Pop Those Champagne Bottles With Care!

Popping bottles with care: Why a flying champagne cork is a huge injury risk! Don’t start the new year in the emergency room...

Popping bubbly to ring in 2024 may be more dangerous than partiers think, as an international team of ophthalmology experts spread awareness of cork-induced eye injuries ahead of the holiday, calling for the proliferation of screw-on caps among Champagne and sparkling winemakers.

Fun Fact:

The high-pressured bottle cork can leave that bottle of bubbly with such force and can travel nearly 50 miles per hour once released!

The team of eye doctors warns that “A cork can travel from bottle to eye in less than 0.05 seconds, making the blinking reflex ineffective.”

A blunt force eye injury at that speed can cause permanent blindness, retinal detachment and lens dislocation, “among other conditions,” researchers wrote.

According to a 2005 study, 20% of eye injuries over the holidays were related to pressurized drinks…

While one’s vision for some victims returned, some were left legally blind in that injured eye!

Here’s how to reduce the chances of injury!

First, chill the bottle before opening it since cooling the bottle also reduces pressure and cork velocity.

Also, don’t shake the bottle before you open it.

Face the bottle away from yourself at a 45-degree angle, pointing away from others before attempting to open it.

While removing the wire cage around the cork, apply pressure on the cork with the palm of your hand to keep it in place, then place a towel over the cork before gently twisting the bottle to loosen the cork. to combat the upward force of the cork, experts recommend maintaining downward pressure to avoid an unwanted and accidental projectile.