Seniors, Falling & Eye Injuries from Falling

Did you know that falls are the leading cause of injury related emergency room visits among people over 65 years old? Recently researchers studied how often seniors falling resulted in eye injury-especially eye injury that might have been overlooked as part of their hospital visit. They reviewed records from 270 patient visits of patients with an average age of 81 years old. 180 patients presenting in the emergency room from this group had fallen. Of these 155 patients were found to have an orbital fracture-the boney structures around the eye! In addition there were many other serious eye injuries including eye globe ruptures, hemorrhages behind the eye and retinal detachment. The message is clear. Falls in older people may be associated with sight-threatening ocular injuries which are common and easy to miss in this population demographic. It is important to have a thorough eye exam after what might even be considered a minor fall. More important, it is critical to create safe environments for seniors and to tend to those sight threatening senior eye problems-such as cataracts-to help avoid lost mobility and increased risk of falls!

If you or someone you know is a over 65, please schedule regular eye exams for common senior eye problems such as cataracts, glaucoma and macular degeneration (AMD) so you can maintain eye health and vision-and reduce your risk of falls! Call The Eye Care & Surgery Center at 592 Springfield Avenue, Westfield, NJ 07090 at (908) 789-8999, 10 Mountain Boulevard, Warren, NJ 07059 at (908) 754-4800 or 517 Route One South, Suite 1100, Iselin, NJ 08830 at (732)  636-7355, or visit The Eye Care & Surgery Center or Facebook.

The Eye Care & Surgery Center, an affiliate of Prism Vision Group, is located at 592 Springfield Avenue, Westfield, New Jersey 07090, 10 Mountain Boulevard, Warren, New Jersey 07059 and 517 Route One South, Suite 1100, Iselin, New Jersey 08830, and is easy to reach for patients from throughout central and northern New Jersey.