Google Searches For 'Why Do My Eyes Hurt' Skyrocketed Immediately After The Solar Eclipse

After a long wait full of excitement, the solar eclipse finally happened, and oh boy, was it a sight to behold!

Millions got the chance to witness this stunning event.

This very special solar eclipse made its appearance across Mexico, North America, and Canada on Monday, 8 April.

And let me tell you, the buzz around it was real.

The first sighting of the solar eclipse. NASA

The phenomenon takes place when the Moon sneaks in between the Sun and Earth, blocking those sunny rays from hitting us and casting a pretty spectacular shadow in the process.

A whole bunch of Americans made their way to where the eclipse was showing off its full glory, known as the path of totality.

This path included spots like Mazatlán and Torreón in Mexico; cities like San Antonio, Austin, and Dallas in Texas; and even Little Rock in Arkansas.

Before the big day, there were plenty of heads-ups given out, even for pet owners with dogs and cats.

But, one piece of advice stood out for its simplicity and importance: experts told everyone not to look directly at the sun while the eclipse was doing its thing.

"Even a few seconds of viewing the sun during an eclipse can temporarily or permanently burn the macula," according to the Journal of the American Medical Association. 

Now, the macula being a part of the retina means hurting it is bad news.

"Once retina tissue is destroyed, it cannot regenerate, leading to permanent central vision loss," the journal continues to warn.

However, it seems like not everyone heeded this warning.

An X post by The Spectator Index revealed that in the last 24 hours, there's been a spike in people Googling 'Why do my eyes hurt' after the eclipse happened.

The comments on this post had some people cracking up.

"Don't look at the sun. People proceed to look at the sun," wrote one amused commenter.

"Most of those are probably serious searches and others are troll searches," another speculated.

"I guess people learned you should not look at the sun during an eclipse," chimed in a third, with a bit of a chuckle.

One surefire way to safely enjoy a solar eclipse is by using glasses specifically made for sun-gazing.

Google searches for 'why do my eyes hurt' have skyrocketed. Getty Stock Photo

But we're not talking about any ordinary sunglasses.

The American Astronomical Society (AAS) clarified that these special-purpose solar filters need to meet the 'transmittance requirements of the ISO 12312-2 international standard'.

Wearing just any sunglasses won't cut it since they let through more sunlight than what's safe for our peepers.

"You shouldn't be able to see anything through them, except maybe very bright lights, which should look very dim through the glasses," explained the society.