I accidentally looked at a green laser pointer spot for about a second, and now there is a blind spot in the middle of my field of vision. Is this permanent? If you look at the light spot reflected/scattered from the wall or paper, and the distance is more than 5 feet, and it is not a Class IV laser (>500 mW), then you are likely to recover in two stages. In the first stage, the remaining functional cone cells will recover and rebuild their pigment levels. This involves a “half life” of about a few hours.
In the second stage, severely damaged cells will repair themselves. The half-life associated with this is about one month, so after six months, you will get all the recovery you will get. You really want to consult an excellent ophthalmologist who understands the latest research. Some surprising and promising treatments are under development.
If you are closer to this point, or if the object has a specular component of reflection, there is a good chance that some permanent damage will occur. You may have a place with a vision of 20/40 or lower. Over time, the brain will adapt to this, it does not look like a black spot, just a place where you may no longer be able to read the fine print.
Below is some laser safety information. As long as you do not use any optical equipment to observe the beam, the Class 1 laser pointer is safe for your eyes. They have a power of less than 0.4 milliwatts and are usually red. Class 2 laser pointers are less than 1 milliwatt. They are safe if you do not look directly at the beam. Blink reflex after accidental exposure is usually harmless.
Class 3R lasers are the most powerful lasers and can be legally sold as laser pointers. Avoid shooting this laser beam into your eyes, but accidental exposure to 5 feet or more away from the laser is usually not a concern.
Class 3B lasers are not pointers, so they cannot be sold legally. They are less than 500 mW. They are extremely dangerous to the eyes. Even accidental exposure for a quarter of a second (the time it takes to blink) can cause permanent damage, even if it is far away from the laser pointer.
Class 4 lasers cannot be legally sold as laser pointers. Level 4 laser can instantly burn the body, eye tissue, ignite paper and wood, and it is obviously dangerous at a long distance. They are very powerful, even looking at the spots scattered from the wall or tree bark, the damage to the eyes is faster than the blinking speed.
There is currently no treatment that can repair the damage. I have received letters from some people. In addition to the blind spot on the retina, they also have a damaged spot on the cornea. Some of them want a new cornea, but in most cases, they are now better than replacing the cornea.