There were warnings before Monday’s solar eclipse not to look at the sun without special protective glasses, because of the potential for damage to the eye. Since yesterday, local eye care professionals have received some calls from people worried that they may have hurt their eyes by looking at the sun.
Lisa Rentz is director of marketing and patient relations at L.O. Eye Care. She says they’ve gotten several calls from patients who fear they may have suffered burns on their retinas. Three people have been scheduled for retina consultations.
"We'll do a variety of work-up tests to look at the retina to see if there's any damage, and then the doctor will do a physical examination of the retina as well," Rentz says. "They'll look at the test results to determine if there was anything that was damaged, and then have a consultation with the patient about what they find."
L.O. Eye Care is a WKAR underwriter.
Symptoms of retinal damage include blurred vision, with a spot or spots in the center.