mahnaz afshar

I've written a blog article before about the confusion involved with the various lens materials and coatings to choose from when purchasing eyeglasses (found here). One of these choices is polycarbonate, the most shatter resistant lens material. There is another lens material called Trivex with the same properties. It is technically not shatter-proof, but it resists impact better than other lenses (plastic and glass).

I had a patient come into the office last week telling me about an eye injury that took place a little while ago that caused him to go to the emergency room. He gave me permission to use his story in order to educate others about what happened to him. Here's what happened:

The patient was moving a piece of drywall into his attic. The entry to the attic was through a drop-down door from the ceiling, with the attached ladder. In order for the piece of drywall to fit through the space, the patient had to remove the springs from the ladder to allow a wider opening. After the patient successfully moved the drywall, the patient replaced the one end of the spring and attached it to a pin. As the patient was reaching for a nut to screw down the end of the spring to the pin, the spring let loose and whapped the patient in his left eye! Fortunately, the patient was wearing eyeglasses with polycarbonate lenses.

Here is what the frame and lens looked liked. The frame was completely mangled, and the patient said the lens was found later on the floor several feet away. Just the force of the impact created an indentation into the lens and bent the lens edge.