Eyesight degradation.

[bigclive]

I'm going to start this post by quoting something that Cedd wrote in another thread...

 

"There are a few stories of the early (and some more recent) RF engineers and their antics with high power RF. The main damage seems to have occured to the eyes. Looking down a radiating waveguide/horn isn't advisable. A lot of these side effects only came back to haunt them years later."

 

In my mid forties I noticed that I suddenly struggled to read small component values, and noted that my left eye vision was blurred. This has progressed for small detail and despite my optician assuring me it was normal age related degradation I couldn't help but initially blame things like foolish laser experiments where I was caught in the eye by the reflection of a powerful green laser. Then there were times when I exposed myself to extremely bright light sources as I worked on them and marvelled at the new era of LED technology and the way they were so "dazzling". Then there's the hype about the damage that high intensity blue light can do to your eyes.

 

It just makes me wonder, is it really natural degradation of eyesight, or has it been accelerated by some of the lightsources we work with.

 

I'm inclined to think it's natural, since ultimately the mother of all lightsources (the sun) is right up there in the sky and openly available for viewing whether you like it or not.

[Tow]

"There are a few stories of the early (and some more recent) RF engineers and their antics with high power RF.

 

High (and not so high) power RF and cancer/leukaemia links is what worries me. I know two people who have died from rare forms of cancer and one from leukaemia who have spend large parts of their lives working around RF.

 

 

I worry about all the every day exposure to mobile phones and wireless networks.

From memory back in the 80's, in the UK while you had the 934 MHz CB band, manufactures where not allow to produce handhelds due to the cancer risks of holding a high frequency TX too close to ones head. Now look at what the phone companies have every one doing.

[rich_lambe]

Re Sunlight; I read an article a while back (New Scientist cant find the link) that exposure to daylight actually slows down natural deterioration of eyesight.

Implied lack of daylight and exposure to artificial light is causing increasing levels of poor eyesight in general population.

My two cents

[Brian]

If your optician hasn't already done it get yourself some photos taken of your retina. Most damage will show up.

[Andrew Edwards]

Have you been to see an Optometrist rather than an optician. I'm not implying in any way that opticians would not spot anything but optometrists are trained to treat eye problems along with dispensing visual correction. Without doing any opticians a disservice, optometrists are more eye doctors...

 

I would definitely go to get some Digital Retinal Photography done. It takes incredibly detailed pictures that can be compared over time.

 

If you are really concerned then you should ask to be referred to a specialist.

 

I personally get eye strain when operating, particularly after a long session. It is the constant changing of focus from looking at scripts, to the far distant stage and the equipment/monitors. They say you should exercise you eyes if you work with DSE, as the single point of focus is detrimental. Taking breaks from looking at a screen all day is one thing but op'ing a show is like going to a gym for the eyes...

 

I seem to remember reading an article about being outside and your eyes. Apart from the vitamin D link with sunlight, I think it was more to do with looking into the far distance.

[cedd]

And get yourself an OCT scan. I had a few done before Christmas after my retinal haemorrgahe (which had work majorly worried that I'd microwaved my eye! - I hadn't!). There are only 2 opticians in Leeds that have the things outside of the specialist eye hospital, so it's specialist stuff. Thankfully one of the 2 was my regular optician, and the other practice is owned by one of the local theatre directors who I know quite well!

[Andrew Edwards]

OCT!

 

not digital retinal photography...dah. that's the thing that has been about for ages...

 

Thankyou. I'd been wrestling with my memory about it. My optometrist bought one a few years ago...

 

Amazing stuff.

[pjrails]

HI everyone

This is very interesting I suffer from glaucoma and reading about this OCT scan, I got a clinic appointment tomorrow, I think I'm going to ask if I can have this done, as like Andrew says we all very often sit for hour upon hour in the same situation looking at scripts, monitors and then quickly readjusting our focus to see the stage and then back to the book, I know I very often end the day/night with a spilting headace.

I'll see what my doctor has to say on the matter.

 

Maybe, this is something all theatre staff should be made aware of and at least get a full checkup by a local opticians, could be well worth the few pounds it costs to know everything is OK.

 

PJ

 

[kerry davies]

Worth another mention; Display Screen Equipment

 

Age related degeneration is a normal aspect of growing old and results from the focusing ability losing flexibility. It's what my optician calls lack of accommodation, I can still see like a hawk at distance, just can't read a book without glasses.

 

Stuff like RF has always worried me since I was trained in aerial rigging by the boys at Madley, where legend has it microwaved pigeon is on the lunch menu every day.

[bigclive]

I use Specsavers as my optician, not because I'm a cheapskate, but because they have modern equipment and the opticians actually seem to show an interest if you engage them in conversation. They take digital photographs of the back of your eyes on every visit and keep them on file. If you show interest they will happily show you the images on their monitor.

 

I asked about the risk of laser damage and they had an extra long and detailed look at my eyes and didn't find anything out of the ordinary. They actually seemed to get quite excited about the possibility of finding something so interesting.

 

I reckon it may well just be an age thing.

