Keep your eye on the festive fizz cork! Experts reveal leading cause of festive A&E visits

Mr. Fadi Alfaqawi, consultant ophthalmic surgeon at Optegra Eye Health Care, says: “While human biology means the eyeball is designed to be protected by the eye socket bones, small and fast-flying champagne corks are smaller than that area and can cause great damage as they hit the eyes.

"As it travels at such speed, up to 55 miles an hour, it can cause damage and bruising to the cornea – the outer layer of the eye – as well as more extensive damage to the very fragile inner parts of the eye. Some of these cases may well require surgery to fix, so we urge people to take great care!”

A leading wine expert offers the following advice for safely popping a cork:

· Chill to correct temperature (6 to 10 degrees C), as this helps reduce the risk of the cork popping too quickly

· Remove the foil and loosen the cage

· Hold the cork securely in place from the moment the wire cage is loosened

· Tilt the bottle at a 30-degree angle. Grip the cork and use the other hand to grip base of the bottle

· Turn the bottle not the cork

· Hold the cork steady, resisting its tendency to fly out, and ease it out of the bottle

· The sound should be a quiet ‘phhhuut’ and not an explosion

Whilst having fun with family and friends is a high priority, there are other simple ways in which we can keep our precious eyes safe this Christmas, according to experts at Optegra:

· Always remove party make up, even after a late Christmas party, to reduce the risk of infection

· Only 1 in 10 UK adults regularly refresh eye make-up products – use this Christmas as the perfect opportunity to have a sort through your make up bag and throw away anything that is out of date. It’s the perfect opportunity to ask for something new!

· Wash your hands before removing contact lenses – research by Optegra reveals that 92% of adults don’t wash their hands before handling their lenses

· Turn your head to the side as you lift the turkey roast out of the oven, to avoid spitting fat

Optegra Eye Health Care is a specialist provider of ophthalmic services. Established in 2007, with its first hospital opening in 2008, it has completed over one million eye procedures from its 40 eye hospitals and over 60 locations across the UK, Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia.

As well as providing private vision correction treatments – from lens replacement and laser eye surgery to implantable contact lenses – Optegra treats cataract surgery both privately and through its partnership with the NHS. Optegra also treats medical conditions AMD and glaucoma; and has launched the first ever treatment for people with the Dry form of AMD.

Optegra brings together leading-edge research, medical expertise and state-of-the-art surgical equipment. It performs more than 140,000 treatments annually, both private and publicly funded. Its top ophthalmic surgeons are renowned for their areas of expertise, offering excellent clinical outcomes and great patient service.