Can you guess where nearly half of all eye injuries occur?

There are approximately 2.5 million eye injuries in the United States each year. To many people’s surprise, around 50 percent of these injuries occur at home.

Make Your Home Safe For Your Sight

When we hear the words “protective eyewear” most of us think of people working in lab coats or hard hats, while normal tasks such as mowing the lawn or cleaning with household chemicals seem so commonplace as to not pose any danger. As evidenced by the statistic above, we know this couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Here are our top five tips on how to protect your vision at home:

1. Use protective eyewear. Wear proper safety glasses whenever exposed to projectiles (such as wood chips, shavings and dust), chemicals, and radiation or electricity.
2. Make your home eye-safe. Remove tripping hazards, secure rugs and make sure there is sufficient lighting and handrails around stairs.
3. Remove debris before yardwork. Lawn mowers and weed wackers can cause devastating injury. Inspect your yard to remove any hazards before going to work.
4. Be smart when using hazardous products. Do not mix chemical agents and always be aware of manufacture warnings and guidelines. Always wash your hands after completing a task involving chemical substances.
5. Properly store tools and cleaners. Ensure they are out of reach of children and pets.

Take Extra Care With Bungee Cords

While bungee cords are extremely useful, and relatively cheap, they are often the cause of serious eye injury. Bungee cords are pulled tight to hold things down or keep them in place, but what if the cord is not quite long enough?

Many people are inclined to keep pulling until the cord slips out of their hands or breaks, launching it back at them at up to 200 miles an hour. As you can imagine, this can be very dangerous, especially in the hands of children. If you do use bungee cords, be sure to wear protective eyewear. However, we recommend using alternative fasteners such as ropes.

Talk To Us About Protective Eyewear

If you wear glasses or contacts and frequently do tasks around your home that pose a risk to your eyes, talk to your local Vision Source® member practice about getting prescription safety glasses. We want to make safeguarding your eyes as easy and as comfortable as possible so your vision is always protected!

We’re grateful for our patients.

The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.