Open Your Eyes to Yard Work Hazzards
Excerpt By Nancy A. Melville, HealthScoutNews Reporter

(HealthScoutNews) -- Experts want to make one thing clear to those who love to work in the yard or tend to their gardens -- don't overlook the important issue of eye safety.

While many people routinely don gardening gloves, sun hats and mud boots, the eyes are often left exposed to everything from prickly branches to flinging rocks.

"People will say, 'I'm going to go out and mow the lawn, and I better make sure there aren't any animals or kids around,' " says Dr. John B. Jeffers, director of emergency services and resident education at Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia.

"They don't pay any attention to their eyes, because if, for instance, they're on a [riding] mower, they think that everything is thrown out the side," he adds. "But what will happen is a rock is thrown by the mower, hits the curb or the side of the house, and ricochets right back into the mower's eye."

Dr. George Blankenship, president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, says, "We'll also see a lot of problems with rocks and debris being thrown by edgers and weeders."

"Most power lawn equipment manuals will clearly recommend using protective eyewear, but the vast majority of people don't follow that advice," he says. "And even on the television commercials, you usually don't see the equipment users with protective eyewear on."

Working in the garden poses its own hazards, Jeffers adds.

"If you're bending over in the garden and get stuck in the eye with a branch or one of the stakes that are used for plants, you could really do some damage," he says.

"And it can be especially dangerous because anything that's organic has the potential of carrying a load of organisms, including fungus, which can be very serious," he adds.

Inorganic compounds pose hazards as well. "People will get chemicals from pesticides on their gardening gloves and then rub their eyes. That, too, can pose a danger," Jeffers says.

The best solution, Jeffers says, is to wear the protective eyewear sold at most hardware stores. But even sunglasses or prescription glasses are better than nothing.

"In the United States, the lenses in eyeglasses and sunglasses are required to be hardened so if something hits them they won't shatter and cause particles of glass to get in your eyes," Jeffers says. "So they can provide a substantial amount of protection. But not as much as protective goggles."

The American Academy of Ophthalmology offers the following tips for common yard-work eye problems:

• If sand or small debris gets in the eye, use an eyewash to flush the eye. Don't rub the eye. If the debris doesn't come out, lightly bandage the eye and see your eye doctor.

• For blows to the eye, gently apply small cold compresses to reduce pain and swelling. Don't apply any pressure. Seek emergency medical care if there is pain, reduced vision or discoloration, such as a black eye.

• For cuts or punctures to the eye, bandage the eye without applying any pressure and seek emergency medical care immediately. Don't attempt to wash the eye or remove any object stuck in the eye.

"When compared to things like diabetes or [other causes of blindness], yard work and gardening may not be as serious, but they are such easily avoided injuries," says Blankenship. "And that's the real shame."

What to Do: For more information on eye safety and yard work, visit the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or this eye-care site.

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