Regular exercise is good for your eyes, but sports can come with risks. Make sure you protect your health.
On Friday the 26th, one of the world’s premier athletic showcases, the 2024 Summer Olympics, begins in Paris. The most talented athletes in the world will come together to compete at the highest level—and will inspire plenty of us to pick up sports we love, whether we’re coming back to them after a break, or trying something new.
We always say that eye health and whole-body health are fundamentally linked, and we’ve discussed the importance of exercise for eye health before. The best exercise for you is any exercise you’ll do regularly, and for many people, that means organized sports. The excitement, team spirit, accountability, and fun of sports keep many people engaged when plain and simple workouts can’t.
But sports, some more than others, also come with risks. Many sports carry a risk of eye injuries or infections, so while you’re caring for yourself with exercise, you could also be putting your vision in danger. Fortunately, there are ways to minimize the risk from most sports, so that you can play safely. Here’s what to know.
Regular exercise benefits your eyes.
It might seem unlikely at first, but exercise helps to maintain your eye health as well as your heart, muscle, and bone health. Many of exercise’s benefits for your eyes are rooted in its benefits for your cardiovascular system.
The eyes contain a high number of blood vessels, and issues with blood flow or blood vessel growth cause some of the most common vision problems. For example, wet macular degeneration is caused by blood vessels growing abnormally beneath part of the retina and leaking blood. Diabetic retinopathy, a leading cause of blindness, can also involve the veins and blood flow in your eyes.
Exercise is associated with other eye health benefits, too. Regular exercise can help to lower the pressure inside your eyes, preventing the nerve damage of glaucoma. It may even improve tear production and relieve the symptoms of dry eyes.
Know the risks of your sport, and wear appropriate protection.
Any kind of athletic activity will carry some small amount of risk, but sports—especially ones with balls, pucks, or other objects that move at high speeds—are the riskiest. Roughly 30,000 people go to the emergency room with sports-related eye injuries each year. Fortunately, with the right techniques and safety gear, the vast majority of these injuries can be prevented.
Educate yourself. Before you take up a sport, spend a little time familiarizing yourself with the risks. Sports with items that are thrown or shot, like basketball or hockey, could cause blunt trauma to the eyes. Other sports, like fencing, use pointed or sharp equipment—even when blunted, these can cause injury. Skiing and biking take place outside at high speeds, and snow or debris can make their way into the eyes, scratching the surface and causing irritation. And when swimming, water makes contact with the surface of the eye, potentially risking infection.
Wear and maintain your protective equipment. For exactly the reasons we just listed, many sports require—or strongly recommend—protective equipment. Even if your or your child’s sports organization doesn’t require protective eyewear, you should consider playing it safe. If you’re not sure what protective equipment is best for your sport, you can ask your coach or your eye care provider for recommendations.
The best protective eyewear for sports will typically be made of polycarbonate, which is strong and resistant to impact or shattering. Polycarbonate also protects your eyes from UV radiation, which is critical if your sport takes place outside. Make sure that your eyewear fits you properly, so that it can give you the best possible protection, and check it frequently for damage.
Keep up with regular eye exams. Just like any other checkup, staying on top of your eye health can catch any problems early and help you prevent permanent damage. Caring for your eyes also ensures that you are keeping your vision in the best condition possible, which can have major benefits for your sports performance! Sharp vision and hand-eye coordination are central skills for many sports.
On the other hand, vision impairments can also increase your risk of non-eye-related accidents or injuries, due to difficulties gauging distances or seeing obstacles—and that could mean time spent sitting on the sidelines to recover. In addition, when left untreated, common eye problems like dry eye or scratches on the cornea can progress into serious, vision-threatening issues. Getting care early can make all the difference.
Get active and take care of your eyes with Heritage.
At Heritage, we believe in making high-quality vision care accessible. Experiencing a vision impairment has enormous impacts on your quality of life—even reaching into areas you might not expect, like school performance or mental health. In a time when good health care can be a challenge to find, we want to give our members confidence.
So this summer, pick up an old sport, or try out a new one! And if you have any questions about eye safety as you get started, be sure to discuss them with your care provider. If you need a provider, you can locate one through our Provider Search tool, and if you’re in need of vision insurance, learn more about Heritage’s individual vision plans.
Take full advantage of your vision benefits and schedule an appointment with your provider today!