Channel: KPRC 2
Air Date: January 4th, 2019
As the weather becomes warmer, outdoor sports become more popular and people take up biking, some toss around the football. Sport injuries are very common and in most cases they end up seeking medical help.
Bike-related injuries are just as common as football related injuries. During 2013 in the U.S., over 900 bicyclists were killed and there were an estimated 494,000 emergency department visits due to bicycle-related injuries. Data from 2010 show fatal and non-fatal crash-related injuries to bicyclists resulted in lifetime medical costs and productivity losses of $10 billion.
Dr. Mirwat Sami of Houston Oculofacial Plastic Surgery is a board-certified ophthalmologist specializing in Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. She is one of a handful of physicians across the country uniquely qualified to treat both medical and cosmetic problems of the face around the eyes.
Dr. Sami was recently featured on Channel 2 Houston KPRC NBC with Anoushah Rasta and Sofia Ojeda (Anchors-Channel 2 Houston) discussing “Sports Eye Injuries” – Aired live February 11th, 2017 Channel 2 Houston KPRC NBC, 8181 Southwest Freeway Houston, TX 77074.
Dr. Sami said that “Bicycling is a wonderful sport. It has great health benefits as well as, on the environment. It helps with pollution. Auto emissions. But just like with any sport, it does carry a risk of injury.”
As an Oculoplastic Surgeon, who is an Ophthalmologist specializing in plastic and reconstructive surgery, she treats a lot of injuries trauma to the Oculofacial region. “Although a lot of the work I do is cosmetic such as Botox, Dermal Fillers, Cosmetic eyelid surgery, but because I’m very specialized, I do a lot of trauma related to biking. In fact, just recently I had a patient who wasn’t wearing his helmet, a Middle-aged gentlemen who fell off his bike. He was startled, and developed an eyelid laceration that involved his tear drain. As you can imagine the Oculofacial region, is a very delicate one. (It involves) very meticulous and time-consuming reconstruction. And then sometimes we end up having to use stents and implants in the reconstruction to prevent vision loss in the future, as well as cosmetic disfigurement” said Dr. Sami.
Houston is a great city with wonderful weather, good outdoor spaces and more and more people are taking to their bikes and specially as we hit the warmer weather. But it’s also important to know that it’s not as bicycle-friendly! It is notoriously dangerous for cyclists.
Talking about safety, she reminded everyone that “The cornerstone is the right kind of gear and padding, just like any sport. Wearing the right kind of helmet, the eye protection, looking for signs and where the good biking paths are. You know, sometimes the beaten path is not necessarily the worst one to take, so to speak. But also just a shout out to Houstonians, let’s share the road. Let’s make sure that we are… we watch out for our cyclists that are in our neighborhood and we cater towards them. Let’s be patient”.
