Has anyone experience a laser injury?

[edslittleworld]

I am curious. Has anyone on this forum heard of actual eye damage due to reflections, scatter or such?

I'm pretty careful when close up burning with my 200mW Spartan and 750mW Krypton. I have some Eagle Pair goggles that work great.

However, I do like observing diffuse reflections on objects (over 30 ft away) not wearing goggles.

When do you draw the line on wearing goggles vs not wearing goggles for Class 3B lasers and higher? Are the dangers different for other wavelengths?

 

[Dreadnought]

If you aim a laser at a window, the light will be reflected and may cause damage. IR could also causs damage.

Dangers are different for each wavelength, for instance; green is pretty dangerous because of IR.

 

[VanillahGorilla]

I am fairly certain there is one or more stickies pertaining to this, with actual user experiences, as well as secondhand stories of laser hits to the eye. It is tempting to look at the dot up close, but it isn't worth burning up your only set of eyeballs you know? Better safe than sorry is the way to go, don't risk it.

 

[Pi R Squared]

405nm is dangerous because you can barly see it. Yes there have been a few cases here of actual eye damage, also burns, always avoid contact with the beam with anything class 4. I frequently observe my lasers without goggles because I like to view the beam, but there is no chance of reflection or an accident, but some I can't look at the dot too close. At 200mW and 750mW you should be ok at over 30ft, there can be an exception if the surface is highly reflective like glass. If the dot seems too bright to look at then it is, but at those powers I think you are ok. If you see after images, especially pink squiggly lines for 10 seconds then I think you are probably stretching it.

Alan

 

[10fenny]

http://laserpointerforums.com/f53/hit-eye-1000mw-445nm-blue-laser-69469.html
ill just put this here.. I read the whole thing after ordering my first 1w 445! scared the hell out of me. which is good, for lasers are dangerous!!

 

[AMooMooCow]

I used to think I had eye damage from looking at my class 4 laser dots on a wall, but then I found out that when I shake my eyeballs back and forth really fast that the dark spot relocates. I have floaters everywhere in there. Kinda makes it hard to see small/far text sometimes.

I had a few close calls though. One time holding a 301 laser with a 16340 backwards by mistake and shining it behind my head, missing by inches. 301 lasers look pretty symmetrical when you load a 16340

 

[Atomicrox]

Floaters are "normal" in the sense that everyone has them. The damn things also increase with age. I have lots of 'em, have asked my ophthalmologist a few times and she said it's not laser damage (or anything dangerous). Thing is, the more you pay attention to it the worse it gets!

As for the OT, I think the odds of a diffuse reflection over a meter away causing damage are slim to none. Else we'd see hundreds of "my eyeballs got fried" topics and news reports. Class 4 lasers have been sold to the general public for at least 5 years now and I only remember a handful of posts like that, and half of them looked fake anyways. The two confirmed cases that have been posted here were both of direct hits with ~1W.

As for wavelength, IR is more dangerous in that it won't make you blink, but around 1500nm it starts to get safer because it doesn't get to the retina. From 400nm to 700nm it makes little difference. UV is very dangerous, but it's so expensive you don't have to worry at all.

Just use the goggles when burning stuff or pointing around at close range (a few meters) and you'll be fine.

 

[Grix]

A took a direct hit from a 30mW green laser once. I had a small blurry blindspot in the center of my vision for several weeks, but eventually it actually healed completely.

 

[CoherentRays]

A took a direct hit from a 30mW green laser once. I had a small blurry blindspot in the center of my vision for several weeks, but eventually it actually healed completely.

That sounds fortunate that healing was possible. Did you do anything in terms of medications, vitamins, or other treatment to promote the healing?

Have you had a retinal examination by an ophthalmologist to confirm that there is no residual damage or is it possible that your brain might be compensating for a damaged area?

I ask because I'm very concerned with doing all I can to maintain my own eye health.

Ed

 

[AngelOfDarkness]

Yes, I have eye damage.

A few years ago, someone with a green laser shined into my eyes.
I don't know how powerful it was, but the beam was very bright, brighter than any laser pointers I got.
I have no idea who it was, but the eye damage is just some weird circles in my eyes.

 

[Encap]

I am curious. Has anyone on this forum heard of actual eye damage due to reflections, scatter or such?

I'm pretty careful when close up burning with my 200mW Spartan and 750mW Krypton. I have some Eagle Pair goggles that work great.

However, I do like observing diffuse reflections on objects (over 30 ft away) not wearing goggles.

When do you draw the line on wearing goggles vs not wearing goggles for Class 3B lasers and higher? Are the dangers different for other wavelengths?

Study these two web sites, until you understand thp: Laser Pointer Safety - Laser safety calculations
and
http://www.lasersafetyfacts.com/resources/Laser-hazard-distance-chart.pdf

 

[Atomicrox]

That second link has a lot of bullshit. No way in hell a <5mW laser can burn skin or be a fire hazard.. unless the batts explode

Biggest problem with laser safety is misinformation. And there's a lot of that out there.

 

[joeyss]

Yeah i got hit by one of those cheap green lasers that have a smaller dot around 30mw.

I was working on it and it wasn't coming on shock it and then bam right in the eye.

I thought half my vision was gone. I took lots of Advil for several days and the huge spot and headache went away.

if you get hit take 800mg of Advil so it stops inflammation and go to the DR asap.

This was 5 years ago and all i have is a tiny spot in my left eye.


see and that's what even a cheap low powered green can do imagine these 3watt plus ones will do. Wear goggles ppl.

 

[Grix]

That sounds fortunate that healing was possible. Did you do anything in terms of medications, vitamins, or other treatment to promote the healing?

Have you had a retinal examination by an ophthalmologist to confirm that there is no residual damage or is it possible that your brain might be compensating for a damaged area?

I ask because I'm very concerned with doing all I can to maintain my own eye health.

Ed

No, I didn't do anything and I didn't see an eye doctor. In hindsight maybe I should have though, I probably got lucky.

I guess it's possible that it's just the brain compensating, but if so I honestly don't see the practical difference between that and no injury, because I see just fine, even small details exactly where the blindspot used to be.

 

[CoherentRays]

It sounds like you didn't have any lasting damage then, if you can still see fine detail. There is a very small area of the retina that really registers fine detail and that area must still be OK.

When I was younger I used to read scales on slide rules and vernier calipers with ease. At some point, in my late forties or fifties, I started realizing I needed to use a magnifying glass to read those vernier scales with precision. I've been pretty conscious of the fragility and value of good eyesight since then.

Ed

 

[james34602]

I have temporary eye damage on 405nm and 532nm.
Consider that 405nm got shorter wavelength and higher energy and 405nm have spectrum at 380nm, it pretty danger. 10mW 405nm spend me one month from recover my eye damage, one blue-black spot on my eye.
For 532nm, it's do less damage, 100mW without IR filter, take one week on my eye to recover.