Looked up at the eclipse?

Question

Ok. This may sound strange but I looked at the eclipse for a split second out of curiosity. I wasn't using any shades or glasses to protect my eyes. I was fine. A few days later when I was showering for bed, after I got out my right eye felt irritated like something was in it or bothered (This sometimes happens when I shower and wash my face with soap.) But usually after a few hours I am fine. I thought sleeping would help, woke back up the next day and my eye still feels irritated. I don't know if it was from the eclipse yesterday or from the soap I used. Also it seems I cannot read as clearly as I could in my right eye compared to my left. I go to the eye doctor in a couple of weeks but I wanted to ask for thoughts and perspectives

Update:

My eye felt irritated as though I had red eye or pink eye because it hurt and felt like it was bothered by something in it.

Possibly Correct · Accepted Answer

Looking at the eclipse for a split second is like looking at the sun for a split second.  The real danger comes from staring at it. Damage from the eclipse would not cause pain, and certainly not the kind of pain you're describing. The damage would be in the back of the eye  and you wouldn't feel it. You would just start to notice a blind spot in your vision. So you're totally safe. And the discomfort you're describing sounds like maybe a bacterial infection or just foreign matter in your eye. Not a big deal.

dewcoons · Answer

If your eye was damaged by the sun, you would have notice a "blind spot" where the sun was actually focused when you looked at it.  It would have appeared within 24 to 48 hour.

If you were not blind by Wednesday afternoon, you did not damage your eyes.

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Looked up at the eclipse?

2 Answers