Green laser pointer reflected off poster into eye.

Hey everybody,

I think this would be the place to ask this, since I know absolutely nothing about lasers. Yesterday, my roommate got a green laser pointer and was shining it in my room to mess with me. We all had a good laugh until it reflected off this glossy poster I have right into my left eye. Couldn't have been for more than a second, if that. My vision is fine, with no blurring, discoloration or spots whatsoever. But i have this dull pain in my eye since then. Could it may be just pain from the light still? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Well, good news is, if you dont have any artifacts in your vision, none will appear later. The pain should subside after a short time, probably by the time you wake up tomorrow. However, i would say if it lasts more than 1-2 days, see an optometrist.

Thanks! The only thing I know about lasers is you probably shouldn't get them in your eye, so I wanted to make sure. Better safe than sorry!

You should be fine if it was a reflection the beam most likely diffused and didnot burn/damage the retina permanently, It is however advised to monitor any signs of inflammation, some over the counter NSAIDs should help in that case and see an optometrist as crazyspaz suggested.

"green lasers" are going to kill this hobby sooner or later.

I'll be sure to monitor that. I don't know much about this hobby but it seems pretty cool to me. I hope that you guys be able to enjoy it in peace. I know that some people ( like my roommate ) can ruin things for a lot of people so I hope it doesn't happen. "cause laser are cool!