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This Child Lost His Sight Because Of This Toy : Toys to Avoid to Keep Your Child's Eyes Safe

This Child Lost His Sight Because Of This Toy : Toys to Avoid to Keep Your Child's Eyes Safe

Child Lost His Sight


Children tend to be attracted to the toys with bright colors, unusual shapes, or objects that emit sounds or lights. However, some of these items can be dangerous and cause serious health problems. An Australian child 14 years found out to his cost, losing much of his vision, after playing with a laser pointer!
The ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) has postponed the case of a child under 14 living in the state of Tasmania in Australia, who lost 75% of his vision after a laser pointed at his eyes. The child was playing with this object, did not measure the danger he will face, since for him it was only a toy laser like any other. But this "toy" that may seem harmless caused him irreversible damage.
When the child's parents noticed he had vision problems, they directly led to a general practitioner who redirected them to an optometrist, Dr. Ben Armitage, to make a diagnosis.
The optometrist who consulted the child said that the laser pointer was indeed the cause of his vision problems. "Unfortunately, it has caused irreversible damage to the back of the eye," said Ben Armitage.
The doctor took pictures of the child, which clearly showed burns from the laser pointer to both retinas of the eyes, close to the macula. The optometrist said that the affected area of the eye is very critical, this is the part where the central vision takes place. That's why the damages were very important, thus causing the loss of much of the vision.
Although the case of this 14 year old is very delicate, it felt nothing after pointing the laser on his eyes. In fact he confessed that he did not experience pain at that time, while he felt immediately the impact on his vision.
Dr. Ben Armitage explained that the child's visual acuity decreased significantly, reaching 25% and unfortunately at this stage, it is very unlikely that the vision is restored. The optometrist however remains optimistic: "We hope that the burns on the eye size will be reduced when the swelling will disappear, which could help restore some part of vision."
But what is certain is that the burned areas are where the child will not be able to see. Ben Armitage also said that the damage could not be corrected by glasses. He explains his diagnosis giving the example of the mode of operation of a camera that is very similar to that of the eye, by their components. "Take the example of a camera with a sensor on the back of the camera is damaged, in this case, regardless of the type or quality of the lens that is put on the lens it can never repair the damage. "
What are the precautionary measures to prevent damage caused by laser pointers?
Following these events, Optometry Tasmania (the professional organization of optometrists in Tasmania) warns all parents of the dangers of using laser pointers and strongly recommends them not to buy it to their children. The lasers are not appropriate toys, and the case of the child of 14 years is the best proof!
Moreover, the Center for Devices and Radiocological Health stressed that laser pointers with 5mW output power, are the ones singled out, because of the damage they can cause. As against those with lower output power have never been the cause of any eye problem.
The ideal is to avoid having at home any kind of laser pointers to preserve the health of your eyes and the eyes of your children!