50mw laser eye damage

Wolfman29 said:

(I am another guy.)

However, on topic, yeah, I would think that, if he actually got hit in the eyes, you would have heard something....

Now, I have a bit of question....

I used to be a stupid kid, right? Like when I was ten. I would take those Walmart red pointers and just shine 'em in my eyes for seconds at a time. I am talking directly into them, from a couple of inches away.

Yet, after about 5 minutes after I would do this (I did this a lot as a kid), my vision would be perfectly clear.

Reasons?

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Hey man, yeah....how are you. :yh: Heard something like a "pop"? Well not too sure, that's what I read too. heh heh...

I guess 1 important point is that, a lot also depends on how well focused the lasers are. As you know, a non-focusable laser with a not so well collimated beam of about 100mW may not even light a match for nuts. But a 50mW focused to a hairline better than that 100mW one may light it.

Its like torchlights. A 800 lumen XM-L may well throw less distance (less lux at a given range) than a 250 lumen XR-E, just due to the hotspot size. A hot spot at twice the diameter has 4X the area. Or take that as 4X the power.
1mW vs 4mW.

I guess that could be part of the reason? Just this reason is quite substantial as you see in terms of power difference.

2100 said:

I remember a thread conversation here at LPF regarding power of reflection from diffused and semi-glossy/glossy surfaces with a 445nm (think it was with InfinitusEquitas and another guy). It was LPM measured and deemed to be pretty-eye safe even from reflective surfaces. Actually now after the recent HID incident, I don't believe in such calculations anymore. 0.5mW probably is very close to the edge, let alone 5mW. I think that discussion was something like if 445s are safe to wave around in the house.

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Just want to be super clear... 445's are NOT safe to wave around the house.

Personally I find the dot of a 445 to be very uncomfortable to look at even from safe distances. The point of the little experimentation was to see what's to be expected from specular reflections off of a 445nm dot, in a real world scenario.

JBTexas said:

I wouldn't think that retinal damage would result in a SPECIFIC insensitivity to any wavelength? Burnt rods and cones = burnt rods and cones. Insensitivity to EVERYTHING?

(correct me if I'm wrong...)

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There are different cones for red, green, blue, minors for yellow and deep purples.

Yes, but I would think that retinal DAMAGE from a burn would be universal.

I've received permanent retinal damage from a swipe of a 75mw WL Phoenix 532 laser. Wasn't looking at it directly but it managed to hit just below the center of my right eye. No pain or disorientation or anything like that. Just a flash of bright light and that temporary loss of vision slowly went away and now it's just a very small dot. I went to the emergency room to get pictures taken. About a month later, I had more pictures taken and the skin that was burned had fallen out leaving a hole in my eye.

I don't really notice the blind spot. It blends in with all the colors around it but if I try and focus on it, it's a faint grey spot.

It really does depend on how well the beam is focused, what angle it hit your face, if your eyes were dry or watery, if you had contacts in (which I did) etc... Either way, a $40 pair of goggles is cheaper than living with a blind spot.

Thanks FNAL. Then i'd be inclined to believe that short-arcs and high-powered HIDs with big reflectors are even more dangerous in the house than lasers. But I guess you tend to be able to avoid them better, of course. =)

I measured 1.35 million lux PBCP from that HID, but it is just a small spot. The other parts of the hotspot are like say 800-1.35, and the corona like 100k? I think I got hit by the 100k but at closer range of about 30-40cm.
That's at 1m. You do get disorientation and a huge patch of flash blindness. And I am hunting down a 13" host, I think can easily surpass 5 million PBCP.....range of 2km plus.

FNAL, is there any chance you can upload the pictures?

i didn't know where to ask this question, and i see you seems to know some...
i've shooted a 10mW laser in my left eye (3-4 months ago), with my glasses on, at a distance of like 15 Cm from my face. it now shows a small blind spot (3mm away from the center of my view). it has "healed" a bit, making me able to see colors through it, but the colorshift takes around 1-2 seconds everytime. it doesn't bother me on daytime, with both eyes open (like as i type this text, i don't even notice it). but sometimes it starts being uncomfortable, and some other times even hurts.
and sometimes, if i stare at something long enough, i SOMETIMES see vague details going through it. like a line, or a letter. or two colors at the same time.
and i also noticed that the view around it was a little distorded, is it a 'bubble' or something?
i wanted to know if it had a chance to heal, or at least heal at 70%+ and leave a scar.

