It is great to get together with family and friends throughout the year to celebrate the holidays, but these can often be the times when people suffer eye injuries most often. Let’s look at a few of the main issues to watch out for throughout the year.

New Year’s and Valentine’s Day

Popping the champagne cork can easily lead to eye injuries. It might seem festive to let it fly out, but it’s best to keep you and the rest of your family and friends safe by removing it carefully with a cloth over it and a gentle twist or two until it eases out of the bottle with that wonderful popping sound.

The Fourth of July

This is a particularly dangerous time of year, with numerous eye injuries reported as a result of mishandling fireworks and sparklers, and debris in the air getting into the eyes.

Research shows that of the tens of thousands of injuries reported each year in the US, around half were actually in people who were just bystanders, and one-third of all injuries are amongst children under the age of 15.

Fireworks can harm the eye in various ways, including:

• A ruptured globe
• Chemical burns
• Thermal burns
• Corneal abrasions
• Detached retina

All of these can lead to permanent eye damage or even blindness, so be vigilant at the 4th, and watch the fireworks displays on TV.

Christmas

Glitter, fleece from a Santa hat or beard, and other festive items can get into your eyes. Rubbing is the worst thing you can do to try to remove irritants. Real Christmas trees can have sharp pine needles. You can also get dust, dirt, resin and splinters on your fingers and then rub your eyes, leading to damage or infection.

Harm from new toys is also common, such as things that bounce, or are designed with parts that pop, spring or get thrown. Darts are particularly dangerous, especially if people have been drinking.