Snow Blindness Medication

[Ed Fowler]

For those of us who have experienced it, it is very painful and when it happened to me I had no idea what it was we were miles from an open road so figured I was in a bad fix. A week of show on a rag keeping my eyes cool was the only thing that helped, then it cleared up and I could see again.

I just heard about a quick fix: Eldon Perkins is a good friend who is moving to the Willow Bow to help with seminars and ranch stuff. His grandfather, father and he were all welders and spent a lot of time in the mountains each fall.
When they got snow blind or burned welding they found that slicing up a potatoe and squeeing the juice into their eyes stopped the pain and promoted healing.

I have never tried it, but knowing Eldon and his practical approach to problems I would bet it works.

Not that I had a potatoe at the time, there will be one with me next time I am out in the fall or winter, along with dark glasses.

 

[Bigfattyt]

Last time I suffered from snow blindness was as a kid. Three day hike with my dad and older brother.

We hiked up to a lake called Spectacle lake. Then day hiked up to a lake called Glacier lake. 7 hours hiking above the snow line. I had forgotten my sun glasses in the car.

If I had not been with my dad, I would have died.

Once the sun went down, I was blind. The next day, even in the sun, everything was grey. Every shadow we walked through (which in the forest, is most of the time), I had to hold the back of my dad's pack.

It was like having my eyes full of sand (which I have also experienced).

Sucked. Really taught me a lesson!

 

[JohnQTaxpayer]

Seems like prevention is the best medicine. Forgot glasses? improvise: film from a camera, duct tape...

Never heard of squeezing potato juice in one's eyes, but as a healthcare professional, I would not try this on myself.

 

[Rat Finkenstein]

heard about potato slices regarding welders before. Supposed to work, something about the cooling effect. but squeezing the juice into the eye is a new one on me. I would research it some more. Snow blindness and welders flash are minor damage to the interior structure of the eye, so a topical poultice probably won't do much. But, maybe there is something there. In any case, it probably can't hurt.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

If you're stuck without sunglasses, you can make Eskimo goggles.
Instead of dark glass or film, cut a narrow slit to see through.
(Check out the link for pictures.)

 

[fujita yuji]

In my case it took five days to see things again but some distortion remained for a month.
I mean I could see several moons in the sky (I'm living on the Earth).
The medic doctor told me there's not much thing can be done, close eyes, cool them moderately and take a rest.
It's a real pain and can be a serious trouble if we have one in the field.

 

[Shoki]

I've had arc-eye once before and it is not an experience I ever care to repeat! It really is like having sand in the eyes. The only thing that helped me was a couple of Tylenol and a cold washcloth draped over my eyes while I laid in the dark listening to classical piano. The crazy thing is, I wasn't even looking directly at the arc. I was staring at a wall while talking to a friend who was welding for an extended period of time. Just the rays bouncing off the white wall was enough to put me in misery for a couple of days.
The best medicine for eye-injury is prevention. If you are going to be in the snow for hours on a clear day, bring sunglasses or goggles. If you wind up in the snow unexpectedly, improvise!

 

[sparrow75]

Welding shine caught my eyes many times, i don't know if it is the same thing as snow blindness though. Slices of potato over the eyes helps, also milk saturated cloth over the eyes. But what worked best for me are eye drops "PROCULIN" (don't know if these go by the same name everywhere). But as mentioned, the proper eye protection is surely the best option

 

[Ed Fowler]

The eskimo goggles were my next project, I thought my blindness might be from the bright sun, it was obvious that the sun hurt my eyes while healing up so the goggles sounded like a good idea. I was only 14 at the time so had to kind of figure it out on my own A friend who was with me saved the day neither of us knew what was wrong, it was my friends idea with the snow and cloth.

I remembered my cub scout manual and reading about the goggles, I carved them from fire wood, blackened them with charcoal from the wood stove. It was 2 months before we went back to civilization and my vision was back to better than what it is today, like you say it is very painful and a helpless feeling is prominent.