In the lead up to the event, the public was warned about the dangers of the recent Total Solar Eclipse to their eyes. While many bought appropriate eyewear, some outlets sold bogus products that led to eye damage and loss of vision. One California Man is currently suffering the consequences of that bogus eyewear.

Retina damage in the shape of the total solar eclipse

An ophthalmologist, Dr. Raj Maturi of the Midwest Eye Institute in Indianapolis, recently told the Indy Star that he had been tracking cases since the eclipse. Maturi said that the California man had retina damage in the shape of the eclipse and had suffered significant loss to his vision while viewing the eclipse with bogus glasses that had been labeled as being appropriate but were not.

According to Maturi, he knew of two additional patients who had suffered eye damage while viewing the eclipse without appropriate eyewear. However, he said in those cases the patients didn’t stare at the eclipse long enough to cause permanent damage. Maturi said that with the use of anti-inflammatory drugs, their eyes would return to normal after just a few days. He did say if they had continued watching for a few seconds more, long-lasting eye damage would have been done.

Maturi said in the case of anyone who stared too long at the eclipse, or who was wearing inappropriate eyewear, there’s no coming back.

He said with so much energy coming to their eyes, they are literally burned and there is no treatment to repair that kind of damage.

Patients were concerned about eye damage during eclipse

Maturi reportedly received several calls from his patients prior to the total solar eclipse, who were concerned about damaging their eyesight.

However, the doctor said there were many misconceptions going around about possible eye damage. He said just being outside during the event was not an issue. The problem was with staring directly at the sun during the eclipse, as it would be with staring at the sun on a normal day.

Donald Trump and the total solar eclipse

As noted by the New York Post, President Donald Trump had been photographed viewing the total solar eclipse without protective eyewear, but Maturi said it is unclear whether the president suffered vision loss.

He added that Trump’s age would likely be a factor with avoiding eye damage. Explaining this, he said younger people’s eyes normally have clearer lenses, while older people could have cloudier lenses. While this doesn’t fully block the glare from the eclipse, it wouldn’t have such a profound effect.
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