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So how can you tell if you injured your eye while watching the occultation ? And if you have , what should you do ?
How can an eclipse hurt your eyes?
The only time it ’s safe to bet at a solar occultation with bare eye is during totality , which is when the lunation completely block off the sun . It ’s dangerous to look at the sun withoutspecial eye protectionany other prison term , including during fond phases of a solar occultation , when the sun is n’t amply blur . This is due to a danger of " solar retinopathy , " which refers to damage to the retina — the light - sensitive tissue at the back of the eye — make by sun exposure or other bright Inner Light .
Typically , protective reflexes , like blinking and educatee compression , sound off in if we glance at the sun on a normal day . During an occultation , though , these reflexes may not be as robustbecause the Dominicus is partly cover . This can make it easy to stare at the sun without discomfort — long enough to cause retinal damage .
You would n’t of necessity palpate this damage happening in real time because " the retina has no sensory nerve fibers,“Dr . Vincent Giovinazzo , interim president of ophthalmology at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City , told Live Science after North America ’s 2017 eclipse .
If you wore the right eye protection during the eclipse, you likely didn’t suffer any eye damage. Your eyes may just be strained or dry.
That ’s why it ’s recommend that you view eclipses through an eclipse watcher , a solar filter jibe to a scope or binoculars , or special occultation glasses — although , unfortunately , there were imitative specs blow around for this class ’s eclipse , Live Science ’s babe internet site Space.com reported .
In hypothesis , look at an eclipse could also bite the surface of the oculus , cause a stipulation called solar keratitis , NBC reported . But this sort of burn would be much more rough-cut among people spend time at high altitude orin brilliant , clean snowwithout eye protection , as compared to eclipse security guard .
Related : The best photos and videos of the April 8 total solar eclipse over North America
Signs of eye damage after an eclipse
The main symptoms of solar retinopathy do n’t always include botheration , but they tend to disrupt a person ’s imagination , accord to theAmerican Academy of Ophthalmology .
For example , symptoms can let in having obnubilate vision or notice a unreasoning spot toward the sum of one or both eye . People may also go through increased low-cal sensitivity or distorted sight , where square lines calculate curved or objects appear smaller than they really are , for instance . Changes in a person ’s people of colour visual sensation can also fall out because the cells creditworthy for sensing color are in the retina .
These various visual sensation changes can also give rise to cephalalgia , and people also commonly report middle soreness , sloppiness and soreness , the Cleveland Clinic order .
These symptom typically show up within about four to six hours of the take in event , although they could appear the next daylight , Dr. Nathan Podoll , a spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology and co - division chief of comprehensive ophthalmology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center , previously order Live Science .
significantly , though , the symptom that may show up after an eclipse are n’t necessarily sign of permanent eye wrong . In mild cases of solar retinopathy , the symptom typically go away on their own , although it may take up to six month in some representative , the Cleveland Clinic observe . The New York Times reportedthat it sometimes takes closer to a year .
In severe cases of the condition , though , the eye damage can be irreversible . An ophthalmologist may suggest that they control your eyes several time across multiple visits , to see if the damage is ameliorate or not ; they can diagnose solar retinopathy and judge its severity with a trial calledoptical coherence tomography , an imaging trial that use light source to unwrap damage and abnormality in the retina .
There ’s no specific treatment for permanent damage triggered by solar retinopathy , NBC reported .
If it’s not eye damage, why do my eyes feel weird?
If your heart matt-up weird after the eclipse but it does n’t rick out to be retinal damage , what is it ?
asterisk at anything for a prolonged point can cause eye soreness , The Washington Post report . That irritation can arise when the eyes are dried out or when they ’ve been focused on something for a long metre , for example .
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If you viewed the solar occultation only through manifest eclipse glasses , it ’s unlikely that your eyes were damage , Dr. Carl Jacobsen , a clinical prof at the UC Berkeley School of Optometry , tell The Washington Post . You may just be experience eyestrain — but if any vision change persist , you should see an middle Dr. , he say .
This article is for informational purposes only and is not meant to offer up medical advice .
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