Google searches about "sore eyes" spiked during the solar eclipse that transfixed North America.
Searches for 'sore eyes' peaked during the solar eclipse
Millions of people in the US, Canada and Mexico looked to the skies on Monday (08.04.24) to witness a total solar eclipse but online trends show that many were fearful that they had glanced at it for too long.
One search term read, 'Why do my eyes hurt after looking at the eclipse', while a second asked 'how to tell if the eclipse hurt your eyes'.
Experts say that the concerns are valid as even a tiny glimpse of the Sun during a total eclipse is capable of damaging human eyes.
Dr. Daniel Lattin, an ophthalmologist at Nemours Children's Health in Florida, said: "You can get a little bit of a burn to the surface of the eye, or what we call solar keratitis.
"You can get sort of a burn to the cornea, and that'll cause redness and tearing and those sorts of symptoms. That should resolve on its own, within a day or two, without any sort of permanent damage."