Hit in eye with 1000mw 445nm blue laser

xoul said:

I have been doing a lot of research for any treatments, but it seems the only option I have right now is to wait until we have clinical trials for stem cell injections . The Schepens Eye Research Institute seems to heading that direction, but there's no telling when or if that will ever come to fruition. I'll be honest and say that before this incident I had no idea that the tissue in your eye was incapable of regenerating like say, the skin tissue on your arm.

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Mother Nature works in own way - it gave TWO eyes but took away a regeneration As I understand the brain takes care of bad spots. It simply ignores them, when viewed with both eyes.

Try to think what you might do with low power lasers just to overcome your emotional discomfort. Maybe some scientific type experiments :thinking:

Take care.

I think I will pass on any experiments.

Oh, and I'm going to keep the laser, since it has a greater significance to me than it would anyone else. Also, I want to be able to show people the laser that took my sight in an instant.

Sorry to hear that this has affected your life in such a negative way.

On a positive note, retina repair could come sooner than you think. Scientists have already grown retinal cells in the lab, so who knows how quickly technology could progress within a few years.

link: Physicians grow retinas from human blood-derived stem cells

Thank you for sharing, and updating us. I really hope this helps some people to appreciate the need to be careful with lasers.

xoul said:

I read an article where some ravers in Russia were blinded at an event from a laser projector that was pointed at the crowd that was meant to be pointed in the sky. I can't help but feel terrible for them, since i know very well how this type of injury impacts your life. I wish I could find out more about what happened to them, but since I don't understand Russian, I haven't been able to find any other information.

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I read up about the incident in russian - it's my native language. There isn't really that much more information vs what you see in translations in english.

Originally the event was supposed to be completely outdoors. Due to weather it was moved under a large tent, and the projector, which was aimed at the sky, was pointed at the crowd. No safety precautions whatsoever were taken with it, seeing as it was set to point UP. I remember seeing a youtube video of it, and of a camera getting hit... pretty scary.

Since these people, the ones most affected were partying, drinking, and quite a few getting high, basically all ignored the problem until well after the party, and into next day, in some cases several days.

It's very likely that not even all the people affected came forward.

I do remember an investigation into it was in progress, but I don't know if anything ever materialized from it.

If you find any articles in russian you want translated, or at least summarized, let me know, I'll help you out.

lazeristasUVISIR said:

As I understand the brain takes care of bad spots. It simply ignores them, when viewed with both eyes.

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This is true, unfortunately there is a limitation on how much your brain can compensate for.

If you want an example, wear glasses. Just sunglasses will do.

A bunch of really tiny pieces of dust, are likely to not bother you at all.

Now put a blob of paint, whiteout, whatever, on one of the lenses, and I promise you, all of a sudden it becomes very very annoying.

Or think in terms of the computer monitor analogy. A single dead pixel on a 1920x1080 monitor is not really bothersome.

A hundred few thousand dead pixels clumped together though, a cluster, will really stand out, and bother you.

InfinitusEquitas said:

This is true, unfortunately there is a limitation on how much your brain can compensate for.

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My mom had a traffic accident [she was pushed of the road when bicycling and fell]. She told that something pinged in her head. Only later she noticed when blocked one eye, that her other eye did not function. :cryyy: I image that her brain simple ignored the lack of the bad eye.

lazeristasUVISIR said:

My mom had a traffic accident [she was pushed of the road when bicycling and fell]. She told that something pinged in her head. Only later she noticed when blocked one eye, that her other eye did not function. :cryyy: I image that her brain simple ignored the lack of the bad eye.

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That's pretty crazy, and sad. I hope she recovered vision in the eye later? Hopefully there were no other cranial injuries. I read about cases where the optic nerve is basically pinched off, and if it happens for a while, it can become permanent.

Injuries are kind of hard to notice when your adrenaline is is high, and you're kind of in shock. I have had a few occasions where I didn't realize I was bleeding, or had a severe bruise, until a little after.

While your condition sucks, sorry to say that .. but it's good for community to have such a well documented example. I mean you turned an accident into wisdom .. most people can't do that. While it may mean little for you in long term, I'm glad for it, and I thank you for that :beer:

lazeristasUVISIR said:

My mom had a traffic accident [she was pushed of the road when bicycling and fell]. She told that something pinged in her head. Only later she noticed when blocked one eye, that her other eye did not function. :cryyy: I image that her brain simple ignored the lack of the bad eye.

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Wow, I'm really sorry for your mother . I hope she is able to heal. It's amazing that she didn't notice the eye wasn't working until later. The way the brain perceives what the eye sees is boggling to me.

Just re-read this thread after not having read it in a while, this is my worst nightmare. Any positive words to help me overcome my little "fear" of loosing my vision due to lasers would be much appreciated. I'm sure it would help xoul as well.

Gun said:

Just re-read this thread after not having read it in a while, this is my worst nightmare. Any positive words to help me overcome my little "fear" of loosing my vision due to lasers would be much appreciated. I'm sure it would help xoul as well.

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Yes. SAFETY GOGGLES use the correct goggles for each color laser and don't ever become complacent with lasers.

xoul said:

I think I will pass on any experiments.

Oh, and I'm going to keep the laser, since it has a greater significance to me than it would anyone else. Also, I want to be able to show people the laser that (almost) took my sight in an instant.

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Fix'd

Ash,but there is no glasses for all wavelengths,just wondering what people wear when picturing laser rainbow photos...

I can't speak for anyone else, but I use multi wavelength safety glasses and use lower power lasers for the colors I am not protected from.
Eagle Pair® 190-540nm & 800-2000nm Laser Safety Goggles

You wear the goggles setting up.

Setting up, and securing the lasers one at a time.

Once everything is set, you take the goggles off, to enjoy the purty colors.

^ Your avatar is awesome! That looks sooo cool

Wow. Reading over this thread really emphasizes the importance of safety goggles. I'm glad I've already ordered mine, and I don't have my laser yet.

Best of luck to you Xoul, hopefully this will improve over time, or will atleast become tolerable.

Thank you for the update. I have always wondered how the healing process has been going (though I'm new). I hope the clinical trials in stem cell research continue to progress. I hope you are keeping all of these experiences logged, as well as the different medical trials and progress. It would make an interesting read for laser enthusiasts and normal people alike(bad wording I know).