Damaged eyes?

[stephenmadpotato]

Yeah I dont think this is leaving. I think im gonna see a little dot in the center of everything for the rest of my life. Please folks, be careful with these lasers they're very dangerous.

 

[BT132435]

I can't believe you're not crazy angry at this... or even freaking out. If that happened to me i'd be so pissed off.

 

[knot]

I can't believe you're not crazy angry at this... or even freaking out. If that happened to me i'd be so pissed off.

What good will it do to react with emotions that may only compound the problem? What's done is done so the best step to take is to seek medical attention - not to freak out over it.

 

[Confederate]

I'm afraid I have to add my voice with the others in advising you to have it checked out. It can provide peace of mind once your eye's examined.

One problem with IR is that it can damage your eye in such a way that you don't get the full impact at once. The damage could be a clean tear that later begins to deteriorate around the edges. As this deterioration continues, the edges become rougher and the damage more pronounced.

An opthomolgist can examine your eye for any damage that may have occurred and tell you what to expect later. Or he could tell you that you lucked out and that little or no damage occurred.

Please get it checked out and report back here. There are so many variables, such as angle and intensity, that it's hard to tell what may have happened.

 

[k00zk0]

I was just about to make a post concerning this issue when I saw this in the thread list.

I have purchased a "200mW" green laser from Dealextreme, and this has happened to me. I will not go into details, the point is, 5 or 6 inches away from my eye, directly into the macula, 0.5 sec or so exposure. It's been 3 days now, and It seems to have gotten very slightly better, but I'm still missing vision in the very center of my right eye. I am so {censored} scared right now, you don't even know it. It's even worse for me as I'm only 16 and I already have a very bad left eye. I can't get it off of my mind. I cannot believe that for the rest of my life I will have a little dot in the center of my vision. I can read computer text but I need to take two passes at things occasionally. I don't know where I can find an optometrist to see asap, I'll have to check with someone as I don't want to tell my parents.

Is there anything that can be done? Like stimulating the area with flashes of light to make it better? I am hoping so much that this spot will go away... I feel for this thread starter right now. I am NEVER playing with lasers again.

 

[TOOCOOL]

I have purchased a "200mW" green laser from Dealextreme, and this has happened to me. I will not go into details, the point is, 5 or 6 inches away from my eye, directly into the macula, 0.5 sec or so exposure. It's been 3 days now, and It seems to have gotten very slightly better, but I'm still missing vision in the very center of my right eye. I am so f*&^%$g scared right now, you don't even know it. It's even worse for me as I'm only 16 and I already have a very bad left eye. I can't get it off of my mind. I cannot believe that for the rest of my life I will have a little dot in the center of my vision. I can read computer text but I need to take two passes at things occasionally. I don't know where I can find an optometrist to see asap, I'll have to check with someone as I don't want to tell my parents.

Is there anything that can be done? Like stimulating the area with flashes of light to make it better? I am hoping so much that this spot will go away... I feel for this thread starter right now. I am NEVER playing with lasers again.

Let your your parents help immediately.
Edit the bad language

 

[Gazoo]

k00zk0,
Definitely get to an eye doctor. They may not have anything that can cure your eye instantly, but I read that they can give you vitamins that will promote healing.

I read somewhere else about someone making the same mistake, and his vision was fine after a few months. It really depends on how bad you damaged your retina. Go see an eye doctor!

 

[nuggett]

double post

 

[nuggett]

This thread greatly saddens me. I had considered buying a laser for fun, then thought better not with 2 young girls around. Too easy have an accident.

BB guns are in the same category. They are not given the respect they deserve.
My eye doctor friend has remove 25 eyeballs from bb gun injuries.

An idiot "friend" fired a bb which hit 1" below my eye many years ago. Lucked out.

I truely wish you both a full recovery.
Today 01:31 AM

 

[Heruursciences]

That reminds me of when some numbnut decided to blast me w/ 40W q-switched green laserscope during a laser light show setup. Thank goodness I was about 100 feet away and the beam wasn't collimated that well. It caused something similar to what you'r going through that lasted about 2 weeks. Needless to say i quit that job.

Anyway, You should take about 2000mg of vitamin C and 250-500IU of vitamin E for a week, lutien suplements, as well as 100% rda of vitamin A or bata caratine. This will help lessen the effects of secondary free radical oxidatitve stress in the injured area. If there is perminent damage and it's small enough, eventually, your eye will ignore the damaged portion and fill in the gap with a light blurry spot matching the color of the surrounding.

