Among all types of eyewear products, those for sports use are a typical member. Sports glasses are really important for athletes as well as sports hobbyists. As people in the world continue to enjoy better living standards as a whole, the frequency of participating in sports is also on the rise. Young people especially male ones have lots of opportunity and much passion to play certain sports with friends or colleagues. However, there is a big concern among eye care professionals associated this group of people. Statistics from the Consumer Product Safety Commission show that emergency rooms all over the United States treat more than 42,000 sports-related eye injuries each year. This is definitely a big number. What is more, victims who are younger than 25 account for approximately 72% of the total eye injury cases. And 43% percent occur in kids under 15 years old.

Most of us will be surprised if we get to know the fact that most of these youngsters do not use protective eyewear during their sports entertainments. The use of sports glasses is overwhelmingly necessary when athletes and sports amateurs put themselves into any sport which involves fierce body contact or dangerous objects. Some of the dangerous sports or games can be easily noticed and require the use of protective glasses. They contain baseball, softball, hockey, football and paintball. It is exciting that in the United States there have been certain regulations about sports eyewear usage. For instance, youngsters who want to participate in Little League baseball must use safety eyewear. Protective glasses are also strictly required among players in the National Hockey League.

What are the basic requirements of a typical pair of sports glasses? First of all, the lenses used in sports eyewear must be shatter-resistant. Otherwise serious eye injuries may be caused if there is a flying object hitting the glasses. Polycarbonate is the most widely used lens material due to its good properties. These lenses can also be easily applied by certain treatments that may improve performance. During outdoor activities, UV treatment, polarized filter and anti-reflective coating are usually added to regular polycarbonate lenses.

Eyeglasses and sunglasses are widely used in various circumstances by people in all possible fields. In detail, eyewear devices can serve while watching TV at home, working in the office, driving a car, fishing on the water, skiing in a snow field and in many other cases. Compared with regular eyeglasses that are used for vision aid, sports eyewear is considerably different. This phrase covers a wide variety of eyewear products, including prescription sports eyeglasses, sports sunglasses, and sports goggles. As the names reflect, each of these types emphasizes a specific aspect. Sports glasses with a prescription provide vision correction for those who have a visual refractive error or presbyopia. Sports sunglasses focus partially on UV protection and sports goggles or safety eyeglasses are mainly for eye protection.

Except for functional emphasis of specific type of sports eyewear, there are two common points among these different types. Generally speaking, any type mentioned before can both improve performance during sports and offer eye protection. In most sports, vision drives performance. So, eyewear products are now widely designed to enhance sports performance because they can help athletes and amateurs get eyesight in top shape. This is really important even if an athlete has perfect vision. Wearing a pair of sports glasses can help in achieving better vision than rivals. This benefit or functionality is testified by the existence of performance eyeglasses and performance sunglasses. The former type can help exactly in maintaining clear vision. Even if for people who have unaffected vision, performance sunglasses can provide better visual acuity and light contrast.

The other common place among the three types of sports eyewear is the provision of eye protection. In each year, hospital emergency rooms across the United States treat more than 40,000 eye injury cases that are caused during various sports, according to figures from Prevent Blindness America. Another concerning public fact is that most of those injured individuals never know the necessity of using protective eyewear. Recognizing these problems, manufacturers of sports products are strictly required to incorporate protective designs in their eyewear models. For sports enthusiasts, a necessary action is to put on a pair before participating in a sport.