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Introduction: Here's another edition of the BayCare Health System’s Podcast Series, BayCare HealthChat with Melanie Cole.

Melanie Cole: Welcome to BayCare HealthChat. I'm Melanie Cole, and today we're discussing eye safety for kids. Joining me is Dr. Radhika Ranganathan. She's a Pediatrician with BayCare. Dr. Ranganathan, such a pleasure to have you join us today. How can we best protect our eyes in the summer? Give us some of your best tips for summer eye safety for our children.

Dr. Ranganathan: Yes, we all use sunscreens to protect our skin, but we forget to protect our eyes most of the time. Especially summertime means more time spent outdoors, exposure to very bright sunlight and that may increase the risk of developing cataracts. And prolonged periods of time, it can even cause cancers and the same risk applies even to the tanning beds and so on. And the sunlight reflects off the sand and water that also can cause snow blindness. So, beachgoers and pool-goers, also may want to make note of it. The most important thing would be to wear a UV blocking sunglass. That way you can enjoy the summer safely and wear a hat if possible, along with the sunglasses, especially a broad brimmed hat. Know that the clouds don't block the UV light; sun rays can pass through the haze of clouds and sun damage can occur at any time of the year - not just in the summer. Also, the sunlight is the strongest - midday to early afternoon - when reflected off the water, ice or snow. So be careful with these things.

Host: That's great advice and people don't even think about putting sunglasses on kids and you'll see adults at the beach with sunglasses on, with their kids running around without sunglasses. So, thank you for that. Now, as we're talking about general eye safety, we're going to jump around a little bit, Doctor, and our kids are staring at their phones. They're staring at computers; they're doing school online. What's the best way to protect our eyes when using a computer screen?

Dr. Ranganathan: That's a very important question. I'm glad you asked me this. The amount of screen time, especially with the current pandemic situation, is increasing day-by-day. First, the AAP, American Academy of Pediatrics, they don't recommend using any digital media before about 18 to 24 months. I mean, of course, when you use the screen time excessively it can cause obesity, poor sleep quality, and it can also affect the eyes. Since we are just talking about the eyes today one rule would be the 20, 20, 20 rule. That is, every 20 minutes, look at least 20 feet away for about 20 seconds. Set a timer for your child, if possible, to keep looking at the distance. And try to alternate eBook and the real book if possible, for the older kids. I'm sure they're all playing a lot of video games now, but once they finish the video game, have them take a quick walk around or do something else and then go back to the screen again. And if you're using screen in very brightly lit areas, make sure that there is no glare from the screen. Ideally keep the screen at least about 18 to 24 inches away from your face. And the most important thing is keep blinking as much as possible. That's what the ophthalmologists are recommending.

Host: That's great advice and not just for our kids, but really for all of us that have to sit in front of a computer screen. So now let's talk about eye injuries while doing recreational activities or sports. Not a lot of sports require eye protective wear, what should we do to help our kids? I mean, they're playing soccer, baseball; anything can put their very sensitive eyes at risk.

Dr. Ranganathan: Yes. In fact, about 30,000 sports related eye injuries have been reported every year in the US in the emergency rooms. So protective eyewear is really important and regular glasses usually do not offer proper eye protection. And sometimes they can even make the injury worse because you're wearing some kind of eyeglasses. So especially in basketball the injuries are very high followed by baseball, softball, and pellet guns and things like that. So protective eyewear with shatterproof plastic, like polycarbonate lenses, they should be worn for sports. Especially like basketball, racquetball, and so on. Boxing and martial arts; they usually have very high risk and serious injuries. So, there is really no satisfactory eye protection for things like boxing, but you can try maybe gloves without thumbs and that may help to some extent. And it's not just the people that are playing sports. The spectators also may have to be careful (balls, bats, players). I mean, anything can injure your eyes. So be careful, always.

Host: Well, certainly great advice. And now what about the kitchen? Give us some safety tips because there are certain eye dangers that lurk in the kitchen that people don't even realize.

Dr. Ranganathan: Absolutely. So, one of the most common is cooking oil or hot grease, and water. somehow, like you have wet hands or something, the moisture gets into the oil, and then that can definitely cause splashes into the eye. If that happens, flush it out with plenty of water immediately and try to see the eye doctor as soon as possible. If you have very minor splashes, you can try using artificial tears. Cooking, liquid splashes, for those you may want to just wash out your eye as much as possible immediately. When you're using spices or cutting peppers and things like that, make sure that you wash your hands thoroughly right after you prepare the food. Again, if you end up touching your eye, you may want to just wash it with plenty of water - never put any soap or anything like that. When you are using cleaning products like bleach, oven cleaners, and things like that be very careful. Not just these, falls and things also can cause eye injuries. So, make sure the kitchen floor is safe enough and the kids are not running around. Of course, the kids have to be old enough, first of all, to be in the kitchen or be able to cook or anything like that.

