Hi. I'm a bit worried about something and just looking for reassurance.
I was playing around with a blue laser in a dark room last thursday and think it may have damaged my eye. I don't think it's anything permanent but I'm still scared and I'm not sure what I should be expecting, so I've got a few questions.
Bit of info first...
It is labelled class iii 1mw 405nm, but I now understand a lot of these things are mislabelled, and are often more powerful, which is one of my concerns. I was wearing ski glasses at the time which protect in the 400nm range.
I was being careful not to look directly at the beam, but I think it reflected off a chrome surface and shone across my vision. It was playing with it for about 5 min in total, but stopped as soon as that happened.
My left eye became slightly irritated after a few mins and was tingling like I'd just washed my face with mint showergel. It was only the bottom left eyelid though really, not the actual eye-ball, which is strange and something I don't understand.
I was worried but the pain wasn't bad enough to stop me sleeping or anything, infact it really helped. I woke up feeling fine, but after 30min or so, the same part of the eye was tingling again, so I managed to get a doctors appointment for the same day (last friday).
Doc pressed around area and asked if it was sore, which it was not. He then dropped some green dye onto eye to inspect it, and he said he couldn't see any signs of damage. Don't think he checked retina or lens and just said come back if vision gets worse.
The tingling faded over the next few days, but now I just have the feeling something isn't quite right and I can't put my finger on it. I've not noticed any dark spots or anything, but I seem to be able to focus further using the other eye. And I feel a bit more sensitive to bright lights now.
Is this something which will improve over time?
I feel like I have less energy since then as well, which is odd, but might just because I'm worrying.
If there is a possibilty I could have permanently damaged my eyes in anyway, would I "know about it" instantly or does this take weeks/months to notice? And can you explain what these injuries could be.
Please help. What steps should I take?
I love my eyes and vision and feel like a fool.
Thanks in advance
Dan