[ramdram]

(Definitely an issue with rf and the human bean. The bods in TX stations were warned to clear off quick if they felt they were getting hot under the collar or parts thereof, especially if they were just sitting around in the tx hall and all the senders were up.)

 

The eye's performance does tail off with respect to age...(I would guess at cataracts being the main issue), but, possibly not at the same rate for everyone.

 

IF, rpt IF, there was claim for damage to the eye from an occupational angle, then the tricky part for the eye consultant, probably, is determining how much damage is as a result from an occupational issue and how much is age related, with respect to "an" individual, or, how many discos you attended complete with Dodgy Disco Darren's Dazzling Display with DMX'd lasers aimed into the audience, etc.

 

The first port of call might be an optician to do the "standard" eye test thing. Regardless of how "aged" the eye is you would need to sort out corrective specs if warranted, or you might be referred for further tests with a view to possible surgical intervention. In other words the optician would react on what he or she found during "that" examination. Photos may provide a history but the eye guy would have to act on the here and now.

 

However some "cures" lead to other issues. My old man needed his cataracts done; he found that whilst he could see perfectly after the op the unforeseen problem (to him) was flare from oncoming car headlights and headlights from a side junction when night driving. (Sad really, but he went into reverse vampire mode in that he had to get home from a day out before the sun went down.)

 

So whilst one issue is sorted another problem comes into being. So if you were a lampy you might find all sorts of issues with your new lens and side lighting possibly. Only "you" would know.

 

Sometimes you may find the working environment a tad too dry or hot and you end up feeling as if you had grit in the eye. You can get eye drops to ease this problem but, from other threads, it is probably best to stay hydrated. I gather a furry tongue is a good indicator and also the colour of your wee.

 

Having a photo record of "your" eye is certainly useful, but it may not be "your" eye per se in which the eye guy is interested. (He or she is going to act on what they discover on the day and do whatever they feel necessary. If the condition is bad enough to warrant a referral than that's what they would do at that time.)

 

The photo may not necessarily be strictly for optical purposes. I gather some diseases can be "seen" quite early on by changes to the retina. I believe the eye is the only place where a blood vessel (capillary) can be seen "working" so to speak.

 

It may be the photos are being used to build a library for training others or your optician can transmit the photos to an eye consultant some distance away for diagnosis should you present with something out of the ordinary/their experience.

 

(Quick aside for them as interested on a similar topic sort of, the Queensland Health oncology folk in concert with their radiography colleagues have been building a huge database for staff training purposes (all personal details redacted of course,) and, for their consultants to look at as and when on referral cases.

 

You will appreciate that, especially in Oz, a small hospital or optician some distance away from a major city may not have all the facilities for diagnosis. I gather too the data is available across all of Oz. So the snap of your eye may help some other person get a diagnosis that much faster or vice versa. Sounds like a good idea.)

[paulears]

I spent many an hour in my younger days trying to throw a potato up in the air at exactly the moment a military radar swung around. A nice public footpath right in front of the thing - with big notices saying "a positive radiation hazard exists more than 3m above ground" - never ever got the timing right, but my maths said that the power output should be able to cook it - I either missed, or it didn't work?

 

I'd echo the comment about optician v optometrist. My left eye, I was told, never developed properly and was useless - looking a bit like a poor TV signal. Find for distance judgement, but no good whatsoever for reading - even the biggest letter can't be made out. I didn't like the optician, so went to somewhere else where it was an optometrist. I mentioned this in the eye test and he looked confused - pressed a few buttons, looked in, then pressed some more and suddenly I could see, and read a fair way down. He said all the info I had been given was rubbish, and all that was happening was extremely long sight and astigmatism, but no problem at all with the gubbins inside - and as it didn't work on it's own, the brain just decided not to bother. I was always worried that if my right eye was injured I be stuffed - but he said a prescription would certainly be possible, something my optician told me was impossible.

[GridGirl]

My optometrist (who was tragically killed in the February earthquake in Christchurch nearly a year ago) would always ask me whether I felt like my contacts and glasses were working for me in my work (theatre) environment, and whether there was anything in particular about the job which I thought could be causing any eye problems. There never really was (although I did get anti-reflection coating on the lenses of my glasses as he said that looking at a monitor in a dark theatre could cause some issues otherwise) but I always appreciated that he bothered to ask. It possibly did help that two of his sons (both good friends of mine) were also heavily involved with theatre!

[Junior8]

Most of it's down to age I'm afraid Clive. If I take my specs off I can't read what I'm typing now! Some years ago when I had my eyes tested, he gave me the block of text to read that was on a sliding scale mount - when I got to good focus he showed me that you could virtually read the sliding scale as a scale of ages as far as this was concerned and most of it was down to the fact that the eye had lost a lot of elasticity.

 

Youngsters you'll know when you're getting old. It's when the opthalmic optician says: "I think a varifocal prescription this time...." :o

[Brian]

Youngsters you'll know when you're getting old. It's when the opthalmic optician says: "I think a varifocal prescription this time...."

Oh dear. So that means as of this Monday I'm no longer a youngster. Mind you, it means I've had a good run.