Metal shaving in the eye....OUCH

[class67]

On Monday, I was doing some grinding on my project. I took my safety glasses off just for a minute to talk to somebody and went back to grinding without them on...BIG mistake. I got a small piece of metal lodged in my eye. I must say, Monday night was the longest most uncomfortable night in my life, wondering if I was going to lose my sight in my left eye. Went to the Optimologist yesterday afternoon and luckily he got it all out, he even had to use a drill on my eye to get rid of the rust in it.

My vision is blurred a little bit still, but the doc says it will clear up in a few days...WEAR YOUR SAFETY GLASSES!!!

[zbugger]

Ouch!!!! Glad to hear your ok Steve. Yeah, safety glasses are a must.

[MrQuick]

yep, always. I even wear a face sheild on top of the safety glasses on certain jobs.

Glad you didn't miss a step Steve.

Vince

[zbugger]

Oh, Vince reminded me. Be careful lifting too. Even lifting the simplest things wrong can hurt you.

[MrQuick]

lift this..........LOL



i can't even brush my teeth

[Gitter Dun]

Had that happen at least twice, and checked a third time before an MRI. Apparently if you had a piece of metal in your eye while getting an MRI, the metal would get ripped from your eyeball from the magnetic forces of the MRI machine.

[LateNight72]

Had that happen at least twice, and checked a third time before an MRI. Apparently if you had a piece of metal in your eye while getting an MRI, the metal would get ripped from your eyeball from the magnetic forces of the MRI machine.
I've also heard to not even grind steel/iron for a week before you get an MRI due to the metal shavings that work their way into your skin.

[The WidowMaker]

the doc used an 18ga needle to scrape the sliver and rust from my eye. and i wasnt grinding, just blowing out hole that i had previously drilled.

[65-Flat6]

Ouch man, i was changing the clutch in my 84 BMW when i was 16 or so and it dropped and hit the ground, well the clutch was made of asbestos and the dust was all over my hands and face, not knowing this i rubbed my eyes till they bled and and almost lost my vision, got them all cleaned out but couldnt see for a week or so...

[1969CamaroRS]

Glad it turned out okay.

[The Stickman]

I had a similar thing happen to me and I used safety glasses. At first i thought the eye pain was from my migraines. Till it got so bad I had to go to the ER. It hurt to open either eye. They put numbing drops in and i could open my eye enough for the Doc to look at it. He said he saw the metal and rust ring It must have been fairly large because the intern he had brought in to look at it said he could see it standing 2 foot away. The Doc says don't worry i am going to scrape it out with an instrument that is like a scoop made of tiny needles. Yea Doc that made me fell so much better. But he did get the piece out. Then he notices a second piece that i guess was hidden because of the first larger piece and rust ring. BTW he kept telling me not to move or blink. Do you know how hard that is when some is sticking something in your eye even when it's numbed? Anyway he tells me it's better if I go see an eye doctor to get the other piece out and the rust ring removed. He sets up an emergency Saturday appointment for the next day. I go in there the Doc arrives opens the office and lets me in. Takes me to the examining room puts more drops in my eye. Pulls out a tiny drill, puts a AA battery in it and says don't worry you won't feel a thing. Still felt it. Didn't hurt but felt the pressure. But he got it. I never work without safety equipment, but after this I was scared just crawling under a car with glasses on. had me very scared for quite awhile. You can lose and eye this way.

[MrQuick]

damn you guys, i got my safety glasses on just reading this.

vince

[Rick Dorion]

My doctor said I'd get no volume discount for being dumb because I said once my safety glasses were out of reach when I wanted to do a quick touch-up with a grinder!

[John Wright]

damn you guys, i got my safety glasses on just reading this.

vince
LOL...Me too Vince!...me too.

[Rhino]

As sad as it sounds, It's happened to me twice as well. After the second time I learned my lesson. As Vince, I'm a fan of the full face shield. It may look funky, but it makes things much more comfortable.

