Best cure for Welder Flash.

[Boozer]

Ive had welder flash more time than i want to rememeber. Im giving you my solution for it. I think i tried it all and by far this works the best for me. When i wake up in the middle of the night, and it doesnt' take long for me to realize what i have. (Gasoline and Sand in my eyes) Ill take a small raw potato, cut it in half, and place the cut edges against my eyelids, then tie a washcloth, towel, sock, whatever to hold them there. The coolness helps to take away the pain, and the potato does something to relubicate my eyes. It usually takes me about an hour to fall back asleep, but my eyes feel alot better in the AM.
Ive tried Visine, and next to a late night trip to the ER, this is the best remidy ivy found.

[Xtreme Fabrication]

Yep, thats the best cure.

[tubr rat 72]

the er and a bottle of ponticaine damn the rest.

[Lanse]

An ounce of Prevention is worth a pound of cure...

[Lava]

Best cure???? NOTHING it's too late you all ready messed up. Now go to bed and cry.

[mrmikey]

I've used a couple of drops of canned milk on different occasions as well as a tea bag.....no not tea bagged neither LOL.....Mike

[Stick-man]

I have never got it and I hope I never get it. But, how do you get it if you know not to look at it.

[lamename]

Originally Posted by Stick-man

I have never got it and I hope I never get it. But, how do you get it if you know not to look at it.

A couple of days ago a local equipment mechanic got burned in one eye. He was rebuilding a semi tailgate aluminum mig welding. He was using my hood and machine. When he told me, I figured he didn't turn on the hood or something but it was reflection off of the walls in the shop. He knows not to look, and I wouldn't have thought of that either.

[SR20steve]

I have never had arc flash, not saying I wont in the future. But just as folks above have said, you need to take the proper steps to keep yourself from being burned. That pain is basically irreversible damage to your eyes. Even just wearing clear safety glasses will help you not get arc burned. I watch these shows like American Chopper were these guys are just closing their eyes while tacking and it makes me cringe.

[mackme]

It has been many years since I got a flash burn but it is something you do not forget right away. An older guy at work told me to boil milk with a couple of teabags in it and when it was still warm..NOT BOILING put them on my eyes as a poultice. Seemed to work, sure felt better anyway. When my kids wanted to take up the practice I bought a couple of Miller Elite's.

[mrmikey]

But, how do you get it if you know not to look at it.

The easiest way is from your peripheral vision in the daylight, not realizing you're getting the uv light and your pupils don't dilate enough.
We had a couple of guys at work gouging steel from a cement ramp working 20' apart side by side. One guy got it in the left eye, other right. We called them dumb and dumber for a couple of days....Mike

[Stick-man]

Originally Posted by mrmikey

The easiest way is from your peripheral vision in the daylight, not realizing you're getting the uv light and your pupils don't dilate enough.
We had a couple of guys at work gouging steel from a cement ramp working 20' apart side by side. One guy got it in the left eye, other right. We called them dumb and dumber for a couple of days....Mike

Ok, I very rarely work next to other weldors because I am not a "weldor" by trade.

I had a buddy working with me at my yard. Now this guy has been around and knows not to look at the arc. And from my college years the instructor would say in a funny southern accent " wautch yer eyes". So whenever someone is around me welding I will say it in the same accent. So I KNOW, he knew every time I was going to strike an arc.

Later that night he called me up and said he got grinding dust and sand in his eyes. I said ya big goof, why were you looking at the arc!

[tnjind]

Originally Posted by boozer

ive had welder flash more time than i want to rememeber. Im giving you my solution for it. I think i tried it all and by far this works the best for me. When i wake up in the middle of the night, and it doesnt' take long for me to realize what i have. (gasoline and sand in my eyes) ill take a small raw potato, cut it in half, and place the cut edges against my eyelids, then tie a washcloth, towel, sock, whatever to hold them there. The coolness helps to take away the pain, and the potato does something to relubicate my eyes. It usually takes me about an hour to fall back asleep, but my eyes feel alot better in the am.
Ive tried visine, and next to a late night trip to the er, this is the best remidy ivy found.

yep..

