Take Care of your Eyes

[tarheelz]

Everyone on this forum already knows this. Most everyone on this forum wears eye protection.

Back in 2013, just as I was getting into woodworking as a hobby, I made a quick stop in the garage to sand through a few more of the unassembled pieces of a large table. Just a few minutes on my way out the door with the ROS. No goggles. No face protection. No dust collection. (Didn't have that stuff yet.)

Ended up with some sawdust in my eyes. No biggie, right? Annoying. A bit gritty. Worked it out.

Interestingly, on and off ever since, I have been waking up in the middle of the night with intense pain in my left eye.

This summer, I was diagnosed at the UNC Kittner Eye Center with Recurrent Corneal Erosion. An underlying weakness in the adherence of the top tissue layer of my cornea has led to my cornea being unable to heal properly after the damage likely caused that day in 2013. (The pain at night is the corneal tissue being torn off by my dry eyelid.)

This past Wednesday, I was at Duke Eye Clinic for a Phototherapeutic Keratectomy (PTK). (Look it up.)

The ophthalmologists say I am banned from the shop (and all dusty environments)* until further notice (ie months).

Please take care of your eyes.

* The only good news is no housework!

 

[Mark Johnson]

Safety glasses can really be a pain..until you need them. It pays to just buy really good ones.

 

[Raymond]

I learned the hard way about wearing safety glasses and now people think I go overboard when I wear both my prescription safety glasses and a face shield (especially around the lathe) - been hit in the face too many times with small chips.

 

[Jeremy Scuteri]

Wow, I would never even think about "eye safety" when using a ROS. Thanks for that information. I truly hope you make a speedy recovery. I guess that is another reason to try and have the best dust collection you can. We generally just think about our lungs, but it can help protect our eyes as well. I probably depend on my prescription eye glasses too much for eye protection.

 

[McRabbet]

While I fully agree that safety glasses (with side shields) are mandatory while working in the shop at any task, I am also a firm believer in using a dust extraction hose and a face mask to also avoid breathing in any dust produced while sanding. The fine dust from an ROS is not only a potential eye irritant, but also can be a nasty actor when inhaled -- woods like walnut and many of the exotic woods are toxic as well as irritants. Be safe and protect the only set of eyes and lungs you have!

I've published this picture many times before, but it is direct testimony that I practice what I preach!

​

You might notice I don't have on eye shields -- my newer glasses have them.

 

[golfdad]

Sorry to hear Dave. Hope you heal soon

 

[Mark Gottesman]

Thank You!

Always good to get a refresher that the the most important tool in the shop is you.

Hope you have a speedy and complete recovery.

 

[LeftyTom]

Here's to your complete recovery. "Speedy" is less important.

 

[tarheelz]

Thanks, everyone for the well wishes.

By the way, two different docs (you see lots of docs in a teaching hospital) guessed (without prodding) "metal or woodworking." Apparently, when it comes to little itsy bitsy bits of nastiness in the eye, we're the top offenders.

Personally, with safety glasses, I was always thinking about big stuff - shards, splinters, or some massive failure (e.g. router bit explodes). Docs are telling me that they see plenty of that stuff but damage from irritants (either from repeated exposure or from our own rubbing our eyes with our hands) is a BIG part of their "business" too.

 

[ehpoole]

I assume your eye doctor has already recommended such, but there are a number of products available both over the counter and prescription to address issues with severe dry eye at night, or one may wake every couple hours to add thicker eye drops depending upon one's sleeping habits. The ointments are usually the best solution to dry eye if you sleep for many hours uninterrupted and do make a considerable difference though not perfect if you sleep solidly through the night, but about the best there is unless your doctor can successfully address the source of inflammation.

For years I have had problems with eyes that are both severely dry and yet tear non stop when awake (and yet my eyes are still dry as the tears that are produced have very little lubrication) -- which would seem paradoxical. At night, if I do not use such products I will have to carefully pry my eyelids open as they will be adhered to the conjunctiva (and, thus, the eye) and things have been that way for about 20 years now.

My eyes are also hypersensitive to many irritants. In Florida, if you wanted advance notice of a Red Tide outbreak while it was still out at sea I could reliably predict such 24-48 hours before officia monitors could detect such. I am fairly serious about dust collection in my shop for similar reasons as dust can be very irritating as well.

None of which, in my case at least, was the result of any injury to my eyes, just the result of an immune system run amok one day because my body seems to like such surprises for unknown reasons.

I hope everyone strives to take good care of their eyes. I have been hyper aware of the issue ever since childhood as one of my grandfathers had lost an eye due to a small metal shard that surgeons had no way to remove 70-80 years ago.

 

[danmart77]

Sorry to hear about the troubles but glad to hear you had it looked at by an opthalmologist. Maybe after the kerotatomy has healed, if you get antsy, do some hand work and avoid the dust with some hand planing and cutting tools.

Get some rest and take care of your eyes. They are clearly the big poles in the tent.

Dan

 

[chris_goris]

Im sorry to hear you are suffering from this ailment. However, I am amazed the opthamologists jumped to woodworking as the cause. Especially linking it to a one time sanding operation 3 years earlier and just affecting one eye?. Im not saying sanding without proper dust collection or eye protection is OK, but I highly doubt one time created this condition or MANY more woodworkers would be having such problems it seems. Myself included, I dont think i have ever worn eye protection while sanding in my 30 plus years of woodworking. This was something I found about causes of the condition FWIW:

Corneal erosion can occur spontaneously and happen to anyone. Certain factors increase your risk for corneal erosion:

• Having a history of eye injury;
• Having a corneal disease, such as corneal dystrophy;
• Having had an eye ulcer, such as from a herpes simplex infection;
• Wearing contact lenses including lenses that are improperly fitted or not properly cared for.