[ErikLS2]

I can still remember that dentist drill like sound as it approached my eye. Then drove home with a bandage over one eye, gald that didn't do even more damage.

[Scott Parkhurst]

Ugh- I'm a 2x member of the rust ring club too. Both times I was porting iron heads. Bad bad bad...

[fordsbyjay]

I have had metal in my eye three times and every time I was wearing safety glasses. I have prescription safety glass and the last time I was wearing a face shield over that. When under the car all the crap falls all over your body and head. When you get out and sit up it falls right through the top of your face shield and if your lucky you get a piece in your eye. The only real way I can see is to wear safety googles with a safety shield to protect the rest of your face. Talk about a real PITA though.

[twosaturns]

:postpics:

sorry, someone had to say it!

[MrQuick]

ahhh no no no don't do that.....

[MarkM66]

That's one of my worst fears! I try to always wear a face shield.

[daredvl22]

Yeah, been there done that myself. Only mine came from sand blasting a frame. Vision was blurred for a few days, now it's fine. Kind of scarey when they take a needle to your eye, then a drill to polish out the rust ring left behind. I always wear a full face shield now. It's just not worth the risk. I like the idea of seeing my finished projects when I'm done!

[1bad68cat]

Happened to me twice also when I was younger. First time I didn't go to the doctor till a week later only because my eye wouldn't stop tearing up. Didn't know I had metal in my eye. Eye was numbed and the doc took a drill to it. Weird feeling seeing my vision move in circles because of the drill. Second time I knew a piece of metal got into my eye and ended taking a wet clean q-tip to get it out. The bad thing was I was wearing safety glasses both times.

[406 Q-ship]

I will be putting on my safety glasses now....thank you very much!

Now where did I put them?

I have been extremely lucky and have had junk swimming around in my eye that I could fish out without getting it stuck in the eye itself.

[paul67]

I've had it where gets into the glasses bounces off the lens then goes into the eye,that's why it pays to wear the face shield as well.

[class67]

:postpics:

sorry, someone had to say it!


I almost took a pic and posted it just before leaving for the doctor but for some reason I wasn't really felling it...:injured:

[DFRESH]

Dang Steve---glad you came out of that one with both eyes. I remember in Auto Shop (High School), they showed a movie about always wearing your eye protection, and those that didn't were called "Primative Pete". You just made me remember this :idea:.

Maybe seeing you in August for GG again---will let you know.

Doug

[John Wright]

If you consider the temperature of the razor sharp slivers coming off of the grinding wheel(most are red or yellow, yellow being the hotter)....any of that coming off of a grinding wheel that is turning 10,000 r's and hitting the naked eyeball isn't going to be a good thing, no matter how you "look" at it.

[Tiger]

It happened twice here as well.. ohh it hurts!
I never got to see the drill tho, only the needle. here in Italy they use a fixture to hold your head firm while picking in the eye.
safety glasses and ear protection always!

[Scott Parkhurst]

The Doc used a little Dremel tool to grind mine both times.

Only ironic because I was using a Dremel tool to grind with in the first place...

[Satatic]

Happens to me a lot i never have had anything get lodged though its always better by morning. I never cut or grind without a face shield. You are supposed to wear safety glasses and a face shield though. Face shield is not enough. But I would be completely blind if I doubled up so I just take my chances.

[EL T1]

Im a casualty of metal in eye. Actually had glasses and face shield on while grinding but took them both off as i blew my self off with the blower. Smooth move. Similar to you guys went to the optomoligist, he put the numb drops in my eye and scooped it out then drilled the rust out.
It was not a pleasant experience having a foreign material in your eye. You guys be careful!

