Can an Optometrist look at your Retina for damage?

A welders mask - Maybe we could walk around life with a welders mask from now on. Thanks for the idea.

lol. Then you would just walk around running into things.

The best bet would be to go through life with your eyes closed.

jaybee5 said:

Are the hard core enthusiasts of course working diligently to produce one of these pointers with a NON VISIBLE beam spectrum?

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Have you done any research about lasers? You do know that they already exist? :crackup: Don't go out! there are people shining IR lasers at you!

Since I work in the laser field, my optometrist photographs my retinas and compares them at each checkup. It allows her to see changes that might not be obvious when just visualizing them. She has a pretty slick system to take the photos.

jaybee5 said:

Anyways since it may be a little difficult for many people to comprehend the potential for injury inflicted intentionally by the deranged masses can you answer me this? Are the hard core enthusiasts of course working diligently to produce one of these pointers with a NON VISIBLE beam spectrum? And of course it would stand to reason stepping up the power from 100mw to like 300 or 500? And I know your just wondering why would anybody do that? So then nevermind while you grok all that but in your great endeavors to promote safety then please show something - Some device that can detect and warn a regular person that a laser beam is being pointed at them or in their eyes. Can you do that? Do they make such a thing. Of course not. Can our great starwars scientist inventors create or display such a device so maybe we have half a chance in the coming decades of walking around with normal vision without burnt out little retinas. Thanks

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Its called IR, Infared its invisible, your cd player probably has it, a lot of things do. It exists. And why are you so paranoid. Im pretty sure no one in your city is gonna be shining a laser in your eyes? lol. Im very curious why you are so hateful and paranoid about lasers. The chances some random person is gonna shine it in your eyes and burn your retina is like 1/1000

Judging by jaybee5's tone I would assume he is trying to make the funnies.


Next time I'm going to the eye doctor I will definitely ask them if they could take pictures and inspect my retinas a little closer. Welding is one of my main functions at my job, and Ive been hit by random arc's up close.

dyethor said:

Judging by jaybee5's tone I would assume he is trying to make the funnies.


Next time I'm going to the eye doctor I will definitely ask them if they could take pictures and inspect my retinas a little closer. Welding is one of my main functions at my job, and Ive been hit by random arc's up close.

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I have been hit with random arc's too. Ive woken up with welders eye before. Not pleasant

Jaybee5,
Not to worry little one. I'm pretty sure that when the alien greys abducted you last week, they put I.R. filters in your eyes while they were running thier experiments. They are really very safety concious, you know.......

Inivisble pointers arent very popular i think, which is a good thing. Someone could easily wave around a watt of 808 appearing like its a cat toy low on batteries, yet injure someone considerable faster than the blink of an eye.

I'm sure there are applications for handheld IR lasers, but anyone that needs them will likely also have some knowledge of laser safety.

123splat said:

Jaybee5,
Not to worry little one. I'm pretty sure that when the alien greys abducted you last week, they put I.R. filters in your eyes while they were running thier experiments. They are really very safety concious, you know.......

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Nah, they are not. Last time they beamed me up the just threw me out the hatch to save teleporter energy

When you get to a certain age, whether you wear glasses or not, it is probably a good idea to see an ophthalmologist yearly anyway, as certain diseases like type 2 diabetes and various vascular diseases can show up in your eyes before you have any other symptoms. Changes in your retina can be seen easily by your eye doctor and are often a clue to other changes in your body.

I suppose its no different than seeing your dentist yearly and if your health insurance covers the cost of the exam, why not?

Especially if you enjoy lasers, you might benefit from knowing about damage to your retinas that you don't notice yourself right away.

Myself, I have had flashes and floaters for the last 30 years and I never know for sure if the flashes or light spots are benign symptoms of the aforementioned conditions, or new damage caused by any lapse in safe handling of my lasers.

When I see my eye doctor, I never mention the lasers, but I am confident that if there were any unnoticed damage occurring that he would say so to me, at which point I would reluctantly admit to enjoying the laser hobby just so he would know that the source of the damage wasn't from some other cause.

I think that if he ever did point out damage to my retinas, I would have to seriously reconsider keeping my lasers, as I know myself well enough to know that there is always a chance of being lazy about wearing safety glasses or getting carried away in my laser assault on some 6 or 8 legged arthropod intruding upon my domain.

I would also like to add that on the rare occasion that I do show off my lasers to anyone (mature adults), they are always informed that looking at the spot is dangerous and only to look at the beam itself. I tell them it is a lot brighter than it looks and the danger compares to staring into the sun or looking at the arc of a welder.

