cause vision damage.

The American Optometric Association reports that children and teenagers are particularly susceptible to the sun’s damaging rays because they typically spend more time outdoors than adults, and the lenses of their eyes are more transparent.

The organization recommends sunglasses that block out 99 to 100 percent of UV radiation and screen out 75 to 90 percent of visible light.

According to AllAboutVision.com, some opticians advise against wearing polarized sunglasses when skiing, as they may make seeing icy patches on slopes more difficult.