BOSTON — Doctors at Mass Eye and Ear say they usually see almost no one for solar retinopathy, but on Tuesday they’ve had more than a dozen patients come to the emergency room for solar damage to their eyes after looking at the eclipse without the proper protection.
“This is not something we see regularly,” said Dr. Isaac Bleicher, Director of Ocular Trauma Service at Mass Eye and Ear. “Usually your body gives you a good reflex when you look up at the sun, you blink, you turn your head away instinctively, but during the eclipse, people have an incentive to continue to look at the sun.”
Dr. Bleicher says they’ve seen a significant increase in patients Tuesday following the solar eclipse.
“We worry about a condition called solar retinopathy – the bright light from the sun, many, many times brighter than any light you’re normally exposed to can cause a burn essentially to the retina, which is the camera film of the eye,” said Dr. Bleicher.
He says many people may experience headaches after looking at the sun briefly or even some vision loss that could go away over 3-6 months.
But some of the more concerning symptoms include vision changes like blurry vision or seeing a dark, gray area in the center of your vision with pain behind your eyes.
If you have any of those symptoms, it may be time to head to the ER.
“One person in particular was looking at the sun with sunglasses, just routine sunglasses for periods of a few seconds at a time over an hour and that was enough to likely cause some permanent damage,” said Dr. Bleicher.
Dr. Bleicher says he’s had a couple of patients Tuesday who have severe cases of this disease and will likely have persistent vision loss now.
That’s why he says it’s so important to wear those eclipse glasses when looking at the sun.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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