Squash ball to eye ball: the likelihood of squash players incurring an eye injury.

The records of the 118 patients treated as Southampton Eye Hospital during 1978-9 for injuries incurred while playing squash, badminton, tennis, table tennis, cricket, and football show that for squash the main cause of eye injury was the player being hit by the ball. Severe eye injuries--those requiring treatment as an inpatient--were rare but much more frequent than such injuries in other sports. Less serious injuries--those requiring treatment as an outpatient--were also rare, with a frequency comparable with that of similar injuries in football and badminton. Squash players are most unlikely to incur an eye injury, but should this occur it has far-reaching consequences both in the short and the long term. Each individual player must weigh these chances and consequences against the possible inconvenience of using some form of eye protection.