Enter To Win One of Ten $2,500 “Gear Up Grants” from Urban Optiques Contact Lens Partner CooperVision!

As any parent knows, equipment — whether for team athletics, individual sports or even music — is expensive.  And in tougher economic times, it can be harder than ever to outfit a team or child with the necessary gear to participate.

So when our contact lens rep from CooperVision stopped by this week and told us about a new grant program CooperVision is sponsoring as part of their “Life is a Contact Sport” initiative, we were instantly on-board with promoting it — especially since we know that so many of our clients have children who participate in athletics, group sports and band.

How It Works

Here’s how it works:  CooperVision’s “Life is a Contact Sport” program will award ten $2,500 dollar “Gear Up Grants” to help winning teams, individual athletes/performers or communities “gear up” this season. The winners decide what gear they need.

To enter, all you have to do is have your teen register and submit their story in video or a series of photos on the CooperVision “Life is a Contact Sport” Gear Up Grant website. The subject of the story should be why your teen, their team, or the community should win a Gear Up Grant and what they would do with the money if they win.

Entries have to be submitted by September 30, 2010 and judging to choose the top 30 finalists takes place in early October.  The finalists will then be posted to the “Life is A Contact Sport” website on October 18th, and visitors to the site will then get to vote on who they think should win the 10 grants.

Winners will be announced in early December.

What’s especially cool about this promotion is that CooperVision made it very inclusive: The Gear Up Grants don’t just apply to athletics — but other activities such as music or dance. So if you need to outfit your child or community band with instruments, you can apply for the grant as well.

Bonus! Prescription Sports Eyewear

Plus, any team member or performer who wears contact lenses or glasses will also be outfitted with CooperVision contact lenses for a full year. Submitting your story is a snap – just visit the CooperVision website to enter.

We’d love to see one of our patients win one of these 10 grants. Time is running on out this grant cycle so if you’re ready to Gear Up, get moving with your story!

A New Study Says Contact Lenses Account for More Pediatric Injuries Than Any Other Medical Device.  Find Out How To Help Your Kids Benefit from Contact Lenses without the Injury Risks.

In late July, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a report that found over a two year period, emergency rooms treated more than 33,000 injuries due to contact lenses — making the eye the most frequently injured body part among children due to medical device complications.

When we saw the report and the headlines, we weren’t entirely surprised.  Children are one of the fastest growing segments of new contact lens wearers, representing more than 10% of the total population of contact lens wearers.  The growing popularity of contacts among children makes sense: Today’s new breed of soft contact lenses are more comfortable than ever and contacts are often an attractive alternative to glasses, especially for active children, ‘tweens and teens.

On the other hand, as the report from The American Academy of Pediatric’s demonstrates, contact lenses and children can also be a recipe for injury, and possibly permanent eye damage or vision loss, if parents aren’t monitoring and supervising the wear, care and replacement of lenses in their children.

According to the data, the most-frequently reported injury diagnoses due to contact lenses were corneal contusions/abrasions, conjunctivitis and hemorrhage.  The study also showed that most contact lens complications were the result of non-compliance with the  recommended wear and care regimens, as well as replacement schedules.

Misuse of contact lenses in both adults and children can lead to problems such as eye pain, bacterial infections, corneal ulcers, and even permanent vision loss or blindness.

Are Contacts and Kids a Good Mix?

Why so many problems?

continue