Damage To Eyes From Looking At Eclipse May Take Days To Detect
So you looked directly at the sun while trying to watch the
solar eclipse.Maybe you didn’t read the warnings or couldn’t get your hands
on a pair of eclipse glasses. Or maybe you did have them but couldn’t resist,
just for a few seconds, staring straight at the sun with your naked eyes,
experts be darned.
Did you cause damage to your eyes? It’s hard to tell
immediately, experts say.
“Short-term issues can include solar keratitis, which is
similar to sunburn of the cornea (the front part of the eye),” UnitedHealthcare
Vision chief executive Linda Chous told NBC News. “This can cause eye pain and light
sensitivity, with symptoms often occurring within 24 hours after exposure.”
Trickier to detect right away is any long-term damage to the
retina in the back of the eye. Staring straight at the sun can cause a
condition called solar retinopathy, which leads to a decrease or distortion of
a person’s central vision, said Sveta Kavali, an ophthalmologist and retina
specialist at Saint Louis University.
“That damage is typically irreversible, and there’s no
treatment for this,” Kavali said in a video about viewing the eclipse safely.
“The way the damage occurs on a cellular basis is that the UV rays from the sun
induces a photochemical reaction that damages the photo receptors of the
retina, and the part of the retina that’s damaged is the part that’s responsible
for your central
vision.”
However, because the retina has no pain receptors, you may
not realize you’ve damaged your eyes until the symptoms appear, anywhere from a
few hours to a few days after the event,out for include loss of central vision, distorted vision or
altered colors.
Only time can tell if one’s retina is permanently damaged.
Jacob Chung, the chief of ophthalmology at Englewood Hospital and Medical
Center in New Jersey, told USA Today that it doesn’t take much time staring at
the sun — “10 seconds is probably too long and 20 seconds is definitely too
long” — for the sun’s rays to damage uncovered or improperly covered eyes. He
recounted one particularly egregious case of solar retinopathy.
“I don’t know if it was during an eclipse, but he said he was
on LSD and looked at the sun for four straight hours,” Chung told the
newspaper. “In his retina there was a pigmented spot, and his vision was very
poor, needless to say. He was basically legally blind.”
Michael Schecter, an optometrist in Columbus, warned of the
dangers of watching the eclipse without proper eye protection two weeks ago in
a widely shared Facebook post. He was especially worried about people using
phony glasses or children who were tempted to remove their eclipse glasses.
Solar Eclipse and Your Eyes
A solar eclipse will occur across most of the United States
on August 21, 2017, including a small band of total solar eclipse stretching
from east to west across the continent. Prevent Blindness hopes you enjoy
taking part in this important astronomical and cultural event. Before you
do, please take the time to learn about the dangers to your vision and how to
protect your eyes from injury during the eclipse.
Protect your eyes!
Never look directly at the sun during a solar eclipse (except
during the very brief time the sun is in total eclipse; and even then, with
caution). Looking directly at the sun can cause permanent damage to your eyes.
After viewing a solar eclipse, seek treatment from an eye care
professional if you or your child have any changes in vision that continue to get worse.
What is a solar eclipse?
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the sun
and the earth. The moon causes the light of the sun to be blocked from reaching
earth, casting a shadow on earth. A total solar eclipse is when the moon
completely blocks the sun.
The sun’s outer atmosphere (called the solar corona)
glows around the moon when it is blocking the sun. A partial solar eclipse is
when the moon only blocks part of the sun. Viewing a partial solar eclipse can
expose your eye to the sun’s rays causing damage to the eye.
How can your eyes be affected by a solar eclipse?
Exposing your eyes to the sun without proper eye protection
during a solar eclipse can cause “eclipse blindness” or retinal burns, also
known as solar retinopathy. This exposure to the light can cause damage or even
destroy cells in the retina (the back of the eye) that transmit what you see to
the brain.
This damage can be temporary or permanent and occurs with no pain.
It can take a few hours to a few days after viewing the solar eclipse to
realize the damage that
has occurred.
What are the eye symptoms that can occur from looking at a
solar eclipse without proper eye protection?
- Loss
of central vision (solar retinopathy)
- Distorted
vision
- Altered
color vision
If you notice symptoms after viewing a solar eclipse, seek
treatment from an eye care professional.
How to safely watch a solar eclipse
The only time that you can safely view a solar eclipse
without special equipment is during a total solar eclipse. This is when the
moon completely covers the sun. It is never safe to look at a partial solar
eclipse without proper safety equipment or techniques. During the very brief
time the sun is in total solar eclipse it is safe to look at it, but do so with
caution.
Even during the total solar eclipse, the total eclipse
may last only a short period of time, and if you are looking towards the sun as
the moon moves away from blocking the sun, you might get a solar burn on your
retina which can cause permanent
damage to your eyes. Talk with your eye care professional to
determine the best viewing option for you. Below are a few common ways to
safely watch a solar eclipse:
Pinhole projection:
This is the safest and
most inexpensive way to watch a solar eclipse. This helps you avoid looking
directly at the eclipse by using a projected image. This do-it-yourself project
includes making a pinhole in a cardboard paper with the sun on one side and a
piece of paper three feet away without obstruction to project the image on the
other side. Keep in mind not to look through the pinhole at the sun.
Welder’s glass: Number 14 welder’s glass provides effective protection and
can be found at a local welder’s supply store. This glass will reduce the
harmful rays that are emitted during the eclipse. Do not use if there are any
scratches or damage to
the glass.
Mylar filters: Aluminized mylar plastic sheets are available as eclipse
vision glasses or can be cut and made into a viewing box. Do not use if there
are any scratches or damage to the sheet.
Other ways: Other ways to safely watch a solar eclipse is on television
or at the planetarium.
How not to watch a solar eclipse
Be careful about how you watch a solar eclipse. It is not
recommended to view it in the following ways:
Smart phone: Watching a solar eclipse on your smartphone camera can put
you at risk of accidentally looking at the sun when trying to line up your
camera. It could possibly also damage your smartphone camera. Don’t take the
risk.
Camera viewfinder: Never look at a solar eclipse through the optical
viewfinder of a camera. It can damage your eyes in the same way as looking
directly at it.
Unsafe filters: Unless specifically designed for viewing a solar eclipse,
no filter is safe to use with any optical device (telescopes, binoculars, etc).
All color film, black-and-white film that contains no silver, photographic
negatives with images on them (x-rays and snapshots), smoked glass, sunglasses (single or
multiple pairs), photographic neutral density filters and polarizing filters
are unsafe filters to watch a solar eclipse. Also, solar filters designed for
eyepieces that come with inexpensive telescopes are also unsafe. All of these
items can increase your risk of damaging your eyes.
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