How To Prevent Eye Injury

How To Protect Yourself Against Eye Injury

Wear Safety Glasses While Working
Worksites, especially for those in the trades, are common places for eye injuries to occur. Anywhere that has a risk of fast-moving objects, projectiles, or small particles (such as sawdust or metal shavings), can put your eyes and vision at risk. Eyes are very delicate and blunt trauma or punctures can cause irreversible damage. Property safety eyewear can prevent objects from hitting or otherwise getting into your eye.

Remember to always wear eye protection when handling chemicals either at work or in the home. Chemicals (such as cleaning chemicals) can cause serious and immediate damage if they come into contact with the eye. For example, caustic or corrosive chemicals can lead to blindness in as few as 3 minutes, and the vapours from chemicals can also damage the eyes. Wearing eye protection when handling chemicals can protect your eyes from accidental splashes or chemical vapours.

Wear Eye Protection While Playing Sports
The workplace isn’t the only time eyes are at risk from fast-moving projectiles. Sports such as baseball, tennis, soccer, badminton, and more have projectiles that can cause serious eye damage. Wearing eye protection can save you from eye trauma or broken occipital bones (the bones around the eye socket). 

Don’t Look At Bright Lights
Many people were told in their childhood not to look at the sun or else they would go blind. Unlike some other wives' tales passed on, this one holds some weight. Looking directly into the source of any ultraviolet light can damage your eyes by burning the tissue of the retina. This is why it is recommended to avoid looking at the sun, welding torches, or directly into light sources. If you need to be around these types of damaging light sources, use eye protection. Remember to always wear UV-protecting sunglasses when outside to avoid the damaging effects of UV rays.

Cook With Caution
If you’ve ever been splattered by bacon grease, you know that cooking with hot food can cause some serious pain. If you get hot grease in your eye, it can cause an immediate eye injury. When working with hot grease or other hot, potentially splattering foods, protect your eyes. Many people don’t think of wearing eye protection in the kitchen but it can be highly beneficial. Also be careful of steam, as steam burns can severely damage the eyes and the skin of the face.

Avoid Explosives
Anything that can suddenly send projectiles flying can cause an eye injury. This includes literal explosives such as fireworks, but also other pressurized objects, such as a bottle of sparkling wine. Open objects away from your face, and don’t look directly into something that could strike you in the eye.

Are you not sure when an eye injury requires emergency care? Read Eye Injury Prevention Month: Which Eye Injuries Require Emergency Care for clarification. If you have suffered any type of eye injury, even a mild one, you should visit an optometrist to ensure no internal eye damage has occurred.
 

Address Eye Injuries At Market Mall Optometry

If you have suffered an eye emergency, call Market Mall Optometry right away. The sooner an eye emergency is addressed, the greater chances there are of restoring vision. If you have suffered an eye injury, even if you don’t think it constitutes an emergency, you should also visit the optometrist. Sometimes damage such as retinal detachment from head or eye trauma won’t be immediately apparent and a trip to the optometrist can assess eye health to put your mind at ease. To book an appointment with Market Mall Optometry, call 1-403-286-4884 or fill out the online contact form. For an eye emergency, visit Market Mall Optometry at 3625 Shaganappi Trail NW, Calgary.
 

FAQ

Q: How much will emergency eye services cost if I don’t have insurance?
A: Alberta Health Care covers all emergency eye care costs for people of any age.

Q: If I have an eye emergency, does Market Mall Optometry take walk-ins?
A: Yes, for eye emergencies Market Mall Optometry accepts walk-ins. If you have suffered an eye injury, come to our NW Calgary clinic right away. We accept walk-ins during our office hours of:

Monday:           10am - 7pm

Tuesday:          10am - 7pm

Wednesday:     10am - 7pm

Thursday:         10am - 7pm

Friday:              10am - 7pm

Saturday:          9:30am - 6pm

Sunday:            10am-4pm

Q: Can an eye doctor help with my eye emergency or should I go to the emergency room of a hospital?
A: An eye doctor can absolutely help manage your eye emergency. Eye doctors are trained to treat eye emergencies and can provide proactive diagnoses and treatment that will prevent vision loss, reduce the risk of spreading contagious infections, decrease pain and discomfort, and allow for quicker healing. The emergency room can also handle eye emergencies. It is better to go to whichever you can get to easily and quickly.