Our top 10 tips for sports eyewear

The most important thing when purchasing sports eyewear is selecting the right material for both the lenses and the frames. Injuries when playing sports can cause severe injury to the eye, but sports eyewear can help. Although the type of sport determines which eyewear is best for you, the basic principles are the same.

Your eyewear should be as durable and lightweight as possible with a snug, but comfortable, fit. Your glasses should be close enough to your eyes that no stray light gets through – at the same time, your eyelashes should not touch the lenses. The material should not splinter and be as durable as possible while still remaining malleable and flexible. These properties reduce the risk of injury, i.e. when falling, because your eyewear 'gives way' instead of breaking. Choosing the right material also significantly affects wearer comfort.

Here's a rule of thumb: the lighter the eyewear is, the more comfortable it sits on your nose. For this reason, and because it reduces the risk of injury, eyewear made of plastic (such as polycarbonate and polyamide) should be your first choice: compared to lenses made of glass, they can be manufactured to be up to 50% lighter.

Note: when choosing your frames, make sure they don't contain any elements which could injure you, i.e. glass or metal parts. Also: a hard coating for your plastic lenses is always a good idea to protect them from scratches.

Playing sports often requires additional equipment such as a helmet. In this case, you should bring your equipment with you when visiting your eye care professional. This way they can assess the situation and find the ideal solution for you. The wearer's posture during use is extremely important for the lens design and the subsequent fitting. A suboptimum visual point could mean that you might not enjoy excellent vision with your new eyewear. Marksmen, golfers, hunters and archers should ideally have their eyewear fitted on-site, i.e. at the shooting range or on the golf course followed by a trip to their eye care professional for final adjustments.

Note: progressive lenses, sometimes also called varifocal lenses, are a good choice for most types of sports, including biking and gliding. However, they are not suitable for golfing. Progressive lenses are fitted to perform in a very particular position, but golfing requires you to switch your gaze as you line up your shot, meaning your head moves and your posture changes.

More importantly, fogged-up eyewear can quickly become a risk or cause a competitive disadvantage during a game or competition. When purchasing your sports eyewear, make sure that it allows for effective air circulation. This prevents your lenses from fogging up. A special coating can also ensure that your lenses stay clearer for longer.

Wrapped eyewear is indispensable: it provides effective all-round protection against dirt, sunlight or small dust particles in the air while ensuring razor-sharp vision, even in the peripheral zones.

But please note: in spite of the wrapped shape, your own visual impairments must still be perfectly corrected to prevent visual distortions. Even with a large lens diameter and strong wrapped frames, the lenses for your sports eyewear should still be flat and stable.

To ensure that you'll enjoy your sports eyewear for a long time to come, there are a few basic rules to keep in mind. Just like other pairs of glasses, sports eyewear doesn't like being subjected to extreme heat for a longer period of time. High temperatures or temperature fluctuations can damage the frames and the coating. Thus it is recommended that you always keep your sports eyewear in a case when you're not using it. And avoid leaving it in your car on a hot sunny day.

It all comes down to this: the more careful you are, the longer you'll be able to enjoy your sports eyewear. Use the appropriate accessories – these make cleaning easier and help ensure that your new eyewear will last for a long time to come.

There are three important features which affect the wearer comfort of contact lenses: the quality of the lens, a professional fitting and careful lens care using a high-quality cleaning agent. No matter what kind of contact lenses you choose, contact lenses should be fitted by your eye care professional – just like your glasses. Your eye doctor will determine your visual performance, measure the corneal surface of your eye, and check the condition of your tear film so that they can recommend the ideal contact lenses for you.

Remember: cleanliness is the be-all and end-all for contact wearers! Insufficient hygiene or inadequate care can lead to eye infections caused by germs, viruses or bacteria. These not only are painful and reduce wearer comfort, but can also permanently damage your eyes. When it comes to cleanliness, contact lens wearers should make no compromises.