How exactly does eye damage from lasers look like?

HanMan5000 · Jun 1, 2009

Thank god, I haven't ever had eye damage from my lasers although I don't have glasses yet. But I'm asking what does it look like. Do you just see a spot? Is it visible? Can it be fixed by going to the doctor? This kind of stuff makes me curious, so can anyone who has eye damage tell me what its like?

And if you do have eye damage, I'm sorry to hear that :undecided:.

lemonwonder · Jun 1, 2009

I heard you just get a blind spot..

Jaseth · Jun 1, 2009

It usually gives a cloudy area of your vision or even a completely black spot. It will feel as if there is an area you cannot focus completely on, and will make it difficult to perform tasks such a reading. Often it also involves headaches and colourblindness to the wavelength you were blinded with.. for example, if your vision is damaged by a 532nm laser (green), when you look at a green leaf or the green digits of a digital clock, it may appear grey in the area of your vision which has been damaged.
Mild damage will be fixed by your brain within a few days or weeks, but any serious damage will to my knowledge be permanent, and all and eye doctor can do it stop it from getting even worse.
You may want to refer to The Amsler Grid to test your vision: http://www.eyescience.com/test-your-vision/

lemonwonder · Jun 1, 2009

Wow.. Nice and detailed. Our brain fixes the damage itself, wonder if it just adapts the "codes etc that process images to make color X a bit brighter so it looks like the origional before blindness" or if it actually physically repairs the eye.

Jaseth · Jun 1, 2009

I believe it is partly actual recovery and partly the brain adapting and filling in missing areas, though I am far from sure on this point.
One survey I do remember which shows your brain adapting to the environment is one in which they gave people special goggles which flipped their vision upside down. Within weeks, the brain had actually flipped their vision too, so they once again saw like normal people. When they then removed the goggles, they had to wait weeks to see the proper way around once more. Very interesting stuff.

jander6442 · Jun 1, 2009

That is just for light exposure^^^... here is some major damage

again

and finally

bottom line get some protection

HanMan5000 · Jun 1, 2009

Reading what you said, it might be the rods in our eyes that get damaged..

I actually remember this in biology, the rods, color receptors in our eyes, might get temporarily damaged then fixed.

karbon · Jun 1, 2009

lasers burn a part of the eye called the retina, which is where light is focused by the lens of the eye. once the retina is damaged it cannot be rectified, thus making lasers a very high danger to our vision

lemonwonder · Jun 1, 2009

Omg, upside down vision.. That is crazy!!! It'd be neat to be in that experiment (for about 5 mins)

ThunderBird89 · Jun 1, 2009

karbon said:
lasers burn a part of the eye called the retina, which is where light is focused by the lens of the eye. once the retina is damaged it cannot be rectified, thus making lasers a very high danger to our vision

Also, the energy can induce a change in the protein structure of the cornea or the vitreous humour(did I spell that right?), turning them opaque, and causing 'floaters' or something akin to cataracts, only on a smaller scale. Definitely not nice stuff...

chipdouglas · Jun 1, 2009

I couldn't find the thread but members discussed this and somebody had a math formula that showed how much a laser impacts the retina. Basically the the laser light is focused and goes into your retina, at which point your retina focuses it even more, which amplifies the affect. also 400-1400nm is absorbed in the retina and less wavelength affects the cornea

rog8811 · Jun 1, 2009

This photo is on the "lasers are not toys" page of my website.... gruesome isn't it?

Regards rog8811

Ash · Jun 2, 2009

I found this explanation to be very concise:
http://www.milankarakas.org/pub/Eye_injury/Eye_injury.html
Albeit, a bit scary as well knowing that I have some powerful pointers. But, i would never EVER do what he did.
An example of what a digital clock looks like with a burned portion of the retina from green:

Ouch! no thanks. I'll keep using my safety goggles.

Jaseth · Jun 2, 2009

Yes Ash, that was the same article I first heard about the colourblindness from

Pretty scary stuff! Get some proper goggles will you people?

HanMan5000 · Jun 2, 2009

HOLY SHI-

I'm getting goggles asap.

Which are the best ones ;O. !!... or if someone wants to send me sum

lemonwonder · Jun 2, 2009

O-Like has goggles, check laser accessories. Dragonlasers has em too and so does DX

How exactly does eye damage from lasers look like?

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