Baseball, basketball and sports that use a racquet, such as racquetball or tennis, have the highest risk of eye injuries, according to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, but other sports -- and even activities like fishing -- can be hazardous to your eyes. Wearing eye protection can help, especially if the protection meets safety standards and contains shatterproof polycarbonate lenses.
Who Needs It and Why
If you play a sport that falls into the high risk category, the American Academy of Ophthalmology says you should definitely invest in sports and safety eyewear. These sports include baseball, softball, basketball, football, hockey, lacrosse, paintball and racquet sports. The risk of being hit in the eye with a ball, puck or paint splat is just one of the hazards. You also have a high chance of being inadvertently poked or hit in the eye by a stick, elbow or finger. Fencing comes with a full face shield and bib. Boxing and full-contact martial arts can be high risk sports, but neither allows protective eyewear. Other sports for which you might consider protective eyewear include soccer, swimming and track and field events, especially if you're hurling a javelin.
Types
Two types of protective sports and safety eyewear are available: eyewear that attaches to your helmet or eyewear you wear on its own independent of a helmet. Sports such as ice hockey, football, skiing and paintball usually have an eyewear attachment to keep your goggles, face shield or other eye protection in place. Baseball batting helmets can offer an attachment as well. Sports such as basketball, field hockey and racquet sports offer eyewear you can wear without a helmet. If you already wear glasses, you can have your prescription transferred to the safety eyewear, which contains lightweight, plastic polycarbonate lenses that have a built-in ultraviolet protection factor.
Certification
Quality sports and safety eyewear are certified by the American Society for Testing and Materials. Eyewear you wear independently of a helmet falls under ASTM F803 and includes everything from ski goggles to prescription or non-prescription glasses you can get for soccer or baseball. Sports that use eyewear attached to the helmet generally have a certification specific to that sport. Sports and safety eyewear for ice hockey and street hockey each have ASTM standards to meet and they can also include certification from the Canadian Standards Association or the Hockey Equipment Certification Council.
Considerations
Sports and safety eyewear is especially vital if you have very limited vision or vision in only one eye. You might want to consider protective eyewear for your good eye during nearly any sport. Fashion eyewear is generally not a good substitute for certified protective sports eyewear, although the American Academy of Ophthalmology says you can probably get away with it for bicycle riding or track and field events, as long as you are also wearing a bicycle helmet with the former. Although sports and safety eyewear protect your eyes, they do not protect any other part of your face. That's where the full face shields or cages that attach to helmets come into play.
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