Dozens hospitalized with eye pain after solar eclipse

Dozens of people went to hospital because of eye pain after the eclipse. This was reported by several clinics in Baden-Württemberg, where the natural phenomenon could be observed particularly well: the strongest sun coverage was in the extreme southwest, and in Freiburg it was a good 90 percent. At the Mannheim Eye Clinic alone there were around 20 inquiries in the hours after the celestial spectacle, as Robert Patrick Finger, director of the eye clinic at the Mannheim University Hospital, said. Those affected complained of headaches and some were dizzy. “In all of these cases, we expect that it will disappear without a trace,” he told the German Press Agency. The situation is similar in Stuttgart: “As of midday today, around 20 patients have presented to our eye clinic who said they had damage due to the solar eclipse,” said a spokeswoman for the Stuttgart Clinic. “No damage was found in any patient.” Complaints also in Freiburg In Freiburg, eight people came to the university clinic that night because of pain in their eyes, and the next day a handful complained of burning, headaches or spots in their vision, a spokesman said. “This will continue in the coming days, we estimate,” he said. “So far, however, we have not been able to detect any objective deterioration in vision in any of them.” In the run-up to the partial solar eclipse, ophthalmologists had warned against watching the “So-Fi” with insufficient protection or with completely unprotected eyes. This could damage the retina, as the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS) warned. Within a very short time, sunlight can cause permanent damage to this light-sensitive layer in the eye. The tricky thing is that there are no warning signs of impending retinal damage. If you notice problems with your vision, it is already too late.