09 April 2024 , 10:51
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There has been an apparent uptick of people worried about suffering from eye problems in the wake of the total solar eclipse that dazzled the US yesterday.
Users on social media shared their symptoms online, believing they were experiencing something which became known as "eclipse sickness". People reported "feeling physically sick" and experiencing headaches with others saying they felt "wiped out".
Americans were warned not to look at the solar eclipse without the correct equipment, though fears were raised after safety glasses sold on Amazon were recalled. Organisations and scientists issued multiple warnings ahead of the event to try and encourage people to protect their eyesight.
READ MORE: 'Eclipse sickness' causing 'weird' feelings, headaches and insomnia, say social media users
Huge crowds gathered to witness the incredible spectacle (Getty Images)NASA said: “Except during the brief total phase of a total solar eclipse, when the Moon completely blocks the Sun’s bright face, it is not safe to look directly at the Sun without specialized eye protection for solar viewing.” It warned of “severe eye injury” without the correct protection.
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Breakout searches on the internet search tracker Google Trends included “retina damage,” “symptoms of retina damage from eclipse” and “burned retina.” TikTok videos with millions of views have also emerged with users claiming they went "temporarily blind" after showing themselves looking up at the sun without protective glasses. Such claims have not yet been verified.
People shared videos saying they had damaged their eyes after the eclipse (dannyboyy_/Tiktok)
Some people said they had to receive medical treatment (dannyboyy_/Tiktok)User ‘dannyboyy_’ said other TikTok users should share the video to warn others of the dangers of looking up at the sun. They said that they experienced problems during the “last solar eclipse” The last total solar eclipse visible from North America was in 2017.
“The doctor gave me eyedrops + eye patches & I eventually recovered,” they said. The video has received over 12.3 million views and 1 million likes.
"My eyes are now boiling and my neck is suspiciously sore," one person also posted on X as people shared their stories of the eclipse. "Looked at the sun with my right eye and it burned its image in my retina," another said.
Responding to a tweet about the spike in Google search trends, another person said: "This would be much funnier if I hadn’t looked at the eclipse yesterday and if my eyes didn’t still hurt."
Another added: "I kept looking at the eclipse with my bare eyes!! I'M SUFFERING RIGHT NOW!! I HAVE A MAJOR HEADACHE AND MY EYES ARE SORE!!"
Signs of eye damage
Eye damage symptoms from the solar eclipse may not appear for a number of hours after the event. The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) said the following symptoms are possible:
- Blurry vision
- Headache
- A blind spot in your central vision in one or both eyes
- Increased sensitivity to light
- Distorted vision, in which a straight line looks bent, or a door jamb looks curvy
- Changes in the way you see colour, known as "dyschromatopsia"
Looking at the sun for too long is dangerous (Getty Images)Any person who is concerned they have sustained damage to their eyes should contact their doctor. “You can get a little bit of a burn to the surface of the eye, or what we call solar keratitis,” an ophthalmologist at the Nemours Children’s Health in Jacksonville, Florida, Dr Daniel Lattin explained.
“You can get sort of a burn to that cornea, and that’ll cause redness and tearing and those sorts of symptoms. That should resolve on its own, within a day or two, without any sort of permanent damage.”
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Those who have developed problems may experience a condition known as ‘solar retinopathy.’ AAO said: “Any people recover after three to six months, but some will suffer from permanent vision loss, in the form of a small blind spot and distortion.”
The injury is rare, and most commonly associated with climbers who spend long periods of time at high altitudes without sufficient eye protection, according to Dr Russell Van Gelder, from University of Washington Medicine and director of the Karalis Johnson Retina Center in Seattle. But, he added: "It's pretty hard to get that eclipse gazing; you need a fair amount of exposure."
Those who develop solar retinopathy tend to develop symptoms in the 24 hours following their exposure, though the condition isn't associated with pain. Dr Van Gelder explained: "It's not a pain sensation. The retina is devoid of the sense of pain or temperature. The retina can't feel when it's injured."