That being said, I have always wondered how the danger of seeing the spot of a high powered laser compares to something like the glint of sunlight off of a chrome bumper or similar reflective surface. Both are events similar in that they result in instant blink reflex, discomfort, and spots that fade after a while like a camera flash does. Bear in mind that direct beam exposure and reflection of lasers off of highly reflective surfaces is ALWAYS to be avoided because coherent light is much more hazardous that direct sunlight. I am only comparing the laser's spot to sunlight as the brightness seems similar to me.

445nm lasers are a very different thing, in my mind, because only recently, with the advent of blue lasers and high power blue LEDs, has there been a source of such pure blue light. Bright pure blue light seems very different than other colors to me because nothing else leaves a yellow (in the case of blue light) after image so intensely. Our eyes evolved in an environment where such pure blue light sources never existed before, and I assume that our eyes are likely to lack any natural protection for intense pure blue light. Even my humble 300mW blue laser concerns me more than any of my other wavelength lasers do. Consequently, I tend to "play" with my blue lasers with much more caution. I think that when you get up into 405nm lasers, things, like the UV blocking in my glasses, tend to attenuate the near-UV light quite a lot, as I often have to remove my glasses to see the 405nm beam clearly. Be that as it may, all wavelengths deserve the same respect, though some wavelengths, like 445nm, tend to elicit more of an alarmed response in me, due to their unique nature.

No matter what, playing it safe, is always a better policy than being careless or complacent. Changing your safety habits after the damage is done will only leave you with regret, or worse yet, unable to enjoy your hobby or have normal vision for the rest of your life.

Whether your are paranoid of laser damage to your eyes, or you think that the dangers are over stated, you need to consider a different hobby all together, as it shows that either you need more education on the topic of lasers, or that you think that you are invincible which makes you a danger to others and to yourself, IMHO.

I would strongly suggest indicating you are working with lasers when you have your eyes examined, and not depend on any medical personell to guess what is causing damage, if any.

To us here, laser dangers are a part of daily life and something we accept, but the incidence of such risk in the general population is very low. You could risk mis-diagnosing or ignoring issues if you do not mention using lasers on a regular basis.

Trusting an optometrist with your behaviour is important to get proper diagnosis and treatment if it were ever required. Don't expect any optometrist to see retinal damage and immediately thing 'laser!' - its too uncommon to be recognized straight away unless you mention it yourself.

Benm said:

I would strongly suggest indicating you are working with lasers when you have your eyes examined, and not depend on any medical personell to guess what is causing damage, if any.

To us here, laser dangers are a part of daily life and something we accept, but the incidence of such risk in the general population is very low. You could risk mis-diagnosing or ignoring issues if you do not mention using lasers on a regular basis.

Trusting an optometrist with your behaviour is important to get proper diagnosis and treatment if it were ever required. Don't expect any optometrist to see retinal damage and immediately thing 'laser!' - its too uncommon to be recognized straight away unless you mention it yourself.

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You make a very valid point, Benm.

Perhaps I should have stated it differently, in that I avoid bringing up lasers with my ophthalmologist to avoid being scolded or lectured by him on matters that I ought to know better about... Not that I wish to leave him guessing about anything, but rather that I trust that if there were any damage, he would surely spot it because I get the complete exam, not just a new lens prescription, once a year. I also have photos of my retinas on file that were taken before I took up the laser hobby. If any damage were noticed, I would surely "fess up", as it would be important diagnostic information for any remedial action to be taken. If ever damage my eyes with lasers, I would surely take the lectures and scolding that I deserved.

I fully admit that I do not practice 100% laser safety. That is my choice and my judgment alone. That, being the choice of a mature and informed adult. I am fully aware of the risks and I am willing to accept a small risk, just as I accept also accept a much larger risk to my life and safety every time I leave my driveway in a motor vehicle and put myself at the mercy of all the idiotic drivers I am sharing the road with. It is also a choice I would never make for anyone else, meaning that I fully warn my friends and family members of the dangers and have safety glasses on hand for them. That being said, I rarely show them to anyone, and when I do, its only a brief demonstration in a safe place.

To all the laser hobbyists who are not yet mature adults, think of this: The younger you are, the longer you will have to live with the consequences of your lapses in good judgment or the risks you take. If you have any brain at all, you will head the warnings of those who have gone before you.

I say that, because in NO WAY AT ALL at all do I intend anything that I wrote to be taken as an endorsement of a casual attitude toward laser safety. I am only being truthful in admitting that I am human and will likely make stupid choices in the future, though hopefully, fewer of them and with greater consideration of the risks..