Protecting your vision and sight is very important, especially in the case of children’s eyesight. Children are involved in sports, physical, and recreational activities – which can lead to may incidental falls or injuries. A child’s eyes are very susceptible to any kind of serious fall, hit, cut, or scratch.
Most of the eye injuries children sustain are while playing sports. Experts say that 90% of children’s eye injuries can be prevented with protective eyewear. Children are not always conscious of their protection, so it is your responsibility to make sure your child’s eyes are protected at all times.
Choose Proper Eyewear for Your Child
Get your children proper eyewear to protect their eyes. Here are some criteria for choosing protective eyewear for your child.
The eyewear should properly fit your child. Make sure it fits with a helmet as well. It shouldn’t be loose. The eyewear should be less bulky, so that your child is comfortable wearing it most of the time.
Your child’s eyewear should be ASTM F803 approved. This label indicates that the eyewear has been tested for safety. In addition, get antifogging technology glasses for clear vision, especially if your child swims.
Look for the glasses that are made with polycarbonate. Polycarbonate is a plastic that has a high resistance and doesn’t break easily. Glasses with polycarbonate are a must if your child plays hockey, baseball, lacrosse and other competitive sports. The lenses should be made of polycarbonate too. They are more tough and resistant than the usual plastic lenses, thus providing additional safety to your child’s eye.
Keep in mind that too much exposure to the sun can affect your child’s sight. Protective glasses, like ski goggles and sports sunglasses protect your child from UV rays. They should contain polycarbonate photochromic lenses. Photochromic lenses keep out the UV rays and indoor and outdoor blue light from the eyes.
These lenses get automatically dark in the sunlight and clear in the indoors, which is great. You don’t need a separate prescription for sunglasses when you have eyewear with photochromic lenses. The lenses should pop out in case of an emergency or accident. Protective eyewear should not allow the lenses to move inward towards your eyes. It can be dangerous.
If you want to protect your child’s eye from indoor activities, get your child blue light blocking glasses or antireflective reading glasses. Blue light blocking glasses are effective computer glasses that reduce the digital eye strain.
They can help to avoid CVS or Computer Vision Syndrome. They come with yellow tinted lenses that block most of the blue light from the computer or smartphone screen. Antireflective reading glasses reduce the glare from the sun and the digital devices. However, they are less protective than the blue light blocking glasses.
Final Thoughts
You can get protective eyewear for your children with prescription lenses from your eye doctor or an eye care practitioner. With safety glasses and protective eyewear, your children can enjoy their sports or outdoor play time without risking damage to their eyes. Do keep your children’s eyewear clean. They can get dirty from dust, dirt, or sweat.
