Pickleball Eye Injuries Surge In U.S.

Key TakeawaysMore pickleball players are experiencing eye injuriesInjuries range from simple black eyes to detached retinas and broken eye socketsHits from the ball, falls and hits from the paddle account for most injuries.FRIDAY, Oct. 17, 2025 (HealthDay News) — The surging popularity of pickleball has brought with it a concerning increase in eye injuries among players.Pickleball-related eye injuries rose by more than 400 cases a year from 2021 to 2024, up from around 200 annually during the prior decade, researchers reported Oct. 16 in JAMA Ophthalmology.Some players took a direct hit from a ball, while others received their eye injury during a fall or from being whacked by a paddle, researchers found.This increase occurred even as eye injuries in other sports like tennis, baseball and basketball have been declining, researchers noted.Players 50 and older had a higher risk of receiving an eye injury than younger players, the study found.“We’ve seen a lot more players who are not familiar with the sport entering the court, and that creates a lot of opportunity for injury,” senior researcher Dr. Jonathan Tsui, a professor at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, told The New York Times.“They’re not used to how fast the projectiles are moving and how close to the other players on the court they are,” Tsui said.For the study, researchers analyzed injury data kept by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.Between 2005 and 2024, there were an estimated 3,112 pickleball-related eye injuries in the U.S., with 1,262 of them occurring in 2024 alone, researchers reported.The number of injuries is nowhere near the 19.8 million players estimated to have taken up pickleball in the U.S., but represent a need for wearing eye protection while playing, researchers said.Some players were hit hard enough to detach their retina, break bones around their eye socket or rupture their eye, the study found. Others walked away with a black eye or a cut.About 43% of injuries involved a direct hit from the ball; 28%, falls; and 12%, a hit from a paddle, the study says.People 50 and older had a 39% higher risk of an eye injury than younger folks.Researchers noted that USA Pickleball in 2024 turned down a rule change that would have required players to wear eye protection in tournaments, citing the challenges of enforcing the rule.USA Pickleball also has not offered any guidance on eye protection, researchers said, and many pickleball clubs and recreation centers have no such requirements."Last year, actress Michelle Pfeiffer and journalist Savannah Guthrie proudly displayed their pickleball-related eye injuries," said Dr. Matthew Gorski, an ophthalmologist at Northwell Health in Patchogue, N.Y."I think it was very important that they were spreading awareness of the potential dangers for pickleball and the real importance for wearing eye protection while playing pickleball,” he added in a news release.Gorski, who was not part of the study, said he wasn’t surprised that older folks are more apt to become injured playing pickleball.“People over 50 in general are often more susceptible to injuries with any type of sport,” he said. “Many older patients are not as agile to avoid trauma or contact from a ball or paddle or have pre-existing eye diseases that would put them at higher risk for a significant eye injury.”Gorski recommends that players buy wrap-around eye guards that meet the American Society for Testing and Materials F3164 standard for protective eyewear.“It's really important to have the correct material. Typically, we think of a polycarbonate type of plastic that would provide adequate protection in case of some sort of trauma,” Gorski said. “It's always important to speak with your eye doctor to make sure that you're wearing eye protection that is appropriate for the type of sport that you're playing.”More informationLoyola Medicine has more on pickleball safety.SOURCES: JAMA Ophthalmology, Oct. 16, 2025; Northwell Health, news release, Oct. 16, 2025; The New York Times, Oct. 16, 2025.What This Means For YouPickleball players should wear eye guards to make sure they don’t receive an eye injury during play..Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Pickleball Eye Injuries Surge In U.S.

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