Sun damage to eyes can happen in minutes, but effects might not be clear until hours later.
Our sight depends on the sun, yet our eyes can also be irreversibly damaged by it in a matter of minutes.
Just as a magnifying glass can focus light onto a spot on a piece of paper with enough intensity to light it on fire, the eye focuses light onto the macula, a tiny part of the retina, in the back of the eye. There, a suite of photoreceptor cells can be scorched by an overload of solar radiation. These cells aren’t literally burned but are subjected to photochemical reactions that can damage them—sometimes permanently.
But once they are shut down, people whose eyes are harmed by the sun may experience blurry distorted vision, trouble focusing on a face or printed page, or a spot in the center of the vision known as a scotoma. For those who sustain such damage, unfortunately, there is no treatment but only a waiting game. Many improve with time, while others unfortunately do not.
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