Eye Protection Is Essential for All Athletes

SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- 03/25/09 -- For Stephen Sacks, what started out as a routine basketball game his senior year of high school turned into a medical emergency. Stephen was a young basketball star who played years of hoops without any injuries. But when he was accidentally elbowed in the eye by a teammate, Stephen ended up with a large laceration on his left eyelid and a close encounter with permanent eye damage.
"After the knock to my eye, all I could see was a black haze," Stephen recalls. "I was rushed to the emergency room in the middle of the game, where I was told that I might have permanent damage to my left eye." Fortunately Stephen regained his vision three weeks later, but had to miss his last senior game because of the eye injury. He went on to play college basketball and has vowed to always wear protective eyewear while playing.
April is Sports Eye Safety Awareness Month, and through its EyeSmart campaign, the American Academy of Ophthalmology reminds the public that 40,000 people suffer from eye injuries related to sports every year. The Academy advocates the need for athletes to wear appropriate, sport-specific protective eyewear properly fitted by an eye care professional. Lenses made from polycarbonate materials provide the highest level of impact protection; they can withstand a ball or other projectile traveling at 90 miles per hour.
"Eye injuries from sports can be devastating, and the only way to prevent them is by wearing protective eyewear," said Monica L. Monica, MD, Ph.D., clinical correspondent for the Academy and Stephen's doctor. "Most people don't realize that basketball is one of the leading causes of eye injuries because of elbows and fingers hitting the eye."
In addition to abrasions of the cornea and bruises of the lids, sports injuries can include retinal detachments and internal bleeding. The most serious risks involve permanent vision loss along with infection. In addition, patients who have sustained eye injuries are at greater risk for developing glaucoma.
Student athletes are not the only ones that can suffer from eye injuries, as seen with Phoenix Suns player Amaré Stoudemire; he will be out of the game for the rest of the basketball season because of a detached retina. Amare's injury will require a significant time to heal according to his doctor. In a recent statement, Stoudemire said that he will be wearing protective eyewear from here on out.
Many sports create risk for eye injuries; however, protection is available for most sports, including basketball, baseball, hockey, football, lacrosse, fencing, paintball, water polo, golf and others. "Wearing properly fitted protective eyewear will not harm your performance, and it may well save your sight," says Dr. Monica. Most sporting leagues don't require children to wear eye protection, so parents should take special care to ensure their children wear eye protection.
Learn about eye injuries, names of Eye M.D.s in your area or ask an Eye M.D. a question by visiting www.GetEyeSmart.org. Consumers can submit questions about eye health to an ophthalmologist at http://www.geteyesmart.org/eyesmart/ask/index.cfm
About the American Academy of Ophthalmology
The American Academy of Ophthalmology is the world's largest association of eye physicians and surgeons -- Eye M.D.s -- with more than 27,000 members worldwide. Eye health care is provided by the three "O's" -- opticians, optometrists and ophthalmologists. It is the ophthalmologist, or Eye M.D., who can treat it all: eye diseases and injuries, and perform eye surgery. To find an Eye M.D. in your area, visit the Academy's Web site at www.aao.org.

I thought this was a very good article to discuss because when people think of playing sports, eye injuries don’t seem to be a big concern with athletes. Most athletes are concerned with breaking a bone, twisting an ankle or ligament so the thought of eye injuries seem to get forgotten. But according to this article 40,000 suffer from eye injuries related to sports every year; 40,000 is a lot more people that are affected by eye injuries than I would have thought. Eye safety is very important because injuries to your eyes are not easily fixed like other sports injuries and can even end your career if serious enough. Take for example Amare Stoudemire; he was having an all-star season until he got hit in the eye and suffered from a detached retina. Now he has to sit on the bench and watch his team try to make the playoffs without him which is going to be hard because he was there best player. From now on he has to wear special eyewear to prevent from this happening again.

I personally have experienced how serious eye injuries can be. When I was younger I was playing street hockey with a bunch of kids from my neighborhood. When a player on the other team went to take a slap shot I was standing behind him and while winding up to take a shot the blade of the stick directly hit me in the eye. Right away I new I had a very serious injury because blood was gushing out of me eye. Immediately I got rushed to the hospital because I was seriously bleeding and we could not see how bad the damage to my eye was. When I got to the hospital I immediately got transferred to Children’s Hospital in Boston because I had a hyphemas. Hyphemas are the result of bleeding in the eye that occurs in the front part of the eye, called the anterior chamber. This is the space between the cornea and the iris. So after a few days in the hospital I got released but I had to wear an eye patch for about a month. At the time I was big into basketball and I had to start wearing eye protection due to the fact I could go blind in my eye I previously injured if anything ever happened again. I definitely was not the coolest looking player on the court when I wore the eye protectors but they saved me from going blind.

