2023-12-23 08:12:45
May 2022, Giro d’Italia. The cyclist Biniam Girmay is on the podium, having won the tenth stage. The bottle of bubbles to celebrate is a must. But something goes wrong: at the moment of opening the cap hits his left eye at the speed of a bullet. Result: haemorrhage in the anterior chamber and withdrawal from the competition. With Christmas now upon us and the New Year ever closer, the season of repeated toasts opens and the experts warn: the risk of serious eye damage, even blindness, should not be underestimated, is the warning launched by the pages of scientific magazine ‘Bmj’, citing Girmay’s case, but not only that. “Eye injuries from corks represent a substantial threat to ocular health. Although our group usually deals with the effects of spaceflight on vision – explain the authors – this article focuses on the launch of sparkling wine corks rather than about astronauts. The purpose is to ensure that you don’t start the new year on an eye surgeon’s operating table.”
Risk of serious damage
This is one of the most underestimated risks. But, experts warn in the special dedicated to Christmas 2023, “the pressure in a 750 ml bottle of champagne or sparkling wine is approximately three times that of a standard car tyre”. A cork can be thrown up to 13 meters away at speeds of 80 km per hour. And it can travel to the eye in less than 0.05 seconds, which makes the blink reflex ineffective. The possible consequences of a trauma of this type can reach up to “permanent blindness”, and range from detachment of the retina and dislocation of the lens to other damages.
A retrospective review published years ago, recall the ophthalmologists who signed the article, “analysed cases of serious eye injuries resulting from bottles containing pressurized drinks in the United States, Hungary and Mexico. Champagne corks were responsible for 20% of eye injuries linked to bottle caps in the United States, by 71% in Hungary. The data highlights – experts continue – the need for preventive measures, including warning labels and alternative packaging materials, such as screw caps, to safeguard people”. Although for many ‘toast victims’ there was recovery from the trauma and vision gradually improved, “the study found that, in 26% of pressure-drinking cases, people were left legally blind.”
Conditions such as hyphema, a collection of blood in the anterior chamber of the eye, may also require surgery to resolve. Among the studies cited by the authors there is also a 2009 analysis conducted in Italy on 34 cases of eye injuries caused by corks from bottles of sparkling wine. The analysis showed “that these seemingly harmless objects can cause substantial damage to the eyes, with varying degrees of visual impairment and clinical outcomes such as perforation, trauma and long-term complications.”
This study found that all patients had damage including anterior chamber hyphema, corneal lesions, ocular hypertension, lens subluxation, traumatic cataract formation, and post-traumatic retinal edema. Late complications included pupillary motility abnormalities, traumatic optic neuropathy, maculopathy, post-traumatic glaucoma.
The rules for protecting your eyes
In their speech the authors also take care to include a series of prevention tips to protect the eyes in the coming days of celebration, at the time of the toast. To mitigate ophthalmic risks, in line with the guidelines of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the first point is to “cool the bottle before opening. The pressure decreases as the bottle cools and consequently the speed of the cap decreases Avoid shaking the bottle before opening for the same reason.” Point two: “Point the bottle away from yourself and others at a 45° angle before opening it.” Third rule: “Carefully remove the metal cage (which could act as an additional projectile) from the top of the bottle by pressing on the cap with the palm of your hand.” Fourth point: “Put a towel over the bottle and hold the cap tightly.” Finally, tip number 5 is “gently rotate the bottle until the cap loosens”. And the last one, number 6, “counteract the force of the cork moving upwards, by exerting pressure on it.”
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