Is there anything to do for burned eyes from welding? I'm in so much pain right now!!!

how did ya burn em ? bad lense ? i would put some drops and go to sleep.

The most available remedy is to use the liquid out of a freshly peeled potato. You can also cut some thin slices from the potato and lay them on your eyelids with your eyelids closed. If this doesn't relieve the pain so you can make it thru the night, you may need to see a doctor. I have never found any over the counter drops that help much.

yeah the taters are supposed to work ......maybe a cold damp washcloth ..iiii Ive been lucky aint got burned yet.
Shane

Sliced taters work. Draws out the symptoms of the arc flash. It's amazing. I've had to do this many times over the years.

But as 41'srfun said if that does'nt work you probably have a bad case of flash and you'll need to seek medical attention.

Don't take a chance on your eyes dude.

Don't use potatos. Use clean ice packs, Visene, murine, eyewash from the first aid kit...don't put vegetable juice into a damaged eye. Potatoes grow in the dirt.

Read through this thread.

http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/wel...ghlight=potato\

If you have an emergency room you can go to have them put some ophthalmic tetracaine..That will get the sand out.
Other than that there ain't much you can do...

Later, mikey

__________________
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BE different....ACT normal.

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

I know arc flash We were welding a pan up on a Volkswagen one evening. I would turn my back everytime my buddy fired up the welder so I would not look at it. I have heard of arc flash but never experienced it until then. The walls were white in the room that we were in and 5 hours of welding did me in. The reflection off of the walls was enough to give me a severe case of arc flash. It is basically sunburnt eyes. My 91 year old father told me to put potatoes (peeled and sliced over my eyes.
) Your eyelids will basically absorb the iodine from the potato to help heal it. I have also heard of whole milk to help but really don't know about that. I was off work for three days as I could not see. Lesson well learned. Always wear a helmet whether or not you look directly at the flash or not. It felt just like sand in both eyes that had been ground in.

DON'T USE POTATOES!!!!! You can cause an infection that can leave you BLIND! This was discussed a while back and I know this old remedy has been around forever but in spite of what some will insist it DOES NOT WORK and don't let anyone tell you it does! It seems to work because the potatoes cool your eyes and relieve the pain but ice works better, but better still see a doctor. Fellows this is your eyes you are talking about and this is nothing to take a chance on with some nonsense like potatoes and if some want to do this and insist it is ok then let them do it but they have been warned, don't believe me? Ask your doctor! Infection is the biggest danger and the burn will usually heal ok with little to no lasting damage, that is unless you cause an infection with something non-sterile like potatoes

I agree with several other posters here!

Go to the Doctor!!!

Don't take chances with your vision!

I'll add to this - use nothing but a sterile solution. If it's so bad you have vision problems, then you need to see a doctor pronto. If you vision is ok but your eyes are sore you need to spend the next few days in a darkened room with ice or cold water packs. But, the best advice is to see a doctor. Whatever you end up doing, you will not be a happy person for a while - sorry, but that's the way it is with a flash burn

This is a painful lesson that many of us have learned - and unfortunately, some of the idiots doing car TV shows don't spend enough time on welding safety if at all and people just think that it's ok for them to copy welding without a shield - NOT. This is the sun many times over.

Dave

Please use this for a lesson for others new to welding and explain what you did to burn your eyes welding and possibly prevent other new welders the same pain

I have never thought of it like that but that is an excellent way to describe it.

This is a very bad sunburn and is the same as snow blindness caused by glare from the sun on snow only much worse. As pointed out infection is the big danger and I think most people know how easily a burn can get infected so it amazes me that some would even think of putting potatoes or anything like that on a burn. One of the guys who worked for me (I have seen this happen twice) when I ran my shop got an infection from a flash burn (however he had not used potatoes) and he had a heck of a time with this. You should have seen this guy, his face was swollen and both eyes were swollen shut even though the infection had started in only one eye. He recovered ok but not surprisingly his doctor told him he could have lost one or both eyes. The other guy got off easier but he too was scolded soundly by his doctor for letting it get to that point. In the vast majority of the cases it is nothing more than just a case of severe discomfort that will go away in a couple of days but if you decide not to see a doctor right away then watch (pardon the pun ) for signs of infection such as redness and swelling of the eye lids and surrounding skin, if this happens get to a doctor RIGHT NOW! as even a few hours can make a lot of difference since an infection here will progress rapidly.

Here is a forum discussing the same thing and rather lengthy discussion https://www.aws.org/cgi-bin/mwf/topic_show.pl?pid=47289 BOTTOM LINE....see a doctor or go to the Emergency Room.

Kevin

This is a good guide for welding lens number for each type of welding from the Department of labor. Keep in mind this applies to even reflective rays for helpers or spectators. And regardless of what you see on TV the cool looking sunglasses are not good for welding there may be some sold with the proper rating but beyond eye burn you can get a serious skin burn from TIG very serious as well as MIG and Stick
http://www.labtrain.noaa.gov/osha600/refer/menu11a.pdf

You´re all a bunch of wimps



Seriously though, I´ve been there, I was caught out in a "joke".
Passing a welding booth an apprentice pulled back the cutain called me and his mate struck an arc.
I saw white surrounded by blue for days and the urge to rub my eyes, unbearable.