Laser: < 10mW 532nm

The "blindspot" is around 1.6mm big.
any idea?
(asking Fenzir)

Staz said:

i didn't know where to ask this question, and i see you seems to know some...
i've shooted a 10mW laser in my left eye (3-4 months ago), with my glasses on, at a distance of like 15 Cm from my face. it now shows a small blind spot (3mm away from the center of my view). it has "healed" a bit, making me able to see colors through it, but the colorshift takes around 1-2 seconds everytime. it doesn't bother me on daytime, with both eyes open (like as i type this text, i don't even notice it). but sometimes it starts being uncomfortable, and some other times even hurts.
and sometimes, if i stare at something long enough, i SOMETIMES see vague details going through it. like a line, or a letter. or two colors at the same time.
and i also noticed that the view around it was a little distorded, is it a 'bubble' or something?
i wanted to know if it had a chance to heal, or at least heal at 70%+ and leave a scar.

Laser: < 10mW 532nm

The "blindspot" is around 1.6mm big.
any idea?
(asking Fenzir)

Click to expand...

Nobody here is an eye doctor, set-up an appointment with your nearest one or go the the nearest hospital. Honestly though, if this is true, a doctor could do little to help you after 3-4 months

-Alex

Staz said:

i didn't know where to ask this question, and i see you seems to know some...
i've shooted a 10mW laser in my left eye (3-4 months ago), with my glasses on, at a distance of like 15 Cm from my face. it now shows a small blind spot (3mm away from the center of my view). it has "healed" a bit, making me able to see colors through it, but the colorshift takes around 1-2 seconds everytime. it doesn't bother me on daytime, with both eyes open (like as i type this text, i don't even notice it). but sometimes it starts being uncomfortable, and some other times even hurts.
and sometimes, if i stare at something long enough, i SOMETIMES see vague details going through it. like a line, or a letter. or two colors at the same time.
and i also noticed that the view around it was a little distorded, is it a 'bubble' or something?
i wanted to know if it had a chance to heal, or at least heal at 70%+ and leave a scar.

Laser: < 10mW 532nm

The "blindspot" is around 1.6mm big.
any idea?
(asking Fenzir)

Click to expand...

This thread is over 4 years old since the last post, some of these people are no longer active members, also necroposting is frowned upon here. Anyway to answer your question, yes it can heal, I have read of someone getting a direct hit from a 40mW laser that fully recovered, however that would not usually be so, any laser can do permanent damage, under 5mW your blink reflex should save you, but a little above that and there may be permanent damage.

A cheap Chinese made 532nm that says <10mW is often much more than that, 532nm is DPSS and not direct diode, that means they also put out IR in addition to the green.

After 3-4 months I think you have some permanent damage, it may still improve a little maybe. Be sure not to risk more damage to your eyes, a little damage multiple times is cumulative and would be really bad.

Alan

After this much time i would estimate the chances of your actual eye recovering very low. Your brain will get more used to the anomaly and you will probably notice it less and less over time. As you indicate it no longer bothers you in most activities and is only noticable under specific conditions (probably ones where your brain cannot correct for it easily, for example by using information for the other eye).

It may still be good to have it looked over by an opthamologist, taking a good look at the condition of your retina. This is will not cure anything, but it could detect conditions like small retinal tears or detachments that could cause further problems in the future if left untreated.

This would also be wise since you now have one damaged eye, and would have a problem if you damaged the other one in the future for any reason. Occular problems often develop later in live and most patients only seek treatment after one eye has been seriously affected (since they use the other one to compensate in anything that progresses gradually). For this reason it would be good to keep check on things like occular pressure more than most people would.