I think it is great that there is a specific Sports Eye Safety Awareness Month set up to let athletes know how serious eye injuries can be. From personal experience, eye injuries are not a fun thing to go through and people need to be taught how important it is to protect your eyes when playing sports.

Injuries can't keep bull rider down

BY PAT BUTLER - PBUTLER@VICAD.COM
March 08, 2009 - From the moment he rode his first steer at the age of 6, Victoria's Brian Herman knew what he wanted to do with his life.
But even he couldn't have guessed that it would last this long.
At 38, Herman is the grand old man of the Professional Bull Riders circuit. He has had more than $800,000 in winnings since the PBR kicked off in 1993 and as soon as he's back on his feet again, the soft-spoken bull rider plans to chase that ellusive championship for as long as he can hold on.
"I'll be competing again in six weeks," Herman said this week from his Victoria home after having surgery to repair a broken leg, his most recent injury. "It's not soon enough, but it's going to have to work."
Getting back up is something Herman has likely done more times than any other rider in the history of the PBR, which consists of the world's top 45 bull riders.
Typically, a professional bull rider's career ends in his 20s, which is of little surprise in a sport where men are required to hold on to a 1,500-pound bucking bull for eight seconds to even have a chance of scoring.
Herman said his devotion to training, athletic ability and good genes have all contributed to his survival in a sport that takes a toll on even the luckiest of riders.
"I'm feeling good," Herman said just days before a bull would stomp on his leg and give him a toss after an 88-point ride at the Glendale Invitational. "I've had injuries in the past, but everything is holding up."
The PBR was formed in 1993 by 15 bull riders who broke away from the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association.
Herman was among the first to be eligible to compete in the PBR when he was 25 years old, an age when most pro bull riders are ready to hang it up.
The fact that he is still competing amazes longtime friend Joaquin Garza, who was 27 when he retired from bull riding.
"It's a testament to his stamina, no doubt," said Garza, who broke two femurs when he was bull riding. "His continued desire to ride the bull is amazing to me."
Herman has paid a price for his longevity.
Three vertabrate in his neck are fused. He has a metal plate in his face after an eye socket and nose were broken. An elbow is permanently out of alignment after being dislocated. A knee has been reconstructed.
It's a list of injuries that Herman mostly shrugs off as part of the job. His wife, Monica, has a different perspective even though she accepts the dangers of her husband's job.
"When he broke his neck, that was the scariest. There's also been those times when he had a concussion, and he has been knocked silly," said Monica, who prefers to watch Brian on tape rather than on live television.
Herman broke his left fibula on Feb. 22 at the Glendale (Ariz.) Invitational. He had just dismounted the bull cleanly after scoring 88 points, a high score in the PBR.
Then the bull made one more move, giving Herman a kick and a toss.
"When you land in front of a bull, he's going to go after you," said Herman, who had pins put in his leg earlier this week. "He wasn't serious. He was just trying to throw me a bit."
Herman played football, baseball and other sports when he was growing up in Victoria. But due to his size - he's 5-foot-5 and around 150 pounds - and love of the sport, the man known as "Pee Wee" set his sights on a career as a professional bull rider.
Herman, who has finished as high as 10th in the PBR's season standings, is confident that he will be back in the saddle again to pursue his final frontier.
"The PBR is getting more mainstream every year," he said. "I want to be part of it, and I still want to win a world championship."

I am not very familiar with the sport of bull riding so I thought this would be an interesting story to write about. After reading this article about Victoria’s Herman I was very inspired by his dedication to the sport of bull riding. The fact that Herman rode his first bull at the age of six and is still riding today at the age of 38 amazes me. Bull riding is a very dangerous sport that takes such a toll on the body that most people stop when they are in their 20’s due to all the injuries these riders sustain. I have the upmost respect for Herman due to the fact that he has had so many serious injuries and he still is riding bulls at his age. I would have called it quits after a broken neck but it did not faze Herman, he just let his body recover and got right back into it. In most of the popular sports like basketball, football and baseball if an athlete sustained injuries like Herman has had there careers would be done; his just shows Herman’s love for the sport.