Hockey is a
popular sport among those who like to watch sports and is even more popular
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 based on research presented at
Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
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%. Interesting, players
without visors had a more aggressive style of play, measured by penalty
minutes, hits and fights in a case-control study. There was also a weak,
but positive correlation between eye injuries and penalty minutes.
As hockey players develop, grow and get stronger their
games and playing style become faster and more intense, and the risks continue
to increase-thus it is important to maximize protection. Since the majority of
hockey injuries are accidental in nature, it is not good enough for players to
try to be more cautious. This study
strongly supports the common sense notion that wearing visors goes a long way
to decreasing injuries among hockey players.
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 contact Alabama Eye & Cataract Center in
Birmingham by calling 205-930-0930,
visiting Alabama Eye & Cataract Center or http://www.facebook.com/michelsonlaservision.
Alabama Eye & Cataract Center in Birmingham is a
leading eye care center located at UAB-Highlands, 1201 11th Avenue S, Suite
501, Birmingham, Alabama 35205 and staffed by UAB Medicine Ophthalmologists
& Corneal Specialists Marc Michelson, M.D. and Tyler Hall, M.D.
