Google searches for ‘my eyes hurt’ spiked to record high Monday

One unfortunate side effect of Monday’s historic total solar eclipse appears to be that people may have gazed at the spectacle a little too long.

More people searched for “my eyes hurt” and “I looked at the eclipse and my eyes hurt,” on Google after the eclipse ended than ever before, according to Google Trends.

Other searches, like “I looked at the eclipse for a second,” “I looked at the eclipse without glasses” and “I looked at the eclipse will I go blind” all also saw a significant jump late Monday afternoon.

Although there is no evidence that thousands of people now have permanent eye damage, the concern stems from widespread warnings about looking at the eclipse without wearing approved eye protection. A shortage of solar glasses prompted many to create improvised ways to view the sun, or to simply stay inside, as many school districts decided to have their students do.

PreventBlindness.org says that possible symptoms of permanent damage may include sensitivity to light, eye pain or loss of vision in one or both eyes. Other indications include loss of central vision, distorted vision and altered color vision.

Misty Kearney, ophthalmic technician and patient education coordinator at West Georgia Eye Care Center in Columbus, said that people who suspect they may have suffered vision damage should schedule an appointment with an ophthalmologist.

This story was originally published August 22, 2017 at 8:58 AM with the headline "Google searches for ‘my eyes hurt’ spiked to record high Monday."