Ohio & Mahoning Valley - EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been modified with Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff's correct title.

We're now less than two weeks away from the total solar eclipse and the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) is reminding Ohioans that if they choose to view the eclipse, they should do so safely.

ODH Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff is reminding Ohioans that it's never safe to look directly at the sun and that simply wearing sunglasses isn't going to cut it when looking at the eclipse.

"The damage that [looking at the sun] can cause is similar to a sunburn on your skin. Just a few hours or even minutes in the sun can burn your skin. It can also burn the back of your eye, the seeing part called the retina," said OSU College of Optometry Dean Dr. Jeffrey Walline.

Dr. Walline says the key difference between the burning of the skin and burning of the retina is that while burns on the skin can heal up rather quickly, burns to the retina cannot heal and in turn could cause irreversible damage to your vision.

Additionally, a burn to the skin can take minutes or hours to occur. A burn to the retina could take mere seconds to occur.

If you choose to look at the eclipse in person outside, you should make sure to wear ISO-approved eyeglasses made for the eclipse.

It's important to make sure these glasses are current rather than left over from a previous eclipse and to make sure you're getting these glasses from a trusted source.

Dr. Vanderhoff says you should be looking for glasses obtained from a trusted that read ISO 12312-2 on the side of them. If the glasses don't have that number printed on them, you're advised not to use them.

In addition to not looking directly at the sun, Dr. Vanderhoff says it's also unsafe to look at the eclipse through a camera, a telescope or binoculars. 

One other option to view the eclipse safely is a pin hole aperture, which could easily be created at home.

"Just simply have two pieces of cardboard, cut about a one-inch hole out of one of those pieces of cardboard, put some aluminum foil over that and then put a pin prick in it. Hold that one closest to the sun, hold the other one as far away from it as you can. It will give you an image of the sun on the cardboard and you'll see the moon passing over it," Dr. Walline said.

If you'd rather skip the traffic and view the eclipse from home, watching a live stream of the eclipse on NASA's website is an option and there is no safety risks in viewing it from a live stream.

If you're looking to view the eclipse close to home, 21 News has all you need to know here.