Keep eYe oN aNY damage from glimpse

THERE ARE several signs of vision damage to keep an eye on for those whose better judgment was eclipsed by their excitement over viewing Monday’s rare celestial event. Despite countless warnings — from eye doctors to experts at NASA — people all over the world peeked at the total eclipse without proper eye care, many of them taking to social media to complain about a discomfort in their eyes. Google even saw a spike in searches for “my eyes hurt” in the hours after the event ended. Several New York-based eye care facilities, including Associate Opthalmologists and Nassau Fulton Group, have fielded calls for those suffering from discomfort in their eyes, though none with serious damage yet. Fortunately, eye injuries from watching an eclipse are fairly rare, according to the Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Still, that doesn’t make the threat of solar retinopathy — also called eclipse blindness — any less real for people who opted to forgo a welder’s mask or the proper sunglasses on Monday. “The damage is typically irreversible and there’s not treatment,” Dr. Sweta Kavali, an SLUCare opthalmologist said. But, “just like sunburn to the skin, the effects are not felt or noticed immediately,” Michael Schecter, a Columbus, Ohio, optometrist, warned in a Facebook post ahead of the eclipse. Because the retina is without pain receptors, those injured may not even realize the damage from anywhere between a few hours to days later, according to Preventblindness. org. Dr. Ralph Chou, a professor emeritus of optometry and vision science at the University of Waterloo in Canada, estimated it would likely take up to 12 hours before any damage can be detected, NPR reported. All experts recommended seeking out a doctor in the event of prolonged discomfort.