Eclipse 2017: People treated for putting sun tan lotion on eyeballs to watch solar event

Unsurprisingly, it wasn't listed as one of the recommended safety methods 

Sarah Jones
Tuesday 29 August 2017 10:18 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.

The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.

Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.

It turns out that Donald Trump wasn't the only one sneaking a peek at last week's eclipse without proper protection

While millions of Americans were warned to don special protective sunglasses to safely view the celestial spectacle, some people tried to use sunscreen. Seriously.

Since the event, health professionals have reported treating people complaining of irritation after putting sun cream in their eyes.

“One of my colleagues at moonlight here stated yesterday that they had patients presenting at their clinic that put sunscreen on their eyeball," Trish Patterson, a nurse at Prestige Urgent Care in Redding, California, told KRCTV.

"They presented that they were having pain and they were referred to an ophthalmologist.”

Prior to the anticipated astronomical event, experts urged eclipse watchers to invest in NASA-approved spectacles, or to view the eclipse indirectly by projecting an image of the sun onto a screen.

Unsurprisingly, sunscreen was not listed among the recommended methods to take as applying to the eyes can cause blurriness, pain or irritation.

Patterson also warned that it only takes seconds of staring directly at the sun to cause lasting damage with other signs including dark spots in the centre of vision and cloudiness.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in