Host: And if something does happen, Doctor, where we do injure our eyes, whether it's in sports or out in the sun or in the kitchen, what is the first aid for eyes?

Dr. Ranganathan: So, the most important thing: do not touch, rub, or apply any pressure to the eye. Do not try to remove any object if it is stuck in the eye. If it's small debris or something like that, have the child blink the eye a few times and see if the tears will bring it out. If not, just close the eye and go get medical help. Do not apply any medication or ointments without knowing what it is. If there is a cut or puncture or anything like that, definitely keep it covered immediately. And in the event of chemical exposure or, like we talked about, liquids and things like that, you may wash it with plenty of water.

Host: Well, this is all such important information and really great advice. Now, just when we're thinking about vision problems and our children, what are some signs of hidden vision problems? And tell us if they're going to see an ophthalmologist, is that a different eye test than if they were to get that one at school or the one through the pediatrician's office? Tell us some signs of hidden vision problems and what kind of tests our kids are getting?

Dr. Ranganathan: Yeah, I mean, as summer winds down and kids are getting back to school, we are thinking of their backpacks and clothes and their books and so on. But eye examinations are very, very important. Schools these days demand a lot of visual involvement, be it reading, writing, computers, or even sports, for example. So, we really need to be aware of this. Parents can sometimes tell if the child has a vision problem. The child may squint or hold reading material very close to the face, or they may complain about things appearing kind of blurry. But the things that the teacher may notice are, or as a parent you may notice also, that the child has a very short attention span. They may quickly lose interest in games, projects, and things that required a lot of vision and extended period of time, especially.

And they find if they're reading a book, for example, they may forget where they stopped. They may have to kind of, this is when they are reading loudly or silently doesn't matter, they may have to kind of keep on going back to the word and they may struggle with that one, and avoiding reading or close activities. The children may try to avoid reading, drawing, or even playing games that require a lot of focus. And the other important thing is they may try to turn their head to the side while looking at something in front of them. This is a sign of astigmatism. So, eye screenings are really important for these things. At the pediatrician's office, you may just have an eye chart and that may not tell you a whole lot of things. So, the vision screening at the ophthalmologist office would be very important for that reason.

Host: I think so, too. And in this unprecedented time that we're in right now, Doctor, and we're trying to encourage mask wearing in our children, but it clogs up our glasses, do you have any recommendations about that?

Dr. Ranganathan: I mean, it maybe you know, especially with the pandemic, like you mentioned it's a nuisance, but again masks definitely prevents the spread of infection. So it is very, very important for us to wear the mask now. So first of all, when you don't wear the mask properly, the air will escape from the mask into the lenses and makes it fogged up. So, make sure to pinch the top of the mask to fit the shape of your nose. And some masks, you may be able to tighten the sides. You can loop the mask twice, sometimes, and that may help also. If it is a real problem, try to tape the top of the mask itself. You can use, if you don't have tape, you can try just the adhesive bandage or something like that. Wiping your lenses before wearing them, that may help. And you can even try washing the lenses with soap and water before wearing them. And adjust your glasses so if you wear it just above the nose, that may help or rather forward on the nose. And pulling the mask up over the nose and rest your glasses on top of it, that may help also.

Host: As we wrap up and what important information for parents to hear, give us your best advice for preventing eye injuries and what you'd like the listeners to know.

Dr. Ranganathan: So, I also want to mention a few things for the older children. You know, when they wear contact lenses, don't shower or swim in the contact lenses. Wash your hands really well and give your eyes a break. Blink as much as you can. The 20, 20s rule, like we said, is very important and protect the eyes during the game. And don't share any makeups. Again, this is for the older children. And make sure you have your vision screening done periodically.

Host: Great advice, Doctor, thank you so much for joining us today. And that concludes this episode of BayCare HealthChat. To learn more about BayCare's Children's Health services, please visit our website at www.baycarekids.org for more information. Please also remember to subscribe, rate, and review this podcast and all the other BayCare podcasts. I'm Melanie Cole.