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When it comes to keeping your eyes safe, safety glasses are the most important way to protect your peepers.

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), wearing protective eyewear can prevent 90 percent of eye injuries. Preventable eye injuries involve projectiles, scratches, or chemicals in one form or another that get into the eyes, explained Darren Hill, MD, an ophthalmologist with Trinity Health.

To prevent these types of injuries, having a proper set of safety glasses or goggles on (and wearing them properly) can be the ticket, regardless of where injury can happen. Eye injuries do not only happen on the job site, such as in factories or on a construction site. The AAO said that nearly half of all eye injuries occur in the home. Generally, with “any activity where there is a chance of anything getting in your eyes,” safety glasses are recommended, Dr. Hill said. This can include yard work involving lawnmowers or weed eaters (“anything that can send a projectile”); or any wood, metal, or automobile work. “Projects involving cutting, sanding, grinding, or polishing metal yield a substantial number of eye injuries when safety glasses aren’t worn properly,” he said.

“Any object striking or embedding itself in your visual center can do instant, permanent damage, or lead to infection that will limit your full visual potential,” Dr. Hill added. “These injuries can be very traumatic and are usually exceptionally painful.”

More than 78 percent of people were not wearing eyewear at the time of injury and only 5.3 percent of those who were wearing eyewear, including glasses or contact lenses, were wearing safety or sports glasses, the fifth annual Eye Injury Snapshot conducted by the AAO and the American Society of Ocular Trauma said.

Regular glasses or sunglasses will not suffice for any high impact injury “and can even lead to worse damage if they shatter on impact,” Dr. Hill said. “If you’re going to wear prescription glasses, you’ll want them to be made out of polycarbonate or other material with a sufficient safety rating.”

Safety glasses are different from regular glasses because of their rating – look for ANSI Z87.1, the standard rating for safety glasses, Dr. Hill said. “Most sunglasses and eyeglasses do not have this rating.”

Safety glasses can be purchased at hardware stores, as well as your local retail medical store, such as Vision Galleria (located at Health Center –Plaza 16, Minot, and at Trinity Health Western Dakota, Williston). Prescription safety glasses can also be obtained through Vision Galleria by seeing your local optometrist, Dr. Hill said.

Trinity Health’s optometry team includes Jill Martinson-Redekopp, OD; Shawn Nelson, OD; and Brad Schimke, OD. They are based at Health Center – Plaza 16, 2815 16th St SW, Minot. To make an appointment, call 701-852-3937. In Williston, optometrists Cynthia Roles, OD, and JulieAnn Wick, OD are based at Trinity Regional Eyecare – Western Dakota,1321 W Dakota Pkwy. To make an appointment, call 701-572-7641.