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FrozenGate by Avery

15mw laser hit me in my eye.

T

Taylor

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During the recent lunar eclipse my friend brought a 15mw laser. Now I know almost nothing about laser pointers, but am very worried about permanent damage that might have occurred due to a split second exposure from this laser. The laser was green if that makes a difference, and I have no idea what the person was thinking when she shined it in my eye. I have heard that the blink reflex won't kick in fast enough with anything more than 10mw. My vision seems a little blurry in my left eye and I constantly close my right eye to try and see if I can make sure if I actually have damage. I was wearing contacts at the time as well. I'm very worried and any help would be awesome. I'm going to schedule an appointment with a doctor after christmas.
 





Wow... I guess I had some idea that the contact lenses may have caused more damage than without. I've never met this person before and we were all just passing around the laser and pointing it at the sky. I dont know why she thought it'd even be remotely okay to shine it near my face but I'm honestly trying to deal with the fact that I have permanent eye damage more than anything else...
 
Let's remember now, that the laser could very well have been underspec (less powerful than it is sold as), and even if it indeed is 10-15mW or more, different people's eyes/blink-reflexes work differently and so it's not guaranteed that the damage is permanent. And even if it is semi-permanent, there's always the chance that some healing will take place over time. Don't jump to conclusions but definitely see an eye doctor about it asap.

Best of luck man, I hope it all turns out well.

-Chris
 
Here's a very rough test

Grid.jpg


Look at the dot in the middle, one eye at a time. If you have any damage you'll likely see smudged or missing lines in the grid.

I wouldn't get too freaked out just yet. It is possible to "flashblind" yourself with weaker lasers. You might have an after image for a while, but if your lucky it'll go away. The retina does have a way of healing itself with very minor damage, it can "reassign" nearby unused cones and rods. (That's not a reason to forgo proper safety precautions though!)

You should still see a doctor, and always use proper eye protection.
 
Seeing a doctor is the best think to do. Wearing laser safety eyewear for star pointing isn't a solution, then you can better use no laser at all.
Depending on how much you like/hate that person you could sue him.
 
Were you looking at the person who shone you in the eye? If so, the blindspot should be in the center of your vision and easy to notice. If there is nothing there, you likely don't have permanent damage. Two years ago, I was hit directly in the eye with a 30mW greenie. The blindspot lasted for some weeks, but went away eventually. I think you'll be fine.
 
If this laser was labeled 15mW it could be more or less than that , see a doctor I don't think any one here is one.
Did you tell the girl with the laser what she did wrong and that you would be sending her your doctors bill.
 
You should tell that girl what she did was rather insensible and iresponsible, and rather stupid and immature. That's why there is a ban by law on owning lasers stronger than 5mw and my country is one of them. Even with a harmless 1mw classroom red lasers, we often learn in school never ever to shine it on other people's face, let alone a 15mw! She must not be paying attention in class when the teacher said that.

nevermind,


Post back and let us know what the doctor says.
 
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Jaxz said:
...Lunar eclipse i believe its a product of Wickedlasers, so it must be a purple laser, which makes its wave length even shorter than the blue counter-part, I don't know how to say this to you, but I owned powerful blue lasers and I watch how it burn things...
Click to expand...

This stuff you're smoking...can I buy some?

Sorry for giving you crap about your English :p

-Chris
 
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Hopefully it's not one of those "ebay 15mW" pointers... they can be rediculously overspec up to 50+mW... or they can be underspec. No way to know what the laser actually was, unfortunately.
 
LazyBeam said:
Hopefully it's not one of those "ebay 15mW" pointers... they can be rediculously overspec up to 50+mW... or they can be underspec. No way to know what the laser actually was, unfortunately.
Click to expand...

The problem with those it that they're generally underspec on their green output (532nm), but aren't IR filtered and therefore are overspec in total output power (invisible IR radiation included). So for instance, you buy a "15mW Green Laser" off of eBay or DX or some cheap-shit site, you will often get something like:

5mW actual Green 532nm output +
25mW IR leakage =
A laser that looks minimally harmless, with the apparent brightness level of a 5mW Greenie, but with an actual output of 30mW.

Then again, the IR could be going in a different direction, and/or with a different divergence than the green output so if that was the case and you only got hit with green, you may have sustained less than 15mW of damage.

-Chris
 
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:wtf:

I have no idea! I'm assuming you edited that picture to "look" like what you're seeing right?
 
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