Wear Visors to Avoid Hockey Eye Injury

Monday, March 2, 2015

Wear Visors to Avoid Hockey Eye Injury

As a pediatric ophthalmologist I am very aware of the needs of parents, coaches and players to have information and take steps to avoid eye injury. Hockey is particularly popular in Connecticut both by observers and fans as well as among middle school, high school and college athletes. Eye injury is a series risk among hockey players and it requires that parents and players take some precautions-specifically the use of visors to minimize the risk of hockey eye injury. Based on research presented at the American Academy of Ophthalmology, you should be aware that the researchers found that wearing visors could cause a four-fold decrease in the risk of eye injuries. The researchers, based at the University of Toronto and Harvard Medical School, examined data from The Sports Network (TSN) and The Hockey News annual visor survey over the last 10 seasons from 2002 to 2013 in the NHL. The data clearly demonstrated that the risk of eye injury is 4.23 times higher for players who do not wear a visor. The study also found that the majority of eye injuries are caused by being hit by the puck (37%) or struck by a high stick (28%) or by a fight or scrum (18%), while the researchers could not identify the cause of injury for 17%. Further, players without visors had a more aggressive style of play, measured by penalty minutes, hits and fights in a case-control study.

If you or someone you know plays hockey please share this information with them to help them decrease their risk of hockey eye injury, or please feel free to call Doctor & Associates-203-227-4113, visit Doctor & Associates in Fairfield County or facebook.com/doctorandassociates to schedule an appointment.

Doctor & Associates offices are located at 129 Kings Highway North, Westport, Connecticut 06880, 195 Danbury Road, Wilton, Connecticut 06897 and 148 East Avenue, Norwalk, Connecticut 06851.