I joined because I really need advice on my eye

Hello, I work at a Paper Mill in Alabama. I was using a Raytek MT6 infrared thermometer with visual laser when I accidentally reflected the laser beam off of an aluminum bar right into my left eyeball. It barely hurt at first, but the eye has been burning for four days now. I know nothing about lasers, however, I am concerned that some non-visible light might have burned my retina. The MT6 says "class II laser: 630-670mw and < 1mw" but Im afraid that this label only applies to the red dot you aim with. Im afraid the device might use some kind of non-visible beam to measure temperature. Or maybe that is stupid, i dont know is the problem and my eye burns like a sun burn feeling. Can anybody give me some advice as I have no insurance and would like to avoid the hospital if possible. thank you very much and sorry if this is the wrong place

i can tell you it must not be from the infrared thermometer. 1mW will not do anything until a long period of time. I have one of these infrared thermometers and it is completely safe. i suggest going to a doctor. i can tell you that it is definitley not from the laser though. I appreciate your respect for the danger of lasers though.

Infrared thermometers are passive. They are like cameras that don't emit any radiation except for the laser aiming beam but just receive thermal (longwave?) IR.

The eye irritation might have been caused by other factors or your imagination since I've read of other cases here where they have been hit by high power lasers, they don't feel anything but already have a blind spot. I could be wrong though, but I'm positive on the IR thermometer thing.

This class of laser would take extremely long exposure to cause any noticeable damage . You would literally have to point it at your eye and stare at it for a good amount of time. The reflection you got in the eye probably cause you to blink and turn away. This involuntary reaction is so fast , their is no possibility of the thermometer doing this much damage.

If you did a lot of 'rubbing' that may be the cause of your eye pain as it was not the device you were using........ especially a reflected beam for a short time- our natural involuntary blink reflex happens in .25 seconds -

Smart tho that you came here and asked-- if you stay-- welcome