Millions of people across North America caught a glimpse of the solar eclipse Monday — some risking damage to their vision to see the rare event.
‘My eyes are now boiling and my neck is suspiciously sore,’ one X user posted from Manitoba, Canada, as Google searches for ‘eyes are sore’ trended steeply upward.
While doctors and NASA officials have consistently implored the public only to view an eclipse with the proper precautions, like eclipse glasses or via shadows that fall on a ‘safe handheld solar viewer,’ scores of people just can’t resist the temptation.
Roughly 100 individuals in the US and Canada reported to eyecare professionals after the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse complaining of eclipse-related retina damage, according to an informal survey for the American Astronomical Society.
Here’s what to look out for if you’re worried that you stared at the sun for too long during Monday’s eclipse — whether by accident or in a fit of irrational exuberance.
One big surprise: ‘eye pain’ is not a guaranteed symptom of eye damage.
About 100 individuals in the US and Canada reported eclipse-related retina damage to doctors after the August 21, 2017 solar eclipse, according to the American Astronomical Society. Above, people view Monday’s solar eclipse from Times Square in New York on April 8, 2024
‘My eyes are now boiling and my neck is suspiciously sore,’ one X user posted from Manitoba in Canada, as Google searches of ‘eyes are sore’ started trending upward
Below are some symptoms on what to look out for if you’re worried that you stared at the sun for too long during Monday’s eclipse – whether by accident or in a fit of irrational exuberance. One big surprise: ‘eye pain’ is not a guaranteed symptom of eye damage
Because the human retina, in the back of the eye, does not have pain nerves, you would be unlikely or unable to experience discomfort to provide you with any early warning of the damage wrought by staring at a solar eclipse, experts say.
‘Your retina can be damaged even before you realize it,’ NASA advises, ‘and by then it can be too late to save your vision.’
One of the most vulnerable regions of the retina, according to doctors, is the macula: a ‘small, but important area’ critical for discerning details like written text.
‘Even a few seconds of viewing the sun during an eclipse can temporarily or permanently burn the macula,’ according to Johns Hopkins ophthalmologists Neil Bressler, Jun Kong, and J. Fernando Arévalo.
‘Once retina tissue is destroyed,’ the trio wrote in the Journal of American Medical Association this past March, ‘it cannot regenerate, resulting in permanent central vision loss.’
The result of damage to the macula can be uncanny: seeing one’s own face as blank in a mirror or being unable to make out words in a newspaper, as if it were blank.
All it takes is about 100 seconds of exposure for solar radiation to cause damage to a person’s retina, although times will vary based on the intensity of the sun, which can vary by time of day and geography, and the preexisting condition of a person’s eyes.
Despite some attempted medical interventions using steroids, the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus reports that there is ‘no proof that they work for solar retinopathy.’ Above, a user of Elon Musk’s X site complains of ‘major headache’ and ‘sore eyes’
The news will come as a bitter pill for those who have taken to Elon Musk’s X platform and elsewhere to complain about their ‘sore’ eyes in the past 24 hours (example above)
Rather than ‘eye pain,’ experts with the the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) recommend that concerned individuals look out for ‘visual symptoms within four to six hours’ or even the day after the solar eclipse.
Those symptoms, signs of ‘solar retinopathy’ damage, include: headaches, blurred vision, a ‘blind spot’ in one or both eyes, unusual colors or discoloration to your vision, eye sensitivity or visual distortions.
Those distortions can be particularly unusual, making objects appear smaller than they actually are, or creating funhouse twists or warps to your central vision.
Fortunately, even these frightening symptoms can improve over time.
‘Many people recover after three to six months,’ AAO spokesperson Susanne Medeiros wrote last year, ‘but some will suffer from permanent vision loss, in the form of a small blind spot and distortion.’
Statistically, roughly half of those diagnosed with ‘eclipse blindness’ will recover their vision, in full, after six months, according to B. Ralph Chou, professor emeritus at the University of Waterloo in Canada and a leading expert on eclipse eye safety.
‘You just sort of end up having to wait it out,’ Chou told Space.com, ‘and that’s the really unfortunate part about it.’
‘The typical person who’s been injured,’ Chou continued, ‘is going to wait six to 12 months before they know what their ultimate status is going to be.’
Despite the fact that ‘miracle cure’ treatments are not available, experts recommend contacting your eye doctor the moment you suspect you might have solar retinopathy as a result of Monday’s event. Above, the moon as it began to eclipse the sun above Fort Worth, TX
While doctors and NASA officials have consistently implored the public only to view an eclipse with the proper precautions, like eclipse glasses or a ‘safe handheld solar viewer,’ scores of people just can’t resist the temptation. But several X users even reported wearing what they thought were ISO-approved solar eclipse glasses, only to be left with discomfort and pain
Despite some attempted medical interventions using steroids, the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology & Strabismus reports that there is ‘no proof that they work for solar retinopathy.’
‘Over the years, certainly ophthalmologists have tried various ways, pharmacological and otherwise, to try and reduce the amount of damage and swelling that is thought to be the main cause for the loss of vision,’ according to Chou.
‘For the most part, those types of treatments don’t seem to be effective,’ he said.
Chou, who wrote the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) guidelines on eclipse glasses and certifies new eclipse safety products in his lab, said most treatments for solar retinopathy amount to teaching patients to cope.
Chou likened the physical therapy to any other case of visual impairment, in other words helping a person manage with their ‘new normal’ of impaired central vision.
The news will come as a bitter pill for those who have taken to Elon Musk’s X platform to complain about their ‘sore’ eyes in the past 24 hours.
Google Trends found that searches for ‘eyes are sore’ hit a scary weeks-long high Monday as people across America took to social media to complain about ‘sore eyes’ from the eclipse
Missouri, in the path of the eclipse, had the highest volume of ‘eyes are sore’ searched (above)
‘I kept looking at the eclipse with my bare eyes!!’ one user posted. ‘I’M SUFFERING RIGHT NOW!! I HAVE A MAJOR HEADACHE AND MY EYES ARE SORE!!’
Several even reported wearing what they thought were ISO-approved solar eclipse glasses, only to be left with the discomforting sensation that something was now amiss.
‘My eyes were a bit sore even with good glasses,’ one X user, who goes by the handle @CrickJV3 posted to the site.
‘I looked at the eclipse with glasses and [all that],’ another asserted, ‘and my eyes [are] sore now.’
As DailyMail.com revealed Monday, eclipse viewing glasses that block out 99 percent of ultraviolet light have been sold out for weeks in many places, while fakes flooded Amazon, eBay and Temu.
If you bought eclipse glasses, they should have the ‘ISO 12312-2’ label somewhere on them, in many cases on the arm of frames.
The insignia may also appear as ‘ISO 12312-2:2015,’ but in either case, your glasses should be up to Chou’s and ISO’s protective standards and safe to use.
For most people who discover vision problems over the course of the next 24 hours, Chou has said that the likely case will be blurred vision.
‘Most people, they don’t see a black spot,’ the eclipse eye safety expert said.
‘For the most part they have damaged photoreceptors that just aren’t capable of doing more than just registering maybe the presence of light but can’t really build up enough information for them to be able to see clearly.’
Despite the fact that ‘miracle cure’ treatments are not currently available, experts recommend contacting your eye doctor the moment you suspect that you might have solar retinopathy or eclipse blindness as a result of Monday’s celestial event.
