Warnings advising people to wear safety glasses can be found all over–the jobsite, employee training manuals, instruction manuals for power tools, or in instruction booklets for assembling a simple piece of furniture, to name a few. Why are these warnings so commonplace? Do they really matter? Our doctor’s response: First of all, the cornea, the clear dome on the front of the eye, is typically only about 0.5mm thick, about the thickness of 5 sheets of paper. If the cornea gets perforated, fluid can leak out and lead to blindness in a very short amount of time. If the cornea does not get perforated, it can still get scarred or otherwise disrupted which can lead to blindness, reduced vision, or a painful condition called a recurrent corneal erosion. Too many sad situations…
