Experts: Stop Panicking over Potential Eye Damage from Eclipse

Experts have been advising Americans not to panic over potential eye damage from the total solar eclipse, noting few cases lead to permanent sight loss.

“The vast majority of eclipse viewers are probably fine. And even if somebody did strain their eyes, the effects could be temporary,” noted NPR.

An estimated 150 million Americans viewed the 2017 solar eclipse, with only “100 documented cases of eye damage across all of America and Canada, according to Ralph Chou, an expert on eclipse eye safety with the University of Waterloo in Canada.”

In fact, emergency rooms were more clogged with people fearing damaged eyes than there were people with actual damaged eyes. Most symptoms, such as watery eyes or blurred vision, lasted only a few hours and cleared up with no lasting effects, said Avnish Deobhakta, an ophthalmologist at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai.

Deobhakta noted that evolution helped the human eye develop natural defenses against staring directly at the sun for too long.

“It’s so bright that we’re not actually capable of looking at it without either tearing or sort of not really feeling comfortable staring at this ball of light,” Deobhakta said.

While blurred vision can last a few hours, that does not mean permanent damage cannot occur. Viewers should still take precautions with protected glasses, experts advised. One clinic in Buffalo, New York, even offered free eye checks following the eclipse.

According to NBC News, “Hurting eyes aren’t the best indicator of a severe problem: Injuries from ‘solar retinopathy,’ when light injures retinas, occur without immediate pain.”

“Two main types of injuries are possible from looking at the sun — a burn to the outside of the eye and damage to nerve tissue within,” it added.

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