LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Pickleball has grown in reputation over the previous few years, and so have the accidents related to enjoying the fast-paced sport.
Critical eye accidents are on the rise, particularly amongst gamers over 50.
“Persons are falling whereas they’re enjoying. Persons are coming in with a number of shoulder accidents,” mentioned Dr. Anthony Cardillo, an emergency medication specialist with Adventist Well being Glendale. “We’re seeing a number of pickleball elbow now due to that motion that is occurring, a fast snap motion.”
Anne Ruby Dee of Glendora took up the game a month in the past, and it did not take lengthy for her to harm her knee.
“I twisted it after I was making an attempt to get the ball, and to date, I’ve simply been icing it up,” she mentioned.
However Cardillo mentioned there’s one other kind of damage rising simply as quick as the game.
“We’re getting a number of ocular, eye accidents,” he mentioned. “It is actually getting hit within the face with both the ball or a racket.”
Pickleball precipitated an estimated 1,250 eye accidents in 2024 with a complete of three,000 since 2005. A brand new JAMA Ophthalmology examine discovered pickleball-related eye accidents have jumped a further 400 instances a 12 months from 2021 to 2024
They discovered that gamers aged 50 and older accounted for about 70% of pickleball-related eye accidents, probably as a consequence of age-related declines in muscle power, bone density, and stability.
Most accidents had been brought on by a direct hit by a pickleball, direct hit by a paddle, or falls.
“Persons are swinging, they are not being conscious and cautious, they usually’ll hit their accomplice within the eye with the racket and in addition get hit with that ball,” mentioned Cardillo, who added that the examine ought to remind folks to be extra cautious on the court docket however suggests a pair of sport goggles may help shield you.
“I do not know if I will be carrying goggles whereas enjoying pickleball,” mentioned Dee, who did not let her knee damage cease her from competing on this 12 months’s Posh Pickleball Match on the La Canada Nation Membership.
She mentioned pickleball is absolutely all about having enjoyable.
“I am having fun with it, my husband enjoys it, my children, and so do my associates,” she mentioned.
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