The risks of padel for our eyes
In our country, padel is one of the sports that causes the most eye injuries, either due to the bouncing of the ball, the direct impact or the impact of the player’s own padel racket, or due to the player’s partner playing in a very small space and wall rebounds.
Eye injuries due to padel are already a major cause of ophthalmological emergencies in Spain.
Rarely a week goes by that we don’t receive a significant injury looking for eye protection, and we receive dozens of e-mails asking about it.
“In the United States, where the eye risks of physical activity are most well documented, it is estimated that more than 40,000 racquet sports-related eye injuries occur each year.”
Most important eye injuries that occur in padel
Mild: keratitis due to sun exposure in outdoor padel in very sunny areas or in summer.
Medium: corneal erosions caused by the ball rubbing against sand in the eye.
Severe: retinal detachment, posterior vitreous detachment, lens dislocation and ocular orbital bone breakage in extreme cases.
Mild and medium injuries are relatively easy to treat, with ointments and eye drops prescribed under the supervision of a doctor.
Severe injuries may require more or less severe surgery, and sometimes the patient’s pre-accident vision cannot be restored, causing disabling injuries for the rest of his or her life.
How can we protect ourselves?
Awareness is critical among amateur players, especially as we can’t imagine how much more foolishly we can get a disabling injury for the rest of our lives.
Using specific technical glasses with polycarbonate or trivex lenses and TR90 frame material that also protect us from the sun, being ideal photochromic lenses that serve for both indoor and outdoor, as they automatically adapt to any weather condition.
“You can even add filters that reduce the reflections of LED lights or even polarised filters for those who are more sensitive to sunlight, or you can even add mirrors to avoid solar reflections as much as possible”.
These glasses can also be prescribed with specific lenses, with the same features as above if the player has a vision defect such as myopia, hyperopia and/or astigmatism, and can even be made progressive if the patient requires it.
It is important to know that just as we do not play padel with office shoes, we should not play with glasses that are not specific for sport.
Characteristics of a good sports eyewear
In addition to the characteristics described above, they must be very light and covering so that they also protect the sides; on the other hand, they must be stable in all the player’s movements (volleys, “bandejas”, smashes, etc.), they must not fog up and must have filters suitable for the needs of the athlete.
“Their weight should not exceed 30 grams if they are non-prescription and 45 grams if they are prescription”.
How long has Addictive been on the market?
Our experience in the world of optics dates to 94, but we have been specialising in sports optics for 8 years now.
The Addictive brand is only 4 years old. Here is a link in case you want to check our range of sports glasses and other items that may interest you https://gafasaddictive.com/
WPT players as Addictive ambassadors
We are very happy with the acceptance of the brand and the response of the WPT players, we are currently working with players like Marta Marrero, Barbara Las Heras, Cata Tenorio, Claudia Fernández and Lorena Alonso, in boys with Xisco Gil, Sergio Alba, Víctor Ruiz and Iván Ramírez use our glasses and in terms of coaches, the great Manu Martin, who was the first to support us, apart from many coaches and clubs that are committed to the brand and eye protection.
David Calderon
CEO Addictive
Optician col 8017
