Over the past few years, I have seen many patients with ocular trauma, and I see them almost every day in outpatient clinics, and even more so in the emergency room. Some of these eye injuries are not due to fighting or work – they are due to the sports we play regularly. Types of sports-related ocular trauma As with all ocular trauma, sports-related ocular trauma is significantly more common in men than in women, with the literature reporting a ratio of about 5:1. School children are the majority of patients with sports-related ocular trauma. The types of trauma involved also cover almost all ocular trauma classifications, such as contusions of the cornea conjunctiva, blunt contusions of the eye orbit, anterior chamber hemorrhage, secondary glaucoma, lens dislocation, vitreous hemorrhage, retinal concussion, retinal fissures, retinal detachment, etc. Which sports are the most risky? In our current outpatient experience, soccer, badminton, and long rope skipping are arguably the most common causes of ocular trauma in our area, although the possible causes of injury vary depending on the sport being played in different areas. Soccer is more common and serious because of the large number of participants, the close proximity between people, and the high momentum of soccer flight. The longest occurrence in soccer is when a patient is struck in the eye by a flying soccer ball, which may result in blunt contusion of the eye, causing anterior chamber hemorrhage, posterior vitreous detachment, retinal fissure formation, etc. In addition, if one wears glasses, broken glasses may also cause lid skin laceration, which in turn may lead to scratching of the cornea, as rupture injuries to the eye caused by broken glasses are not very common. Ocular trauma caused by badminton is often more serious. Singles match trauma is usually the result of being hit in the eye by a flying badminton ball. Although badminton is very light, but its early flight speed is very fast, the ball head end hard and solid volume is relatively small, can not be like soccer because of the larger size, the force is mostly dispersed by the orbital bones, all the kinetic energy of badminton will be almost entirely absorbed by the eye, so once the badminton hit the eye, the consequences are often more serious. Anterior chamber hemorrhage, secondary glaucoma, lens dislocation, and vitreoretinal damage are common. In doubles matches, being hit in the eye by a partner with a racket will probably bring disastrous consequences, if the racket swings happen to hit the eye, orbital fracture, eye rupture are extremely easy to occur. Jumping long rope is a common sport in primary and secondary schools, more prone to trauma than a single person jumping short rope. Of course the severity of this trauma is generally mild, usually contusions and scratches on the eyelids and eye surface, and also blunt contusions of the eye. Elbow injuries are more common in basketball, and diving is prone to posterior vitreous detachment, retinal detachment, etc. As for boxing, shooting, skiing and other sports because of less participation, trauma in the crowd is rare. How can I avoid eye trauma? The first thing is to understand the characteristics and rules of the sport to be performed. Do not take the risk to participate, but to act according to your ability. Secondly, focus on sports, often eye trauma occurs when the attention is distracted, when the attention is fully focused, the possibility of eye trauma is almost zero. In addition, youth sports often appear crazy, encourage each other and other situations, such as jumping long rope, the front of the child is not ready to be encouraged by the back of the child and risk jumping injury. What to do after the injury? Once in the sports eye trauma, do not panic, to assess the extent of trauma, to avoid secondary injury, timely call for help, timely medical treatment. After receiving a blow to the eye, people tend to reflexively cover the eye with their hands, but of course, remember not to use excessive force, should promptly release the palm of the hand, self-observation whether there is bleeding, whether there is a loss of vision, whether there is a clarification of fluid outflow. If you are wearing glasses, you should ask your partner to retrieve them and check whether the frames are intact. In general, bleeding is not a major indicator of severity, but a persistent and severe loss of vision usually indicates a poor prognosis. If there is a cut on the eyelid, cover it with gauze or apply pressure with a clean handkerchief to stop the bleeding and seek medical attention as soon as possible. Until medical attention is sought, dangerous actions such as forcing the eyelid open by yourself or others and applying forceful pressure to the eyeball should not be used. If after the injury, there is no bleeding, no loss of vision, and no eye pain occurs, then you can use cold compresses appropriately, stop exercising, observe for 2-3 days, and live normally if there are no adverse changes. If there is any change, you should also seek medical attention as soon as possible. Can I still exercise with myopia? As many people know, myopia can easily lead to retinal detachment during sports. This is especially true for moderate to high myopia. Various ball strikes and various sports with drastic changes in body position (diving) can lead to posterior vitreous detachment, retinal fissures, and retinal detachment in myopic eyes, and the consequences are often severe. Some patients have a flashing sensation and black or translucent shadows floating in front of their eyes after the injury, and no vision loss, for prudence, it is also recommended to seek medical examination. Is it better to wear glasses or not to wear glasses? This is a difficult question to answer. The current frame glasses are often soft, light weight, even without metal accessories, and the lenses are synthetic resin type, not easy to break, so these glasses even if wearing eye trauma, often will not cause more additional damage, on the contrary, if you do not wear glasses, may be because of unclear vision, but increased the chance of eye trauma. Because of the presence of many coincidental and uncertain factors, it is not possible to make a change in whether frame glasses can protect the eye from injury. Individuals should still make a reasonable plan in relation to the characteristics of the sport to be performed, and the material of their glasses. But the principle should be that there should be a good corrective vision in the sport to do so.