Optometrists, others advise eclipse viewers to protect eyes

Area residents and visitors who turn their eyes to the sky Aug. 21 to view a total solar eclipse could severely injure their eyes if they don't wear special glasses, local optometrists warn.

Dr. Ryne Wood, an optometrist with Leet EyeCare in Cape Girardeau, said looking at the sun can cause solar retinopathy.

"You can burn your retina by gazing at the sun," he said.

The retina is "the neuro tissue of the eye. That's what captures all the light," said Wood.

The retina converts the light energy into signals that are carried to the brain, according to the National Eye Institute.

This graphic shows when viewers of the Aug. 21 total eclipse should use eye protection.

A burned retina can lead to loss of central vision or distort vision, or cause color-vision changes, Wood said.

According to the Vision Eye Institute website, symptoms, which may not surface for several hours, include discomfort when looking at bright lights and difficulty discerning shapes.

Wood said symptoms can improve over time. But he said sometimes the damage is permanent.

"That is the fear," he said. "That is why it is important to have certified lenses."

Anyone who believes he or she has a burned retina should contact his or her eye doctor to have it checked, Wood said. But there is no surgery or other treatment that can fix the damage from a burned retina, he said.

He said that makes it all the more important for people to protect their eyes during the eclipse.

According to NASA, eclipse viewers need to wear special glasses that state they meet the ISO 12312-2 safety standard.

Eclipse viewers also can look through special filters such as a Number 14 welder's glass, which has a thin layer of aluminum, chromium or silver on its surface that reduces ultraviolet, visible and infrared energy, NASA said.

Wood and Dr. Alan Branson, an optometrist with Eye Care for You in Cape Girardeau, recommend wearing special safety glasses or rely on "pinhole" indirect viewing where you project an image of the sun on a screen.

"You can see shadows on the ground," Branson said, explaining ways to safely view the eclipse.

Wood and Branson said regular sunglasses, including prescription glasses, won't adequately protect eclipse watchers.

Branson said one of his patients told him he planned to simply wear his polarized sunglasses. Branson said he warned the patient against such a move.

Sunglasses don't block out all infrared and ultraviolet light, Branson said.

He said people also should not look at the eclipse through a camera lens. A camera lens will not protect the eyes from the sun's damaging rays, Branson said.

Eclipse glasses, such as the ones being sold or distributed free of charge by various businesses and organizations, should be used only when looking up at the sun, he said.

These glasses block out so much light, "you can't walk around in them because you can't see," Branson said.

Cape Girardeau will experience about 1 minute and 48 seconds under the moon's shadow, according to the Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitors Bureau.

"Everything around Cape is going to be stopping at this time," Branson said, adding he plans to close his practice for an hour during the event.

The edge of the moon will begin to overlap the edge of the sun at 11:52 a.m., and the sun will be completely covered by the moon, known as totality, at 1:20 p.m., CVB officials said in a news release.

After totality, the sun will slowly emerge from behind the moon over the course of the next hour. The astronomical event is scheduled to end at 2:49 p.m., according to the release.

Wood advised those who wear the special glasses still should not look at the sun for two minutes straight.

"I would definitely recommend, even with the glasses, to take frequent breaks," he said. "I wouldn't gaze at it consistently the whole time."

Despite the warnings, Wood said he expects some people will not wear safety glasses and will end up damaging their eyes.

"I would be surprised if it didn't happen," he said.

In 1988, 66 people were treated in Italy for solar retinopathy after a sun-staring ritual, according to the Livescience website.

Even with the safety warnings, Branson said there is a concern young children may remove those special glasses during the eclipse.

Perry County School District No. 32 officials had a solution in mind.

"We bought superhero masks for the lower grades," said Kate Martin, communications director for the Perryville public school district. School officials planned to insert the special glasses into the cloth masks in an effort to make sure students in kindergarten through fourth grade would be protected.

"We thought it would appeal to children," Martin said.

But after the school district decided to cancel classes all day for the eclipse, officials decided they will distribute just the glasses to students to take home and store the super hero masks for future school events or projects.

Meanwhile, the Cape Girardeau CVB plans to have 1,500 or more special glasses on hand to distribute to those who come to the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex to watch the eclipse.

But CVB executive director Brenda Newbern said she would encourage those who have the glasses to show up with those glasses.

Newbern said there's no way to predict how many people might show up at the SportsPlex.

"This is just first come, first served," she said, adding it is possible they won't have enough glasses for everyone.

Wood, the optometrist, said people should enjoy the eclipse, "but also realize there is a danger."

mbliss@semissourian.com

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