[colvit16]

here is the best cure for welding flash ,get a potato peel then grate , cut open a teabag fill with the grated potato dip in warm milk then place on to the eyes for 35 minutes cover with damp cloth works a treat, then a hot shower colin b scotland ,

[Gerry1964]

Originally Posted by colvit16

here is the best cure for welding flash ,get a potato peel then grate , cut open a teabag fill with the grated potato dip in warm milk then place on to the eyes for 35 minutes cover with damp cloth works a treat, then a hot shower colin b scotland ,

I'll try that next time Colin


I don't normally get this but sometimes when other welders are working nearby you can't help but get the odd flash, for me it always starts late at night and more than likely when i'm watching a film on TV. Then its a nightmare, When i first started welding i went to hospital thinking i was going blind

have tried to bathe my eyes with milk in an eye cup, and that seems to work a while, it forms a second skin on the eye, you might see a bit blurry for a while but it will help.

The sand feeling is when the eye is pin pricked with hundreds of tiny holes in the out skin of the eye, contact with air, makes the sand in your eyes feeling, so a skin of milk does help as does the starch in the Potatatoes

[Dualie]

The potato trick really does work wonders. You can still get the welders flash eye drops south of the border. I get a bottle every time I'm down there JUST To have. Only needed it a couple times but i have been VERY glad i had it every time.

Sometimes when welding in the shop environment its inevitable to get welders flash. The worst was welding aluminum tread plate catwalks inside of a very sterile white painted building with lots of stainless tanks and equipment, no matter what you were taking an arc flash from some direction all day long. 4 men working with spool guns lit for 10 hours strait was a pain. Keeping enough ventilation to remove the smoke and not disturb the shielding gas was another challenge.

[Strouty]

I think the best cure is a welding helmet, but since that cure didn't work.....

I had welding flash burn really bad when I was 15, I had never welded before and a neighbor broke the handlebars on his ATV. We figured out how to get the tombstone going, but I kept shorting it out. I thought if I could only see what I was doing. I would close my eyes as soon as I got the arc going, but as we all know, eyelids don't do much for protection. Basically my face looked like a really bad sunburn and my eyes were burnt pretty good too. It took 8 hours or so before I really felt the effects, I can remember thinking that I must have gotten sand in my eyes when I was four wheeling. Then my mother turned on the light to the bathroom. That was soooo painful. Trip to the ER waited a couple hours and then instant relief from numbing eyedrops! I had patches on for three days, not to mention the burn cream on my face. To this day I still can feel it whenever I see a flash.

[Donoharm]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxybuprocaine

takes about 10 seconds and the pain is gone.

you still need to see a doctor, this takes care of the pain the damage to the eye is still there and should be treated

[bluduk15]

Sometimes I wear these type under my hood to make sure I'm not getting flashed from a reflection. They are also good when someone else is welding nearby (shade 2).



http://www.safetyglassesusa.com/s3305.html

[weldbead]

vicks vaporub under the eye will cause it to tear and flush crap out..

[Gerry1964]

Originally Posted by weldbead

vicks vaporub under the eye will cause it to tear and flush crap out..

Theres no crap to flush out the pain is caused by pinpicks, tiny holes in the out layer of the eye, this is caused by the radiation when you get flashed

[CCFD170]

Don't use Visine for eye injuries. Visine constricts the blood vessels in your eye hence the phrase "gets the red out". Your eye needs the blood flow to repair whatever damage has been incurred. I learned that after getting a metal fragment in my eye.

[WeldRite]

Ever since I got my auto darkening helmet, I haven't had welders flash.

[BlueArc]

The only time I've gotten a flash bad enough to bother me at night was when my father was welding aluminum nearby for a few hours with the spool gun. I didn't get a direct flash all day, but I suppose the reflection got me. I used eye drops that nights and went right back to sleep.

Now if there's ever a weldor nearby I wear safety glasses under my shield.

Hopefully I never need to try the potato trick, but it's good to know.

[lhdmech]

Another thing that helps to relieve the discomfort is to put a dab of vicks vapo-rub on the cheek bone below the eye. The fumes from the vicks make the eyes fill with tears and lubricates them. A flash actually burns tiny craters in the eye and the inside of the eye lid is rough textured and this irritates the eye and gives the feeling of sand in the eyes.I have used this method and it works.