Protecting your eyes should be your number one priority when playing sports since even non-combat sports can cause eye injury. Here are some tips for choosing the right eyewear for your sporting needs.

Did you know that every year, emergency rooms all over the United States treat more than 40,000 sports-related eye injuries? According to Prevent Blindness, most of these injuries could have been prevented and even non-contact sports, like badminton, can present a danger to your eyes. Playing sports is important for your heart, your health, and your spirit but there are ways of protecting your eyes against rogue balls that may fly towards your head. Any sport with balls, racquets, or flying objects also pose a danger to your eyes but there are ways of preventing injury. Besides being aware of your surroundings, wearing the appropriate protective eye gear can help prevent eye injuries during sports.

Think about it - in a game of tennis, the ball moves around 60 miles per hour towards and away from your racquet. One slight move and the ball can hit you directly in the eye or towards the side of your head- causing injury. The larger and faster the ball, the more risk involved. These are fantastic reasons to wear protective eyewear like sporting goggles or prescription glasses fashioned with polycarbonate lenses. Since most of the injuries associated with pokes and jabs that come from your fellow player’s fingers, it’s duly important to wear some kind of protective gear. Basketball and swimming have the highest rates of injury, so it’s no surprise that professional athletes in the NBA and Olympic swimmers wear some form of goggle.

A lot of today’s protective eyewear comes in prescription form since most players and coaches know that playing with anything less than 20/20 vision is counter-productive. Yet, most glasses, sunglasses, and safety glasses generally don’t provide the appropriate amount of protection you need when playing spots. There are a few features to look for in protective sports eyewear. Sports goggles come in a wide range of styles, shapes, and sizes but most are designed for sports that require a racquet like tennis. There are goggles and eye masks for soccer and basketball players, too, but they leave much to be desired in terms of attractiveness. Hockey and football players are the lucky ones since their protective eyewear is generally designed to fit inside their helmets - which already offer them protection. Before picking out a pair of sports goggles or glasses, think about what sport you are about to play.

Lenses are also important. The best lens for eye protection is made from polycarbonate. Given how impact resistant and shatter resistant polycarbonate is, it’s the perfect choice for people who play sports. Polycarbonate lenses also work well to protect your eyes from harmful ultraviolet light, making them the perfect all-purpose lens for outdoor sports. If left untreated, polycarbonate lenses can easily become scratched. Your best bet is to have your eye glasses or goggle lenses coated in an anti-scratch coating. If you’re worried about glare, you may want to have them dipped in an anti-glare coating as well which will help anyone from golfers to tennis pros. Additionally, the frames associated with sporting wear are different than your average eyeglasses frames, so make sure your frames are suitable for your sport and not for every day use.

Hillary Glaser is a social networking specialist and expert in cross-media promotion, currently working on promoting prescription eyeglasses. She is the Director of Marketing and Special Projects for GlassesUSA.com - the easiest way to buy glasses online, which now offers free shipping on all US orders with the code FreeShip10.