Young Teen Boy Has Lost 75% Of His Vision
because of a small toy
Optometry Tasmania released a warning to all parents: Laser pointers ARE NOT toys!
Optometrist Ben Armitage (Hobart Australia) was asked to examine sudden vision problems in a 14-year young teen boy. Armitage states “He came in to see me on Friday night after he’s had actually obtained hold of a laser pointer pen and also regrettably beamed it in his eyes for a really short period of time”
The sad Result?
The boy’s vision is currently only 25 % of what is taken into consideration 20/20 vision, effectively the loss of 75 % of his vision.
“He’s actually managed to burn the retina at the back of the eye near an area called the macula ”, Armitage reported.
Since the macula is an area for a lot of thorough vision, the impacts on vision loss were exaggerated. The boy reported feeling no pain at the time but started to right away experience acute vision loss. Armitage is hoping that a reduction in swelling will aid the boy in regaining a bit of his vision.
The damage can not be repaired … not even with glasses!
The laser pointer burns happened in areas where the young teen boy will certainly never gain vision again. Think of the situation similar to this, assume you have a camera and the sensor is destroyed. Regardless of what lens you place on after that, there will always be an area where the vision is greatly influenced in the camera. Our eyes work the same way.
For the boy, the area of vision that was impacted was the central vision, which lets you focus straight ahead, enabling you to read, drive, and see information sharp and clear. No surgical treatment, glasses, or anything could recover this kid’s central vision. Armitage’s hope is that more vision will be restored as the swelling declines.
The more powerful a laser pointer, the higher the risk it could trigger damage if shone directly right into the eyes. There have been clinical records of ocular injury from the misuse of laser tools, including macula damages as well as foveolar burns.
The legal laser pointers usually used for ‘PowerPoint Presentations’ are of a reduced power. Customers ought to always pay attention to labels and also cautions, and as well make sure any sort of laser tool has a power of 1 mW or less and adapts international laws prior to acquiring, especially if buying online.
Ultimately, as a result of this incident, Optometry Tasmania has warned parents not to consider laser pointers as toys.
Klaudia xx