[The Stickman]

Does anyone that has had this happen from severe paranoia after the incident. Why do I ask? Well I remember right after my incident I could barely crawl under my car with safety glasses on because I thought I would get something in my eye. Now today I was cutting holes in my magnesium valve covers for PCV and a breather and I thought i felt something despite again wearing safety glasses. I immediately came upstairs and checked. But I thought how do I do this. Most of the fillings were very fine. Well I thought I saw a spec so I flushed my eyes they got a black light. You could see tiny flecks in my skin. I immediately took a shower. then checked again. I don't think there is anything. But being magnesium scares me even more. It might be harder to find one of these specs as it won't leave the telltale rust ring. So now I am freaked.

[Rhino]

Does anyone that has had this happen from severe paranoia after the incident.

The last time it happened to me was 6 years ago. I'm still paranoid to this day. But in my defense, I feel it's a healthy paranoia.

I feel that you're among friends. :)

[79PonchoUK]

I've managed to avoid it so far....i'm still scared of it though. I'd love laser eye surgery, but the things I've been told mean I'd have to go completely blind before thinking about it. lol

I just can't have anyone touch my eye...let alone use sharp tools on it.

[Jim Nilsen]

I had on saftey glasses and goggles while cutting a tree down once. A small sliver still got to my eye. It felt like a pole that would catch and hold my eye lid up. When the emergency room doc was looking for it he couldn't see it at all. I had to direct him to the place to find it and when he saw it the intern said it was so small he could barely see it with the magnifying glass. It doesn't take much to mess up your eyes and even with all of the saftey equipment you still have to use common sense to make sure you keep yourself out of the path of flying debris.

I'm glad all you guys still have your sight still and are wearing your glasses !!

[68400BIRD]

I don't even wear safety glasses any more. LOL It's a full face shield. The last time that I had metal in my eye I had safety glasses on. It was about two in the morning. It was so bad that I could not close my eye. I weighed my options. Wake up my wife and two four year olds, or take it out my self. I went into the bathroom with a sharp pair of tweezers and pulled it out on the second try.

[class67]

It seems alot of us have had the same experience with this....lol, not fun! but glad to hear that in everybody's case, it worked out.

My eye is back to normal now, by the way and has been since about Sat. or Sun.

[parttimefab]

I can tell you the face shield is way better than regular safety goggles. I keep a very strong magnet just for such occasions. Wipe it clean, stick it up to your eye and pull out the shaving. It works great, as long as you're working with ferrous metals.

[BlownBigBlock]

I was cringin' just readin' this.

[Scott Parkhurst]

I'm a LOT more careful about my eyes now.

However...

...I am still an idiot. I was replacing old, brittle, leaky gas tank lines under the wagon last year. Pulled one off, and it started leaking on my face. Instinctively, I turned my head...and the gas flowed into my ear.

That is a delayed reaction kind of pain, but once it starts, you wonder how bad it's going to get. It gets pretty bad. I ran in the house and starting flushing it out. The delay was just long enough for me to get the leak plugged and stopped before I started feeling pain.

A good flush and some time for it all to dry out was all I needed, but it was kinda freaking me out at first.

Not recommended...

[John Wright]

...I am still an idiot...............gas flowed...................Not recommended...


Uh. Don't laugh, but I drank almost a half of a 20oz bottle of gas.

It was one of those hurry up and let's get this thing finished so we can take it for a spin deals....
Helped a buddy stuff a 350 into his S-10 and he poured some gas in a Dr. Pepper bottle to pour in the carb and he sat it on the cowl(right beside my half bottle of Dr. Pepper). Whelp, I was afraid that I would knock over my drink and spill it so I reached for it, and chugged it as fast as I could to get rid of it...grabbed the wrong bottle and by the time I knew what I had done....I had drank almost a half a bottle of gas. I burped gas fumes for two days(seriously). I kept working and got his truck running, but I nervously wondered what it might do to me in the meantime. I'm still here some 15 years later, so if it did something to me, I don't know it yet.

[parsonsj]

Don't laugh, but I drank almost a half of a 20oz bottle of gas.Sorry, John, but that story cracked me up. I hope you didn't get into a fart-lighting game with your buddies any time shortly afterward.

