the consensus seems to be the HF hoods are fine. MCDONALDS OF TOOL STORES!! HAHAHAHAHAHA thats a good one.

Just because she was curious my wife look this up in her Physicians Desk Reference.

Recommendation: Seek immediate treatment by an ophthalmologist.

Potential consequences of flash burns include: Retinal scarring, perforations of the eye and loss of vision (nuf said).

They will treat by dilating and using analgesics.

It has been a long time since I have posted, but I feel the need to add my $.02.

I fried my eyes the first day working at a factory, doing touch ups on robotic welds. It was completely my fault I was offered an auto darken hood and told them my hood would get me through the shift. Well the work was very fast paced and I did not have time to repostion my hood, so I burnt my eyes.

The next day I called in sick which got me fired (again my fault). I spent the entire day on the couch with a wet rag over my eyes. I did not know that I was supposed to go the ER, for the eye drops. To this day my eyes still bother me. I'm very protective of my eyes and get a new lens when the old one gets a scratch. But I still get itchy/burning eyes if I stay in the sun for a while.

This happened to me several months ago.However it woke me up at 3:00 AM.I bolted straight up in the bed,grabbed hold of my wife and said "I AM BLIND!!"
Forgot all about welding earlier that day.I described it to her as if ants were crawling around under my eyes when I closed my eyes.I felt my way to the bathroom for some eye wash,that did not help,but it did soothe the irritation enough that I was able to get my self back in check before I woke the kids up.I remembered what I did at work earlier and realized I had flash burn.Went and got in the bed,sat straight up with a pillow against the headboard and eventually went to sleep.Woke up later the next afternoon and was ok.Must have been awful mild,but sure thought I was losing my sight at first.Scary stuff.I bought an auto darkening Miller,the next day at Welders Supply,and won't strike an arc without it.I use to cut steel with the smoke wrench and not wear goggles,I won't even do that anymore and never had any ill effects from that.You do not get a second chance with your eyes.

I have had people argue that you can not get flash burn from a torch, THIS IS NOT TRUE! It takes a lot longer but you can indeed get burned. This however is only a minor problem compared to what is far more likely to happen and that is hot spatter which will leave a FAR more serious burn that could very well leave you permanently scared or PERMANENTLY blind.


Since you were ok the next afternoon you did have a mild case now imagine how painful a severe case would have been when you woke up.

whatever you do don't put any type of eye drops.
What i do is cut a potatoe in half and cut the edges so that they will fit to your eyelids, then tie them with a piece of cloth from around your head. It will be like a blindfold that will hold the halfs of the potatoe's. That's the only way you will sleep. And don't look at the light from the welding anymore.

You apparently did not read this thread, DO NOT!!! put potatoes on your eyes This old myth, and that is what it is a MYTH, has been around about as long as welding and it can lead to an infection in your eyes that can cause a relatively minor problem to become a major problem. This has been explained over and over including in this thread so there is no point in going over the whole thing again. As far as drops there are several medications that can be used, although none I know of that are OTC, and a person needs to see a doctor for eye drops that will both bring relief from the pain and contain an antibiotic to prevent infection which is the biggest concern (and it may very well happen with a non-sterile "treatment" like a potato).

I bought a auto darken helmet from a local weld supply place, the helmet is called Real Gear it has adjustable shades 9-13 i usually use a #10., I've only used it in my welding class at school but I am very happy with it. I realize I am a younger guy but I try not to take any chances after getting a hot spark from a torch in my eye working in a frame shop I went out and bought myself a personal pair of darkend glasses the next day.

When it comes to welding flashes, this works almost every time ----

go to your electric stove, turn on the biggest element, let it come to bright glow, bring your face down to within approx. eight inches from the burner,and for 10 to 15 seconds holding your eyes wide open and let the heat draw out inflmation. Somewhere in the twenties someone discoverd this
method, still works today. By the way, if you get to close burn marks hurt like hell and cause scaring.Lincoln Kid

That is the dumbest thing I think I have ever heard. Or a piss poor joke.

Heat does not draw out the effects of ultraviolet rays from your eyes.

.



later, mikey

__________________
my signature lines...not really directed at anyone in particular..

BE different....ACT normal.

No one is completely useless..They can always be used as a bad example

that stove trick might be true ! Years ago when I was a welder, when ever the senior welder would get a burn, he would lite up the torch, hold it next to the burn, said it takes away the pain ! I always though he was nuts , may it was me, in not believing him !

that is THEE STUPIDEST thing i EVER heard yet..yea just boil your eyeballs right out of your sockets..at'll take care of the weld flash ...

Don't waste your time with potatoes,THAT DON'T WORK!!!! That is a joke!! A good cold rag will do much better then potatoes any day!!!!

Hold flash burned eyes over a hot stove? I hate to call someone stupid but that is STUPID! AND holding a torch close to a burn to relieve pain is just as STUPID! This must be a troll post, surely nobody could be that dumb, could they?

Every time I ever had a burn and it got close to something hot,It hurt more!! I'm with OLDRED ON THIS ONE,It does spell STUPID!!!!!!