--- title: Total Solar Eclipse: If You Hurt Your Eyes, You Won’t Know Yet description: Many solar eclipse watchers are complaining about their eyes hurting. But you won't know until tomorrow if you actually damaged your eyes canonical: https://time.com/4909642/total-solar-eclipse-eyes-hurt/ author: Alana Abramson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-21T20:04:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:06:01.857Z article:section: Science og:title: Did You Hurt Your Eyes by Looking at the Solar Eclipse? You Won't Know Until Tomorrow og:description: There are no immediate symptoms associated with eye damage from an eclipse og:url: https://time.com/4909642/total-solar-eclipse-eyes-hurt/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf83d2d410368fed8/6988da8286f68e35e76e6162/eclipse-eyes-hurt.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: US-SOLAR-ECLIPSE-ASTRONOMY og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Did You Hurt Your Eyes by Looking at the Solar Eclipse? You Won't Know Until Tomorrow twitter:description: There are no immediate symptoms associated with eye damage from an eclipse twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf83d2d410368fed8/6988da8286f68e35e76e6162/eclipse-eyes-hurt.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Did You Hurt Your Eyes by Looking at the Solar Eclipse? You Won't Know Until Tomorrow  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Aug 21, 2017 8:04 PM UTC  People watch the total solar eclipse in Charleston, South Carolina, on Aug. 21, 2017. People watch the total solar eclipse in Charleston, South Carolina, on Aug. 21, 2017.AFP Contributor—AFP/Getty Images  by [Alana Abramson](https://time.com/author/alana-abramson/)  ## Alana Abramson Aug 21, 2017 8:04 PM UTC Shortly after a [total solar eclipse swept across America](http://time.com/4907357/total-solar-eclipse-2017-america/?xid=homepage) on Monday, many eclipse gazers took to social media to complain about their eyes hurting or burning. For many viewers, that raised the question of whether they had permanently hurt their eyes by looking at the eclipse. While anyone who is concerned may want to visit an eye doctor for an official diagnosis, the short answer is that it’s likely too soon after the eclipse to observe any damage to your eyes. Starting directly at the sun during the [partial phase of the eclipse ](http://time.com/4902927/partial-solar-eclipse-definition/)without wearing [special eclipse glasses ](http://time.com/4878020/solar-eclipse-glasses-2017/)could harm the retina, damaging the images your brain can view. The phenomenon is called “eclipse blindness,” experts say. While it can cause temporary or permanent vision impairment, it wouldn’t cause any pain shortly after viewing the eclipse. In fact, there are no immediate symptoms associated with damage to the retina, which doesn’t have any pain receptors, ophthalmologists say. Symptoms begin occurring 12 hours after viewing the eclipse, when people wake up in the morning and notice their vision has been altered, [TIME previously reported](http://time.com/4890397/solar-eclipse-damage-eyes-protect/). “They can’t see faces in the mirror, they can’t read the newspaper or the smartphone display, they’re having trouble looking at road signs, and basically they’ve got this center spot in their vision that is intensely blurred,” said Dr. B. Ralph Chou, the president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada and a former optometry professor. **More:** [**_Watch the Whole Total Solar Eclipse in 4 Minutes_**](http://time.com/4900280/total-solar-eclipse-2017-video-watch/?xid=homepage) Chou also said it’s impossible to go completely blind from staring at the eclipse with the naked eye, though it is possible to become legally blind. Still, people posted concerns about their eyesight on social media immediately following the eclipse. > [](https://twitter.com/greetinghimeros/status/899705847869296645) > [](https://twitter.com/Mewlitia/status/899696991319597057) > [](https://twitter.com/KactusCove/status/899707705530646530) > [](https://twitter.com/FvkJason/status/899693601617313795) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4909642/total-solar-eclipse-eyes-hurt/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4909642/total-solar-eclipse-eyes-hurt/"},"headline":"Did You Hurt Your Eyes by Looking at the Solar Eclipse? 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