A young woman has detailed her struggle with vision problems and difficulty reading for six years after looking directly at the 2017 solar eclipse.
The young woman, Bridget Kyeremateng, 29, said she covered one eye and looked at the eclipse for about 10 to 15 seconds through the other eye without wearing protective glasses.
When he woke up and looked at his phone, he noticed a blind spot in his left eye, making it impossible to read every other word on his phone and recognize road signs.
A visit to an optometrist confirmed that he had irrevocably damaged his eyes, causing migraines, blurred and distorted vision, and white spots appearing in his left line of vision.
Staring at the sun any day is risky, as it can burn your retinas and cause lasting damage to your vision. While some may believe that looking at a darkened sun is less risky, optometrists have still warned that the sun’s rays that peak around the perimeter of the moon can be just as dangerous.
Bridget Kyeremateng, 29, warned her fellow eclipse watchers not to look at the sun as she did six years ago during the last solar eclipse, which left her with a burned retina and irreversible damage to her vision.
Eclipse watchers were asked to wear special glasses approved by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which are about 100 times darker than regular sunglasses.
Damage caused by viewing the eclipse may not be immediately apparent. Because there are no pain receptors in the back of the eyes, a stargazer may not register the damage he or she has inflicted on his or her vision until hours pass.
In the case of Mrs Kyeremateng, she I noticed something was wrong the next morning.
She opened her phone when she woke up and noticed that she could only read every other word on the screen, which she attributed to being still tired and groggy.
But after walking around his house and waking up more fully, the problem persisted.
‘There was like a blind spot in every word I was reading… I couldn’t see things. And I said, “Oh my God.”
‘I started driving to the eye doctor and couldn’t see the signs. All of this happened in a span of 10 seconds; I only looked at the sun for 10 seconds.’
Once retinal tissue is destroyed, it does not regenerate, so the damage suffered by the Brooklyn native and likely thousands of other Americans who directly observed the eclipse is irreversible.
Google searches for “vision damage” increased yesterday afternoon during and after the solar eclipse, suggesting that many people woke up Tuesday morning with some eye strain.
The allure of gazing at the celestial wonder in 2017 left an unknown number of Americans with vision problems the next day.
About 100 people in the U.S. and Canada reported to eye care professionals after the Aug. 21, 2017, solar eclipse complaining of retinal damage related to the eclipse, according to an informal survey by the American Astronomical Society.
Google searches for “injured eyes” and “vision damage” spiked Monday afternoon, just after many Americans were shocked by the brief astonishment.
Intense sunlight can damage the macula, the center of the retina that allows us to see the road while driving, read text, and recognize faces.
Peripheral vision is likely fine, but damage affects the central vision system.
Dr. Vicki Chan, an ophthalmologist based in Los Angeles, said: “Just as a magnifying glass pointed at the sun can burn holes in paper, the lens of the eye can focus sunlight to burn holes in the retina.”
Ms Kyeremateng said she has adapted to the permanent change in her vision and told her thousands of followers that she still suffers from headaches on the left side of her face, because her left eye has to work harder to keep up with the right.
Doctors told him he has 20/20 slow vision, meaning he can still see objects 20 feet away as clearly as the average person, but it takes longer for his brain to process what he sees or reads.
The blind spot in his vision remains, although he can see wearing prescription glasses and sunglasses when he goes outside.
He said the problem affected his daily life for the first six months after seeing the eclipse, but added: “My eyes know what to do now and I wear prescription sunglasses.”