CLEVELAND — You probably know that you need to wear the proper eye protection if you want to look at the sun during a solar eclipse, but you might not know exactly why.
THE CLAIM
So today, we're VERIFYING the answer to this question: "Can I go blind if I look directly at the sun during a total solar eclipse?"
THE SOURCES
We checked with the following sources:
- The American association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS)
- Cleveland Clinic Ophthalmologist Dr. Nicole Bajic
THE EXPLANATION
Cleveland Clinic Ophthalmologist Dr. Nicole Bajic explains the possible injury you can end up with from looking directly at the sun during a solar eclipse is called "solar retinopathy."
"It can cause a photo toxic injury to our retina, and that’s the film of the eye, if we consider the eye being like a camera," Bajic said. "It can burn a hole into it causing solar retinopathy, so it can cause blind spots in your vision or just general decreased vision. This can last three to six months, but for some, unfortunately, it’s permanent."
According to AAPOS, "There is no known treatment for solar retinopathy. Many people improve on their own over 3-6 months without any treatment. Steroids have been tried to improve and reverse symptoms, but there is no proof that they work for solar retinopathy."
We asked Bajic what the worst possible outcome could be for someone who experiences solar retinopathy, whose retinas don't repair themselves. Here's what she told us:
"People can significantly lose vision, where if the damage is bad enough, it's certainly possible to have vision degrade where they could be considered legally blind. Fortunately for us, we're not getting too much of our business from solar retinopathy, and I like to think that is because we're spreading so much awareness about it and making sure everyone protects their eyes."
THE ANSWER
So we can VERIFY the answer to the question "Can I go blind if I look directly at the sun during a total solar eclipse?" is yes.
It is possible, for some people. Just make sure you wear ISO certified solar eclipse viewing glasses while you're looking at the sun during the solar eclipse and you won't have to find out if you're one of those people!
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Bajic shared the following additional insight on this topic:
"Many people think you can just pop on a pair of regular sunglasses and that should be enough [to protect your eyes while look at the sun during a total solar eclipse], however the eclipse glasses are a thousand times darker so you really need that in order to filter out that radiation and prevent solar retinopathy.
"Unfortunately the damage can potentially be permanent, so that's why we want to be so vigilant about protecting your eyes. You only get one retina, that's it, so you want to protect it as much as possible because this is not something we can just transplant for you and make it all better."