Keep Your Eyes Safe This New Year's Eve

The countdown to New Year's Eve is a time to celebrate with family and friends. As you open that bottle of champagne in celebration, it is hard imagine it could lead to a trip to the emergency room or even permanent vision loss.

The cork from a champagne bottle can fly up to 50 mile per hour as it leaves the bottle. According to Doctor Kuldev Singh M.P.H., clinical correspondent of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Professor of Ophthalmology of Stanford University School of Medicine, "Incorrect popping of champagne corks is one of the most common holiday-related eye hazards. Anything that travels with such force can have a dangerous effect if it strikes your eye. Eye-related cork injuries can lead to acute glaucoma, detached retina, and corneal abrasion all of which can result in decreased vision. Many champagne cork-related injures necessitate urgent surgery to prevent significant, permanent vision loss--a terrible way to spend the holidays."

Here are a few simple steps you can follow that can help prevent eye injuries this New Year's Eve.

• Make sure the champagne is chilled to at least 45 degrees Fahrenheit before opening. The cork of warm bottle is more likely to pop unexpectedly.

• Don't shake the bottle. Shaking increases the speed at which the cork leaves the bottle.

• To open the bottle safely, hold the cork down with the palm of your hand while removing the wire hood. Point the bottle at a 45 degree angle away from yourself and from any bystanders.

• Place a towel over the entire top of the bottle and grasp the cork.

• Keep the bottle at a 45 degree angle as you slowly and firmly twist the bottle while holding the cork to break the seal. Continue to hold the cork while twisting the bottle. Continue until the cork is almost out of the neck. Counter the force of the cork using slight downward pressure just as the cork breaks free from the bottle.

• Never use a corkscrew to open a bottle of champagne or sparkling wine.

Sources:
American Academy of Opthalmology.

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