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paintballimpact.com / Safety / Paintball Injuries
Injuries on the Paintball Field
Injuries on the paintball field are a concern in this sport and any other athletic activity. The goal of any sport is to offer players a fun and healthy athletic event with a minimal occurrence of injury. The future of paintball is unlimited, with a popular and expanding base of recreational players and fans of professional leagues like the NXL. For public acceptance of the game and the support of players families and towns that host recreational fields, it is importantly for the games to be played safely and to keep player injuries to a minimum. While some injuries are inevitable in any sport, field operators, referees, and players must do everything, possible to keep injuries of the paintball field to a minimum. For a list of possible paintball injuries and ways to keep you safe in games, please read on.
Though the occurrence of paintball injuries is pretty rare, it is inevitable in any sport that involves leaving the house and running. Even staying in the house does not guarantee that a person will remain injury free, as a sedentary lifestyle can lead to morbid obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiac disease. Though the occurrence of this type of injury is EXTREMELY RARE with proper eye precautions, eye injury is perhaps the most serious injury that can happen to a paintball player. The incidence of eye injuries has risen in the last 10 years, probably in large part due to the increase in players involved as the game has grown. With paintballs traveling up to the 300 miles an hour, the eye stands virtually no chance upon impact. The .68 caliber paintball is just small enough to fit inside the orbital socket, and just big enough to fit the entire eye. Playing paintball without the protective goggles or head protection system could lead to blindness in the worst case scenario.
While the occurrence of over 1200 injuries to the eye as a result of paintball participation is a concern, there are a number of factors to take into consideration. The Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics have findings suggesting that virtually zero paintball eye injuries were the result of hits taken while playing in organized professional or recreational games. Any organizer/owner of a paintball game or event requires players to use a head protection system that offers full eye protection. Almost all paintball related eye injuries occur from people shooting at each other in their own backyards or in unorganized games in the woods and other places away from standard field. These eye injuries occur in unsupervised games where players wear adequate or no head protection system. The conclusion is that if you send your kids down to a reputable licensed field that requires participating players to wear full eye protection, your kids' eyes will be safe and protected.
To avoid eye injury, there are a number of reputable head protection systems on the market. For example the Invision Mask by Dye offer maximum protection for your eyes, face, and ears. It is important to wear these type of systems so that the lights don't go out permanently. The Dye Invision Mask offers a lens that is both durable and fog resistant. The Dye Invision masks offer a series of vents around the mouth that allow protection from paintball impacts but are also porous enough to allow for a free exchange of air and clear communication between you and your teammates. This system also features closed & open foam technology.
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