Effective Tips to Protect Your Child from Eye Injuries

Most of the time when a kid suffers an eye injury while playing a sport or engaging in a recreational activity, the injury is minor. However, sometimes eye injuries can be serious, requiring immediate medical attention. Take the following child care tips to minimize the risk of eye injuries for your children. Childhood and injuries go hand-in-hand. While most of the mishaps may result in minor injuries to the child from which they recover fast, in some instances, the injuries can be serious, especially eye injuries. You must ensure that your child is well-protected against potential risks that could lead to an unfortunate eye injury.

Equip kids with protective eyewear

Children should be wearing protective eyewear any time they're playing sports where there is a high risk of eye injury, such as hockey, racquetball, and paintball. Seek out eyewear with polycarbonate lenses. Have kids try on their eyewear ahead of time to make sure that it fits properly.

Select safe, age appropriate toys

Look for toys that are intended for the age of your kids, steering clear of items with dangerous components. A projectile toy that shoots darts may be a lot of fun, but an errant flying dart can damage the eyes in a matter of seconds. Check for an ASTM label on a toy, which indicates that it meets the American Society for Testing and Materials standards. Be aware of playground equipment that may also pose a threat, particularly equipment that is poorly designed or inadequately maintained.

Kid proof your home

Make sure that there are no sharp corners on the edges of the furniture and other home fixtures. Install carpeting or another non-slip material on the interior stairs and handrails on both interior and exterior stairs. Provide adequate lighting for stairwells with low switches or pulls so that kids can navigate the stairs at all times of the day and night with ease.

Here are some tips to ensure your child is safe from such injuries:

Adult supervision for craft activities

Provide the presence of an adult when the child needs to use sharp objects for specific activities, such as crafting for school projects. Craft items such as scissors and pins can cause severe eye injury at any moment if handled carelessly.

Keep harmful household items out of reach

Children love to imitate adults. In a moment of unsupervised attention, trying to copy the adults in their lives could lead to an injury. This includes using kitchen utensils and cleaning chemicals.  

Lock up any explosives or weapons you may have

Children must not be allowed near any explosives (such as fireworks) or weapons that they may have in the house. Unintentional mishandling can trigger damaging consequences causing serious eye injuries.

Despite all the precautions parents may take to keep their children away from harm and serious injuries, accidents are unavoidable. In the event of an eye injury to your child, emergency medical care is the best option for quicker and better recovery.

Finally, model proper behavior for common household items and offer reminders as needed, such as carrying scissors with the points down and avoiding putting sharpened pencils near the eyes.

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