Unless you’re dead, which I highly doubt you are, you almost definitely heard about yesterday’s total solar eclipse.
It was a phenomenon which took the world, particularly the U.S, by storm.
However, while the bulk of Americans stood outside their homes to gaze at the moon as it swallowed up the sun for just a brief moment, it appears many of them didn’t remember one basic rule – don’t stare at the sun, according to Mashable.
Despite the fact there were countless articles and television broadcasts instructing people on the safest way to watch the eclipse, many (including the president at one point) seemed to disregard the warnings.
And no, this isn’t just a claim pulled out of nowhere. Search terms on Google revealed there was a huge trend in concerned people searching everything from ‘eclipse headache’ to ‘I looked at the sun’.
You can see the spike below:
Eclipse headache
Eyes hurt
Looking at sun
I looked at the sun
And there was a helluva lot more.
Looking directly at the sun can result in serious damage to the retina – symptoms of which include:
- Watery and sore eyes
- Difficulty seeing shape and detail of objects
- Discomfort with bright light
- A blind spot in your central vision
- Objects may appear to be unusually colored or distorted in shape
If you happen to be experiencing any, ANY, of the above symptoms then get yourself to the optometrist immediately.
