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Anastasia Boushee

‘Why Do My Eyes Hurt’ Search Results Explode After Solar Eclipse

It is common in America for people to question the necessity of the increasingly outrageous warning labels on every product — but the Google search results following Monday’s solar eclipse have reaffirmed the need to warn people about things that should be common sense, as there was a significant increase in searches for “why do my eyes hurt.”

While it should be common sense not to stare at the sun, even if there is a solar eclipse occurring, it appears that many people either didn’t understand or believed that the moon obscuring the sun would make a difference in the outcome of their actions. News broadcasters even issued repeated warnings to Americans that they could not look at a solar eclipse without proper eye protection.

Millions of people gathered outside on Monday to watch the rare event, which made landfall in Mazatlán, Mexico, and traveled across the United States.

Citizen Free Press later reported in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, that there was a massive increase in searches for the phrase “Why do my eyes hurt” on Google right after the solar eclipse.

Data from Google Trends also showed that roughly 100 people searched “my eyes hurt,” and the number of people searching “I looked at the sun” also increased.

The last eclipse visible in the U.S. was in 2017, which led to 100 cases of eye injuries, according to NPR.

With the skyrocketing number of Google searches related to eye injuries, it is highly likely that there will be many more people seeking help for solar retinopathy — essentially a sunburn on the retinas — this year compared to 2017.

NPR noted that there were many more people who showed up to the emergency room in 2017 with mild symptoms such as watery eyes and blurred vision, though the majority of these individuals ended up being fine — which likely means that many Americans who mildly injured their eyes during this year’s solar eclipse will probably be fine as well.

Former president and presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump infamously took off his solar eclipse glasses in 2017 to peek at the sun for a moment and did not face any effects. This year, the former president decided to make a funny campaign ad out of the event, releasing a video of his face obscuring the sun.

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