This post was originally published on this site
Older players of pickleball, the fastest-growing sport in the United States, are more vulnerable to eye injuries, some of which could lead to vision loss, researchers reported.
Some pickleball players took a direct hit from a fast-moving ball. Others were struck by a paddle. Some fell on the court. All suffered injuries to their eyes.
The injuries have spiked in recent years among players of pickleball, the fastest-growing sport in the United States, according to a study published on Thursday. As the sport has gained popularity, it may have also attracted less experienced and less fit players, who may be less agile and more susceptible to injury, the authors noted.
“We’ve seen a lot more players who are not familiar with the sport entering the court, and that creates a lot of opportunity for injury,” said Dr. Jonathan C. Tsui, the study’s senior author and a professor at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.
“They’re not used to how fast the projectiles are moving and how close to the other players on the court they are,” he added. Dr. Tsui became interested in the subject when a colleague came to work with an injury after a weekend pickleball game.
The number of eye injuries is small relative to the number of Americans who play pickleball, estimated to be at least 19.8 million. But some injuries were serious enough that they could lead to vision loss.
They included retinal detachments, fractures to one or more of the bones that make up the eye socket, and hyphema, blood collecting in the front of the eye.