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Did you look at the solar eclipse without wearing your glasses because you thought it would be fine, and now your eyes feel weird? Or maybe you did wear your glasses, but your peepers are still hurting a little bit. If you’re one of the people who contributed to a spike in Google searches for “my eyes hurt,” you might not need to freak out (yet).
I talked to Dr. Avnish Deobhakta, an ophthalmologist at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai, and asked him our most pressing questions about why our eyes feel kind of funny right now.
Did I burn my retina?
Probably not. “If you wore the glasses, there’s an extremely strong chance that everything is going to be fine,” Dr. Deobhakta said. Hopefully, that reassures about 98 percent of you.
Why do my eyes hurt after the eclipse? (I wore the glasses.)
“This is likely something similar to eyestrain,” Dr. Deobhakta explained. It makes sense when you think about it. Staring at an eclipse (wearing eclipse glasses) is basically dilating your eyes and then staring at a small, faraway object for minutes at a time. Dr. Deobhakta compared it to sitting in the dark and staring at your phone for a long stretch.
“Basically, my recommendation is to relax,” Dr. Deobhakta said. “Don’t be stressed out. Just be happy that you were able to see it and you did the right thing by wearing the right glasses.”
Okay, and what if I didn’t wear my eclipse glasses?
I won’t eclipse shame, but that is really the only thing you were supposed to do. That being said, if your eyes are hurting right now, you’re probably fine. Solar retinopathy, or damage to the retina, is not something you can feel.
“The retina does not have pain fibers,” Dr. Deobhakta said. “The way [retinopathy] would present is if you had vision loss.” If you didn’t wear glasses and you are feeling pain and light sensitivity, that might be your cornea getting a little irritated. It will go away in a few hours. You should actually become concerned if you experience vision loss, which would typically occur within four to six hours of looking at the eclipse. Should that happen, call a doctor.
What should I do, and how long will it last?
If you wore your glasses, any discomfort will probably only last a few hours. If you’re really freaking out, try the 20-20-20 exercise. Look 20 feet away from you for 20 seconds every 20 minutes in order to give your eyes a bit of a breather. Also, stop looking at your phone for a bit.
“Avoid doomscrolling or doing anything on your phone at night tonight.” Dr. Deobhakta said. “You just saw a celestial event; give your eyes a little bit of a break if you’re having headaches. Let your eyes reorient themselves.”
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By Olivia Craighead , 2024-04-09 00:01:40
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