Google searches about \u201churt eyes\u201d spiked Monday afternoon, just after many U.S. communities experienced the total solar eclipse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The searches suggest some people in the sun\u2019s path were worried they\u2019d glanced at it too long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s a valid concern, eye experts said. Looking at the sun without protective equipment can harm your vision, and complaints of eye issues have been documented after past eclipse events. However, cases of long-term damage after eclipses aren\u2019t common.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, hurting eyes aren\u2019t the best indicator of a severe problem: Injuries from \u201csolar retinopathy,\u201d when light injures retinas, occur without immediate pain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two main types of injuries are possible from looking at the sun \u2014 a burn to the outside of the eye and damage to nerve tissue within. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can get a little bit of a burn to the surface of the eye, or what we call solar keratitis,\u201d said Dr. Daniel Lattin, an ophthalmologist at Nemours Children\u2019s Health in Jacksonville, Florida. \u201cYou can get sort of a burn to that cornea, and that\u2019ll 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.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That type of injury is rare, and it\u2019s more commonly associated with climbers who spend time at high altitudes without proper eye protection, said Dr. Russell Van Gelder, an ophthalmologist at University of Washington Medicine and the director of the Karalis Johnson Retina Center in Seattle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty hard to get that eclipse gazing; you need a fair amount of exposure,\u201d Van Gelder said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Vision symptoms are more likely and worthy of concern. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you have symptoms of a blind spot, wavy lines, floaters or blurry vision, that could be solar retinopathy after this eclipse, and you need to be seen right away,\u201d said Dr. Luxme Hariharan, chief of ophthalmology at Dayton Children\u2019s Hospital in Ohio. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hariharan said symptoms of solar retinopathy typically develop in the 24 hours after sun exposure. The condition isn\u2019t associated with pain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a pain sensation,\u201d Van Gelder said. \u201cThe retina is devoid of the sense of pain or temperature. The retina can\u2019t feel when it\u2019s injured.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lattin said there\u2019s no treatment for solar retinopathy, though some patients\u2019 eyes will recover over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Limited data suggests prolonged problems aren\u2019t common. Only about 100 patients reported \u201ceclipse-related retinopathy\u201d after the 2017 total solar eclipse, according to a\u2002technical report published by the American Astronomical Society<\/a>. Children and young adults were the most likely to be affected, according to the report, which based its estimates on informal survey data. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Van Gelder said no national registry keeps track of such injuries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After the 2017 eclipse, he said, his clinic treated a half-dozen patients in Seattle who had eye complaints. He treated two of them directly, both of whom experienced partial recoveries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf people are having pain, it\u2019s probably not anything significant,\u201d Van Gelder said. \u201cIf they have vision issues, they should be seen.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Experts said it doesn\u2019t take long to damage the eyes after you gaze at the sun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt can take as little as one to two seconds where you\u2019re looking at it unprotected if you\u2019re not using the glasses,\u201d Hariharan said. \u201cThe problem is when the moon is blocking it in totality and it\u2019s cloudy, you think it\u2019s safe to look at, and people will stare at it for longer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n