National Eye Health Awareness Campaigns in April

Prevent Blindness America has named April as Women's Eye Health and Safety Month. The reason there is a month dedicated to women's eye health is because women are more likely to lose their vision to eye disease than men. According to Prevent Blindness America, "More women than men are diagnosed with vision threatening eye disease every year. Potentially blinding diseases such as glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy strike women in some cases almost twice as much as men." There are more than 3.5 million people in the United States over the age of 40 who have visual impairments that include blindness. Out of those 3.6 million, almost 2.5 million are women.

This national campaign is to raise awareness of the fact that many of these women who are vision impaired are not elderly, as many are in their 40s. Someone is considered vision impaired when their eyesight is 20/40 or worse.

Prevent Blindness America recommends that anyone who has any of the following symptoms to have an eye exam as soon as possible:

- Double vision

- Change in iris color

- Difficulty adjusting to a dark room

- Excess tearing

- Dry eyes that include itching and burning

- Difficulty with focusing on near objects or far away objects

- Dark spot at the center of viewing

- Excessive squinting or blinking because of light or a glare

Sports Eye Safety Month

April is Sport Eye Safety Month and it is a time to raise awareness on how children and adults can have their eye health protected during recreational activities. Most eye injuries occur in children and young adults, so for parents it is particularly important to be aware of eye safety rules and practices.

According to Check Yearly, there are 38,000 sports-related eye injuries in America every year that require a trip to the hospital emergency room. While an eye injury is the leading cause of blindness in one eye, and 27% of the injuries happen during sports events, almost 90% of these eye accidents can be prevented.

If you are playing any of these sports, or your children do, eye wear should be worn at all times: baseball, softball, racquetball, soccer, tennis, football, hockey (including ice hockey), boxing, karate, fencing, archery, lacrosse or any other sport that uses a ball, racquet, or where rough contact and high speed is involved.

The Vision Council of America reports that less than 15% of all children wear eye protection during sporting events. Our children are at more of a risk for eye injury because they are not aware of the consequences when they are playing if they get hurt. Take the time and purchase proper eye wear for your children so that they don't end up as one of the statistics with permanent eye damage. You should ask your eye doctor for help in choosing the proper eye safety gear for your child.