Glad you survived.

jp

[John Wright]

Sorry, John, but that story cracked me up. I hope you didn't get into a fart-lighting game with your buddies any time shortly afterward.

Glad you survived.

jp
:smoke:<---hey get that thing away from me....


JP, it was just one of my blonde moments.

[ErikLS2]

How about chemicals? I think I'd rather have the little die grinder from the doc than getting brake cleaner, battery acid or the WORST, Zep hand cleaner in my eye.

[class67]

How about chemicals? I think I'd rather have the little die grinder from the doc than getting brake cleaner, battery acid or the WORST, Zep hand cleaner in my eye.

That brings up another time, years ago when I worked in the chemical dispense industry, I did have some Sulfuric Acid and water splashed up in my eye....that stung for awhile as well.

[406 Q-ship]

Uh. Don't laugh, but I drank almost a half of a 20oz bottle of gas.

It was one of those hurry up and let's get this thing finished so we can take it for a spin deals....
Helped a buddy stuff a 350 into his S-10 and he poured some gas in a Dr. Pepper bottle to pour in the carb and he sat it on the cowl(right beside my half bottle of Dr. Pepper). Whelp, I was afraid that I would knock over my drink and spill it so I reached for it, and chugged it as fast as I could to get rid of it...grabbed the wrong bottle and by the time I knew what I had done....I had drank almost a half a bottle of gas. I burped gas fumes for two days(seriously). I kept working and got his truck running, but I nervously wondered what it might do to me in the meantime. I'm still here some 15 years later, so if it did something to me, I don't know it yet.

I swallowed a good mouth full of gas one time because of sucking gas out of a tank once.......I burbed up gas fumes for a month. Thank God I don't smoke.


How about chemicals? I think I'd rather have the little die grinder from the doc than getting brake cleaner, battery acid or the WORST, Zep hand cleaner in my eye.


I got Brake Clean once, that hurt. It keeps evaporating and take the tears out of the eye, so I was agonizing out a really bad case of dry eye.

[helzbelz888]

damn i was working 2 years ago on some composite panels drilling and countersinking overhead. some shavings fell out of a countersink right in front of a fan and blew them under my safety glasses.... i know how you feel it sucks. i went to the hospital and the ******* doctor said i was fine and there was nothing in my eye. when i got home my eyes were so red you could see the white shavings in my eye. i had to get them out myself.


btw dont know if anyone has posted this tip... if you ever get hydraulic fluid in your eye pour baby oil directly into your eye the hydraulic fluid floats to the top and out of your eyes....

[No one]

Fortunately I'm part of the minority, anything that's found a new home in either of my eyes has been quickly evicted by myself. I have however been the unfortunate recipient of a couple of rather unfriendly optical fluids: carburetor cleaner and dirty brake fluid. With the carb clean I was rebuilding the 2GC on my 67 Cutlass and was cleaning the underside of the top plate. Apparently there was a port that came out a little ways from the port I was spraying but in the same direction......straight into my eye. Yep, if it didn't hurt so much I would've cried I think. By far the worst was the brake fluid. Bleeding the brakes on my F150 I believe. Loosened up the bleeder valve, tightened it back up and got my head out of the way.....or so I thought. When the pedal was down I loosened the valve and received a little splash back from the fender well. DIRTY brake fluid too. Both times I was wearing contacts so that had me a little worried. Flushed my eyes out a couple minutes each time and went back to it. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger....:slap: Moral of the story? Wear some safety glasses when working.

[protouringuk]

i too had a bit of metal in my eye and was told the skin on the eyes surface grows over in 24hrs to protect your eyes surface,
i was drilling concrete ceiling in a carpark and hit ta reinforcing bar which spat a bit into my eye,it just felt like a bit of dust but gave me grief all night and went to the hospital the next day,they picked out the sliver which had a rusted ring around it, when i went back couple of days layer thay drilled the remaining rust out with a tiny drill,not pleasent one little bit.