Google searches for 'why do my eyes hurt' skyrocket immediately after solar eclipse

After weeks and weeks of anticipation, the solar eclipse has come and gone as many millions got to watch the amazing spectacle.

The very rare solar eclipse took place across Mexico, North America and Canada on Monday (8 April), and there was certainly a lot of excitement.

The amazing spectacle occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, blocking its rays from reaching us and casting an incredible shadow.

Thousands of Americans travelled to the eclipse's path of totality, a path that saw the eclipse go through the likes of Mazatlán and Torreón in Mexico; San Antonio, Austin and Dallas in Texas, and Little Rock in Arkansas.

Ahead of the eclipse, there were a lot of warnings issued, including for owners of dogs and cats.

But perhaps the most important and simple advice issued by experts was to not stare directly at the sun during the eclipse.

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

The macula is part of the retina, so damage to it is certainly not good.

"Once retina tissue is destroyed, it cannot regenerate, resulting in permanent central vision loss," the journal adds.

Well, despite that advice, it appears that a lot of folks simply didn't listen.

As per an X post by The Spectator Index, in the last 24 hours Google has seen a surge in people searching 'Why do my eyes hurt' following the eclipse.

Many have flocked to the comments section of the post with some finding the funny side to it.

"Don’t look at the sun. People proceed to look at the sun," one person penned.

"Most of those are probably serious searches and others are troll searches," a second suggested.

"I guess people learned you should not look at the sun during an eclipse," a third quipped.

One safe way to view the solar eclipse is through glasses which have been specially designed to view the sun.

These are not your bog-standard glasses, however, as the American Astronomical Society (AAS) explained that special-purpose solar filters should 'comply with the transmittance requirements of the ISO 12312-2 international standard'.

If you had donned ordinary sunglasses, damage could have been caused as they transmit more sunlight than is safe for our eyes.

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