With the Olympics in full swing, we here at Ridgefield Vision Center are enjoying the excitement of watching our nation’s best athletes compete on the world stage. You’ll probably notice a lot of the athletes wearing eye protection in the form of sports glasses or goggles and UV-protective sunglasses.

It’s not just our Olympic athletes who can benefit from this: whether you have a student athlete getting ready to go back to school or you yourself play high-eye-risk sports such as tennis, handball, racquetball or hockey, protective sports glasses can help prevent many life-altering eye injuries.

Sports-related eye injuries range from corneal abrasions and bruises on the lids to internal eye injuries, including retinal detachment and internal bleeding. All of these consequences to playing sports we enjoy sound scary, but there’s good news: almost all sports-related eye injuries can be prevented by wearing the appropriate protective eye wear. When you gear-up to protect your head with a helmet and your legs with kneepads and shin guards, it’s important to remember the proper eye protection to protect your vision. Follow the lead of the Olympians and wear proper protective eyewear for all sporting-related activities.

More and more parents are recognizing the dangers to their children’s eyes, and taking precautions to protect both their kids’ vision – and their own. From August 8-12, Ridgefield Vision Center is featuring a back-to-school sale on prescription sports glasses or goggles for $159 that will protect your vision during sporting activities. If you or your children don’t yet have the proper protective eyewear, this week is a smart time to get it at a great price to ensure your family’s vision is properly protected.

If you’re less into the sporting life and more likely to be sitting on the beach between Olympic events, we have a sale for you too: up to 50% off select UV-protective sunglasses, which are critically important for protecting the health of your eyes. It’s important to wear high-quality sunglasses every day to protect your vision.

While Americans are well-versed in the dangers of UV-ray damage to their skin, most don’t know that long-term UV damage to the eye is a primary cause of cataracts, age-related macular degeneration, sunburnt eyes (ouch!) and even skin cancers near the eyes and on the eyelids, where the Skin Cancer Foundation reports that 10% of skin cancers form.

To help ensure that your eyes are protected from damaging UV rays, our optical department is offering 50% off select frames and lenses – including prescription lenses – from Sperry, BCBG Max Azria, Esprit, Ann Taylor, Ellen Tracy, Elle, Marc Ecko, Izod, Nicole Miller and many more, this week only: August 8-12. Some exclusions apply.

Visit us this week at Ridgefield Vision Center where Mike, Amber, Megan and Nicole will help you find high-quality sports glasses or a pair of high-quality, UV-protective sunglasses that look great and protect your eyes from potential injuries and long-term damage by the sun. For further details, call us at 804-741-1204.

For 19 years, our optometry team at Ridgefield Vision Center has provided conscientious, personable vision care for adults and children in Richmond’s far West End, near Godwin High School and Short Pump Mall. We make going to the eye doctor a positive experience. Whether you need eyeglasses, sunglasses or contact lenses, we offer the highest quality products to ensure the health of your eyes so that you enjoy good vision in every season of life. We’ll continue to provide you with valuable information about the human eye and to provide the highest level of professional eye care for our patients’ vision health. Call us at 804-741-1204 and schedule your next appointment today!

* Photo by The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Olympic rings Uploaded by Flickrworker) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons