Well I stared into a 405nm laser pointer when I was like 13 years old (STUPID action ...).
Before the blue-violet laser pointer I used to play with a 650NM actual 1mw laser pointer(certified) that will do "nothing" but several seconds of afterimages when directly observed , and I can observe the "moon rock"like thing in that red laser pointer , without any symptoms or damages
Then I got a 405NM laser pointer from some random seller labelled like 5mw , the only thing I can know is that I can see a faintly beam trail in pitchdark night but not daytime
Before I can know the fact that human eye is insensitive to 405nm so the light may look deceiving dark like an actual low power one but still it would do damage , I thought that this pointer is actually low powered (but in fact have a high probability of mislabel , with the power can be as high as 50-100 mW after reading something here) and looked into it for several seconds with my myopia glasses on at the distance of 0.5M , No "rock surface" effects were observed , after that exposure , no pain , no flashblindness , no "pop" sound , no dizzy , with some afterimage that disappered like in 1 hours or disappeared next day , no direct beam exposure after that , and the next year I lose that laser pointer.
Visual acuity (corrected by myopia glasses) and visual field was normal then and now , no scotoma/blindspot , no distorted viewing so I forgot that exposure . After accidentally come across this forum and laserpointersafety.com this month I realized that I WAS WRONG and TERRIFIED AF for what I had done . I could have blind myself if something went wrong , or in theorically, Then I immediately visited an eye doctor this week and done some exam , including OCT scan and Fundus Photography , visual acuity and visual field check , silt lamp check, revealed nothing wrong. The doctor told me that if the laser pointer hit the fovea i cant be with no symptom and warned me to immediately discard any laser product. Well the story will probably end here but I still dont know why I dont have any damage.The laser pointer in question could be way higher than 5mW , in fact , no actual 5mW 405nm pointer can be found in the ebay according to several researches and some post at this forum , it can have 50-100mW according to some posts in this forum.
So what may saved me? I thought of several possibilities
1.Human eye cant focus to near UV light , or have some chromatic aberration , so that the retinal image of the pointer is actually not precisely focused on the retina , reducing its power strength per area.
2.My eyeglasses claimed to protect against UV and bluelight so maybe the eyeglasses flitered much energy out of the laser output to the extent that it may have no or little damage(This is what this forum advocate , wear your protective goggles on , however the standard glass isnt that effective against lasers so this is not recommended) this can explain why i only observed some blue dots instead of violet
What eye damage may already happened?And why my eye seems normal?
1.photochemical damage from UV light?Will I have eye cancer because of the DNA damage?
2.Retinal holes too small to be detected in SD-OCT? and the brain filled in the very small scotoma? but I cant feel any.
3.Contrast sensivity loss? This is actually possible because I read some research that photic injury may reduce contrast sensitivity even with no scotoma/blind spot kind of damage.This is most possibly damage that happened because I felt I cant see thing "that clearly" at night but cant sure if it is still in normal range
4.other damage I dont know?
5.I felt that my eye can have some minimal afterimage even after viewing text on the computer screen , such as laserpointerforum text , and may felt a flash in the center of the visual field the moment I closed my eye , I told that to the doctor and he said it is just eye fatigue , maybe the mental effect ,eye fatigue or within normal range?I dont know.
6.I have like two layers of IS/OS junction on oct , many image I found online only has one layer , could that be something related to laser pointer? The doctor said that it was a normal variant , probably inherited rather than caused by laser pointers
Can those eye exams ever discovery something 8 Years after exposure , If there were any damage?If no what should I do now.
If I can read texts , books , computer screens , play thousands hours of FPS like team fortress 2 without any symptom what damage else can I have
What eye exam can I do next step
What should I do now?
I am terrified AF and cant sleep these days because the potential injury that may occur
Yes I am lucky compared to those who left permanent spot in eyes or reduced vision , but still I felt TERRIFIED AF after learning the laser safety knowledge
can someone give some advice to me
Before the blue-violet laser pointer I used to play with a 650NM actual 1mw laser pointer(certified) that will do "nothing" but several seconds of afterimages when directly observed , and I can observe the "moon rock"like thing in that red laser pointer , without any symptoms or damages
Then I got a 405NM laser pointer from some random seller labelled like 5mw , the only thing I can know is that I can see a faintly beam trail in pitchdark night but not daytime
Before I can know the fact that human eye is insensitive to 405nm so the light may look deceiving dark like an actual low power one but still it would do damage , I thought that this pointer is actually low powered (but in fact have a high probability of mislabel , with the power can be as high as 50-100 mW after reading something here) and looked into it for several seconds with my myopia glasses on at the distance of 0.5M , No "rock surface" effects were observed , after that exposure , no pain , no flashblindness , no "pop" sound , no dizzy , with some afterimage that disappered like in 1 hours or disappeared next day , no direct beam exposure after that , and the next year I lose that laser pointer.
Visual acuity (corrected by myopia glasses) and visual field was normal then and now , no scotoma/blindspot , no distorted viewing so I forgot that exposure . After accidentally come across this forum and laserpointersafety.com this month I realized that I WAS WRONG and TERRIFIED AF for what I had done . I could have blind myself if something went wrong , or in theorically, Then I immediately visited an eye doctor this week and done some exam , including OCT scan and Fundus Photography , visual acuity and visual field check , silt lamp check, revealed nothing wrong. The doctor told me that if the laser pointer hit the fovea i cant be with no symptom and warned me to immediately discard any laser product. Well the story will probably end here but I still dont know why I dont have any damage.The laser pointer in question could be way higher than 5mW , in fact , no actual 5mW 405nm pointer can be found in the ebay according to several researches and some post at this forum , it can have 50-100mW according to some posts in this forum.
So what may saved me? I thought of several possibilities
1.Human eye cant focus to near UV light , or have some chromatic aberration , so that the retinal image of the pointer is actually not precisely focused on the retina , reducing its power strength per area.
2.My eyeglasses claimed to protect against UV and bluelight so maybe the eyeglasses flitered much energy out of the laser output to the extent that it may have no or little damage(This is what this forum advocate , wear your protective goggles on , however the standard glass isnt that effective against lasers so this is not recommended) this can explain why i only observed some blue dots instead of violet
What eye damage may already happened?And why my eye seems normal?
1.photochemical damage from UV light?Will I have eye cancer because of the DNA damage?
2.Retinal holes too small to be detected in SD-OCT? and the brain filled in the very small scotoma? but I cant feel any.
3.Contrast sensivity loss? This is actually possible because I read some research that photic injury may reduce contrast sensitivity even with no scotoma/blind spot kind of damage.This is most possibly damage that happened because I felt I cant see thing "that clearly" at night but cant sure if it is still in normal range
4.other damage I dont know?
5.I felt that my eye can have some minimal afterimage even after viewing text on the computer screen , such as laserpointerforum text , and may felt a flash in the center of the visual field the moment I closed my eye , I told that to the doctor and he said it is just eye fatigue , maybe the mental effect ,eye fatigue or within normal range?I dont know.
6.I have like two layers of IS/OS junction on oct , many image I found online only has one layer , could that be something related to laser pointer? The doctor said that it was a normal variant , probably inherited rather than caused by laser pointers
Can those eye exams ever discovery something 8 Years after exposure , If there were any damage?If no what should I do now.
If I can read texts , books , computer screens , play thousands hours of FPS like team fortress 2 without any symptom what damage else can I have
What eye exam can I do next step
What should I do now?
I am terrified AF and cant sleep these days because the potential injury that may occur
Yes I am lucky compared to those who left permanent spot in eyes or reduced vision , but still I felt TERRIFIED AF after learning the laser safety knowledge
can someone give some advice to me
