A few days have passed since the incident, total solar eclipse Reports of eye pain have increased since the celestial phenomenon, which passed over parts of Ontario, caught the attention of many.
After Google saw an increase in searches related to eclipse eye damage and eye pain, City News contacted several hospitals in the Toronto and Hamilton metropolitan areas to ask about the possible increase in cases.
Ahead of Monday’s solar eclipse, health authorities urged people to use special glasses that comply with ISO standards to view the eclipse safely.
of Donald K. Johnson Eye InstituteThe hospital, which is part of the University Health Network’s Toronto Western Hospital, was one of the health care facilities that reported an increase in calls starting Tuesday. Officials did not provide details on the number of calls.
Dr. Marisa Sitt, a general ophthalmologist at the institute, said: “We’re seeing complaints about blurred vision and concerns that they may have inadvertently looked at the sun, or that they may have looked at the sun by mistake. “There is,” he told City News.
“Are we surprised that there is an uptick? No, no matter what big event there is. [are] People will react in different ways. ”
Symptoms of eye damage and pain usually occur several hours after exposure to harmful light. Although many people may experience mild irritation, there are concerns about solar retinopathy, which occurs after light damages and damages the retina.
Symptoms of solar retinopathy include blurred vision, seeing spots or wavy lines in front of your eyes, distorted colors, and seeing dark spots where harmful light is emitted.
“There’s really no medical or surgical treatment we can offer you,” Sitt said.
“If you have solar retinopathy, we can monitor it over time and hopefully it will improve and resolve on its own. If it doesn’t improve on its own, it will become permanent. This could leave a huge deficit.”
Representatives from Hamilton Health Sciences, Halton Healthcare and Trillium Health Partners told CityNews they have not noticed an increase in patients seeking treatment after the eclipse.
Dr. Josephine Pepe, president of the Ontario Association of Optometrists, said she and other association members are “receiving more calls than we used to,” which is welcome.
“I think it’s very important for patients to call to make sure there’s nothing wrong with their eyes. Most patients are fine and just need reassurance,” Pepe told City News. He added that mild symptoms such as dry eye can be treated.
“There is an anecdote about a patient who didn’t realize he needed glasses and went to cover one eye. The eclipse made him sensitive and he started thinking more about his eyes, so he went to get glasses. After testing, I found out that I needed glasses. ”
She noted that many people seemed to have heeded warnings about taking proper precautions during the eclipse.
Pepe added that anyone concerned about solar retinopathy can undergo an optical coherence tomography (OCT) scan to obtain 3D images of the back of the eye.
Pepe and Sitt focused on some people’s eye health and encouraged people to get regular eye exams. Testing was recommended every two years for adults and more frequently for adolescents.
Another recommendation is to wear sunglasses with UVA and UVB protection when outdoors, and not only when it’s sunny.
“The clouds do help a little bit, but you can still get a lot of UV damage,” Pepe says.
Pepe suggested investing more in sunglasses, as affordable sunglasses can lose their UV protection. She also said polarized glasses can provide additional protection to deal with sunlight reflecting off water and snow.