Considder yourself very lucky that you didn't fry your eyball out completerly, and next time TAKE THE BATTERIES OUT!

 

[Kiessling]

You absolutely need to see an ophtalmologist NOW. That is an eye doctor, not an ophtometrist. Talk to your parents. We all do make mistakes. Don't prolong yours and possibly make it worse.
bernhard

 

[jhosaki]

Something that you all need to be aware of about eye damage: If you have had an accident with a laser and a few days later it seems that your eye is "better" YOU STILL SHOULD SEE A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL. The reason is this: If you have a small injury to your retina, even if it does not heal, over time your brain will start to ignore the data sent to it from the damaged section of your eye and compentate by mixing the signals from your other eye and filling in the missing segment to create a "whole" image. This is NOT an indication that you have healed. Your brain is just accomodating for the fact that you now have a blind spot in your retina, and rather than "bother" you with a constant dark spot in your perception, it overwrites the area and fills in the gaps. Your brain is very adaptive, but you still need to have your retina imaged to see if there is actual damage.

 

[k00zk0]

I'm not sure exaxtly what kind of doctor I'm seeing tomorrow, but they say they can look at my retina and tell me what to do. I'll update asap and say what they have said

Yeah, I do realise its my brain compensating for the lack of vision. Thats why I said it "seems" to be getting better :X

 

[jhosaki]

Honestly, I hope that you're okay in the end.

This is why the FDA requires high powered lasers to have a 3-second delay, key switch, aperture shutter, etc. To anybody who doesn't like the safety features, just think that a delay or key switch could have saved this poor guy a trip to the doctor. Many people buy the cheap pointers with no safety features for the "convenience", but what's convenient about a retinal injury?

 

[LuxLuthor]

These stories also make me feel sad because these accidents can be with you the rest of your life. Even if you see an O.D. Optometrist they can still recognize retinal damage....but will likely refer you to a retinal M.D. Opthalmologist. Good Luck!

 

[stephenmadpotato]

holy crap k00k we are in the EXACT same predicament. I am 16 years old, i have a lazy left eye already and i didnt tell my parents... scary stuff man, except yours is much worse man, my hat is off to you.

 

[stephenmadpotato]

Also, please dont close this thread admins. Its really good that people read this before buying a laser.

 

[Gazoo]

Also, please dont close this thread admins. Its really good that people read this before buying a laser.

I don't believe the mods have any intention of closing the thread, in fact the topic has been pinned which I think is an excellent idea.

I do hope that you and k00zk0 will be OK and your eyes will eventually heal, and I do appreciate both of you sharing. Thank you

 

[k00zk0]

Wow. Do you by any chance also have like a +7 or so prescription and astigmatism? Live in Toronto too?

My dot isnt too bad. I'm using a standard 1280x800 laptop lcd screen but only using it about 1.3 feet or so from my face. I can read text fine, but thats cause I know the words I'm reading. If I'm trying to specifically look at the spelling of some word, I can't see it (immediately, looking for a bit my peripheral vision sees the letters as I look around the word). Even writing this I keep hitting ; instead of ' and finding it almost hard to notice it. It actually does seem to be getting very slightly better, but again that could be cause of me getting used to it. I was horrable before, right when it happened I had a jagged dark spot shaped like a diagonal oval, now it seems I'm actually seeing through it veeeery slightly. Oh well, I'll see an op*ologist tomorrow and see what happens. If I get referred to someone higher I won't go as either way there is nothing I can do about it (unless I'm told they can actually help). I popped mad vitamins today, some A, B12, ate some citrus cause I don't have C, cod fish oil, some herbal suppliments, ugh. I feel bad but not bad at the same time as I know I can't do anything about it.

I hope this doesn't happen to anyone.. But I'm sure it does all the time. Stephen, has it actually gotten any better? Has it vanished slightly and how long has it been? I'm almost hoping we by any little chance live a block away from eachother. hehe.

 

[stephenmadpotato]

Haha, naw, I live in MA. It has improved alot, I can see what I'm focusing on, I think i damaged RIGHT below the center of vision. I can read words fine, just not the ones below it. I am truly amazed at the adaptations my body has made to rectify this problem. Thank god I already passed the eye exam for my licence :twothumbs. You can test how you're doing very easily. Cover your good eye and see how well you can read etc. There is a chance it could be improving but it unfortunately will never be the same again.