Which Toys are safe for your Child’s Eyes

The Holiday Season is here and Christmas shopping has reached a feverish pitch. The most ardent hunt is for toys for kids and parents run around trying to buy their kids coveted items.

Toys provide much needed visual stimulation and age-appropriate toys stimulate children’s visual development, develop hand-eye coordination and help them understand spatial relationships.

However, the experts at Vista Eye, under the Board Certified Ophthalmologist Binoy R.Jani, M.D., suggest that you take another look at your Christmas toyshopping list and see whether the toys you plan to buy are safe for your child’s eyes.

According to the Consumer Products and Safety Commission, there are over 230,000 toy-related injuries in the U.S. annually, where more than 45% of injuries are to the head and face.

Vista Eye Specialists exhort that when purchasing toys you must pay special attention to the age or developmental recommendations on toys and take out time to explain to your child how the toys are properly used.

In the holiday season, with celebrations in full swing, young children are at higher risk for injuring their eyes with toys due to less adult supervision. Vista Eye Specialists, who focus on your total eye care, suggest that you avoid toys that have parts that fly off like slingshots, dart guns or arrows; toys with parts that can be shattered into sharp pieces and scissors, rubber bands and deflated balloons. Blocks are safe for almost all ages, but make sure the corners and edges are blunted, to reduce the risk of eye injury.

If your older children play with a chemistry set or woodworking tools, Vista Eye strongly recommend the use of safety goggles.

Common eye injuries with toys may include minor scratches to the front surface of the eye called a corneal abrasion to very severe conditions like corneal ulcers, traumatic cataracts, bleeding inside the eye and retinal detachment.

If your child has hurt his eye and you see blood in the clear part of the eye or he has pain or trouble seeing; if one eye does not move as well as the other or the eye has an unusual pupil size or shape, visit the dedicated and professional team of eye doctors at Vista Eye Specialists at Culpeper,VA and Fredericksburg, VA.

Our pediatric ophthalmologists will use an ophthalmoscope to look inside the eye to check for damage that may not even be readily apparent. We suggest that you refer to our reputed eye specialists because children under the age of five are at an increased risk of permanent loss of vision from eye injury.

Vista Eye Specialists continue to provide the finest quality eye care by delivering exceptional medical and surgical results. Our team of eye specialists achieves optimal patient outcomes due to access to state-of-the art technology, continuing education, and access to the latest clinical information.