- Knowledgebase: Child Safety, Injury Prevention and Treatment
- Questions about child safety and injury prevention, as well as treatment for minor injuries.
- 17. Protecting Eyes from Injuries - Top
- Eye injuries among young children most commonly occur in the home.
Active infants and toddlers bang into sharp corners on furniture, or fall and hit furniture edges. They also enjoy throwing objects. This can injure other children in the house.
If you have small children, take a tour of your house from their vantage point. Walk around on your hands and knees to see what types of surfaces they may encounter as they play and move around. Sharp edges may require padding to prevent eye injuries.
Toys are another source of eye injuries. Avoid toys with sharp edges and those that can break into sharp pieces, especially toys made with glass and brittle plastic. Avoid projectile toys such as darts and bow & arrow sets. Keep household objects such as scissors, pens, kitchen utensils and tools out of reach of children.
Outside the house, watch your child carefully near swing sets. Swings cause eye injuries when they hit children in the face. And falls from bicycles also are a cause of eye injuries.
Eye injuries can occur when youngsters participate in sports, such as basketball and baseball. If a child wears glasses and is involved in sports, make certain the glasses have a sports frame, which is less likely to break, and polycarbonate lenses.
Protective glasses for sports definitely should be worn by children with a pre-existing eye condition or injury, such as a child who has normal vision in only one eye. Actually, protective glasses are suggested for all athletes when there is a chance of eye e injury. Protective face masks are required for contact sports such as hockey and football.
If your child suffers an eye injury, seek emergency care if the child has:
Blurred vision that does not clear with blinking.
A loss of peripheral vision.
A decreased ability to move an eye.
Double vision.
Moderate to severe pain.
A different pupil size in each eye or an an irregular pupil.
A torn eyelid.
An eyeball that appears to be cut.
A feeling there is something in the eye.
For a chemical burn of the eye, wash the eye out from under a faucet or a clean container of water for about 15 minutes. Cool or luke warm water is the most comfortable on the eye. Then seek emergency medical care.
- Updated: June 11, 2001
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