How To Keep Your Kid’s Eyes Safe At The Pool This Summer
While swimming pools provide enjoyment and exercise, it's essential to be aware of the potential dangers of unfettered play in the pool or around other large bodies of water. Protecting the eyes and ensuring a safe swimming experience is essential to keeping the fun going this summer and next.
You can help mitigate these risks by encouraging proper eye protection, maintaining proper pool maintenance, and supervising children. While we are focusing on kids, most of these dangers and precautions apply to people of all ages.
Dangers Posed To Eye Health At The Pool
It is hard to prevent harm if you don’t know what the specific dangers you need to look out for are. When it comes to playing at the pool, there are a few key dangers to watch out for, including:
- Chlorine Irritation: Chlorine is commonly used to disinfect pool water. However, exposure to chlorine can irritate the eyes, causing redness, itching, burning, and discomfort, especially if a pool is overly chlorinated.
- Contaminants: Pool water may contain contaminants such as bacteria, algae, and other microorganisms. Exposure to these contaminants can lead to eye infections and inflammation.
- UV Exposure: Prolonged exposure to sunlight while swimming can increase the risk of eye damage from UV radiation, which can lead to conditions such as photokeratitis (similar to sunburn of the eye).
- Accidental Injury: In crowded or poorly supervised pools, accidental collisions or contact with objects can occur, leading to eye injuries such as scratches, abrasions, or blunt trauma.
If you frequent public pools, some of these may be out of your hands, such as monitoring the chemical balance and cleanliness of the pool water. But if you have a pool yourself, one of the biggest things you can do to protect your and your kids' eyes is to exercise proper pool maintenance and keep chemical and pH levels in balance.
Goggles Protect Your Kid’s Eyes Without Stopping The Fun
The good news is that despite the omnipresent risk of eye irritation posed by pools, prevention is actually pretty simple.
The best way to protect your kid's eyes at the pool is to invest in a pair of well-fitted swim goggles. Like any safety gear, you will want to carefully choose lens and frame materials for the activities you intend to engage in. Our recommendation for getting your kid to wear swim or sports glasses to prevent injuries is the same as helping them adapt to glasses in general:
- Get a pair that fits them well and won’t be loose when moving about during the activity.
- Let them help pick out the color they want.
- Make it part of their routine when getting ready.
Swim goggles can help prevent irritation or infection from chlorine, debris, and bacteria while also providing a physical barrier to blunt trauma from stray elbows or feet when playing. If the pool you frequent is outdoors, make sure to pick out swim goggles with UVA/UVB and polarized protection as well!
Bonus Ways To Maintain Eye Safety
Goggles aren’t the only way to help protect eye safety while at the pool or other swimming hole this summer.
For kids that have long hair, wearing swim caps can prevent hair from getting into their eyes, which is another way contaminants can cause irritation. It is still important to pair with swim goggles, but the additional swim cap can help keep hair out of the eyes if the goggles slip off.
Staying hydrated is always good for your eye health. Hydration keeps your eyes naturally moist and maintains the tear film, a thin layer of liquid that covers the surface of the eye. The tear film is essential for keeping the eyes moist, lubricated, and protected from irritants.
And finally, get in the habit of rinsing swim water off the body when you all get out of the pool, ocean, or lake. Rinsing helps remove chemicals from the skin and hair, reducing the risk of irritation, dryness, and contamination of the eyes.
What To Do If You Notice Eye Irritation Or Injury
If chlorine water gets into the eye, it's essential to take prompt action to minimize irritation and potential damage. Immediately rinse the affected eye with clean, lukewarm water. Use a gentle stream of water from a faucet, shower, or eyewash station to flush out the chlorine. Tilt the head to the side with the affected eye facing downward to help the water flow out.
It is not recommended to wear contact lenses while swimming due to possible infections that may occur and be very serious if where you are swimming is not properly chlorinated or is still natural water that may harbor bacteria and other harmful substances.
Always assume an injury to the eye is severe. It can be difficult for children to verbalize precisely what happened or how they feel. If you notice any of the following or think trauma may have occurred, you should seek an appointment with an eye doctor quickly.
- Redness or swelling
- Excess tearing or visible discharge
- Eye pain or headaches
- Muscle spasms or trouble focusing
- Any visible cut on or near the eye
Asheville Vision And Wellness Is Here To Help
By being proactive about your child's eye health from birth to their teenage years, you can significantly contribute to their overall visual well-being. Regular eye examinations, promoting healthy habits, protecting their eyes, maintaining a balanced diet, and paying attention to warning signs are key steps in safeguarding their precious gift of sight.
Prioritize your child's eye health, and they will reap the benefits of clear vision and healthy eyes throughout their lives. Remember, prevention and early intervention are the pillars of long-term eye care success.
At Asheville Vision and Wellness, we understand the importance of proactive eye care for your children. We are dedicated to providing comprehensive eye care services and empowering parents with the knowledge and tools to ensure their children's eye health from infancy to adolescence.
If you would like to help your child have and maintain their eye health and vision, we would love to talk with you further. Reach out to our team today for more information about Asheville Vision and Wellness’ pediatric eye care.