StemCell Therapy

Dr. Jon Pederson, the president of the Colorado Optometric Association, is here to answer your eclipse damage questions.

Josh Hafner, USA TODAY , WXIA 7:29 AM. MDT August 22, 2017

A composite image of the total solar eclipse seen from the Lowell Observatory Solar Eclipse Experience August 21, 2017 in Madras, Oregon. / AFP PHOTO / STAN HONDA (Photo credit should read STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images)

If you,like our nation's president, looked directly into Monday's eclipse, you might wonder: Did I just damage my eyes?

Whether by accident or disregard, untold masses looked at the sun with unshielded eyes during the must-see-safely event. By Monday afternoon,peoplewere alreadyfreaking outabouttheir eyesonline.

The sun isn't more damaging to your eyes during asolar eclipse than on any other day. But asOhio optometristMichael Schectertold USA TODAY, the moon's covering makes it a lot less painful to look at it for a lot longer. That makes it tempting for folks to peer over their cardboard eclipse glasses to see "what's really going on," Schecter said.

So how long can you look before getting hurt?Not long,says Jacob Chung, Chief of Opthalmology at New Jersey's Englewood Hospital.

"If you look at it for a second or two, nothing will happen," he said."Five seconds, I'm not sure, but 10 seconds is probably too long, and 20 seconds is definitely too long."

You won't feel any pain if your eyes suffer damage, Chung said, because ourretinas lackpain fibers. Retinas can't heal themselves, either, he said, making permanent damage a possibility.

Any blurry vision won't kick in for a day or two, after the affected area swells "like an egg yolk" Schecter said. It can take months, even a year, for eyes to return to normal, he said if it they do at all.

You would basically get a burn on your central vision," Schecter said.

A2001 studylooked at 45 British patients who viewed the 1999 solar eclipse. While 20 patients claimedsymptoms of affected vision, just five showed damage on their retinas. All five looked at the eclipse for 18 seconds or longer,Slate's Will Oremusnoted.

One way to testat home whether you've damaged your eyes is to print offan Amsler Grid, Schecter said, a tool usedto detect vision problems. Closing each eye separately, focus on the center dot and see whether the surrounding grid appears wavy, splotchy or distorted, he said.

An eye doctor, of course, can properly diagnosewhether you've indeed damaged your eyes.

Contributing: Elyse Toribio of The (Bergen County, N.J.) Record.

Follow Josh Hafner on Twitter:@joshhafner

2017 USATODAY.COM

Originally posted here:
How to know if you damaged your eyes during the eclipse | 9news ... - 9NEWS.com

This entry was posted on August 29, 2017 at 2:42 am and is filed under Opthalmology. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |