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Eye Care Archive (Expert Forum)
Bright Spots
Our Ask A Doctor Ophthalmology Forum is where you can post your question and receive a personal answer from physicians affiliated with the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Bright Spots
by nifkal, Nov 03, 2006 12:00AM
I'm a 25 yr old male, slightly myopic (-2.25) A little less than a year ago, I had a huge increase in my floaters. I went from just having a some of the trasparent little circles to the larger strands and clouds. Went to a retina specialist who said that nothing is wrong. About 4 months ago, I started seeing bright spots in my central and peripheral vision. They are fairly small blobs that look kinda like what you see after looking into a bright light too long. I can see them with my eyes closed, but they seem much more apparent in dim (not bright) light. I see a few a day (no real pattern as to when they happen) and once they flash, they last anywhere from a split second to hours before fading completely away. While they are there, they stay fixed in position. I see them in only one eye at a time, but I have had them in both eyes. I went to another opthamologist who did a full exam, couldn't find anything wrong, and didn't know what to think. He suggested maybe doing MRI.
Any thoughts on what could be causing these spots? Should I get more tests done?
Any thoughts on what could be causing these spots? Should I get more tests done?
Doctor's Answer
by Forum-OD-MP, Nov 04, 2006 12:00AM
questions like this seem to dominate this board. i guess people come here looking for answers.
the most likely scenario for a light/visual phenomenon if multiple eye docs have already ruled out retinal eye disease is entoptic phenomena:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_field_entoptic_phenomenon
i dont know what to keep telling all of you guys. it is technically possible that visual disturbances can be caused by brain tumors, MS, aneurysms, etc. but that is by far far far far far the minority of cases. EXTREMELY rare. most serious brain tumors/aneurysms/etc cause vision LOSS not "extra" visual phenomena like flashes & floaters.
the most likely scenario is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. so do you need more testing like an MRI if multiple docs have ruled out retinal problems? probably not.
the most likely scenario for a light/visual phenomenon if multiple eye docs have already ruled out retinal eye disease is entoptic phenomena:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_field_entoptic_phenomenon
i dont know what to keep telling all of you guys. it is technically possible that visual disturbances can be caused by brain tumors, MS, aneurysms, etc. but that is by far far far far far the minority of cases. EXTREMELY rare. most serious brain tumors/aneurysms/etc cause vision LOSS not "extra" visual phenomena like flashes & floaters.
the most likely scenario is that there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. so do you need more testing like an MRI if multiple docs have ruled out retinal problems? probably not.
From reading on these forums, it seems that nothing is wrong with my eyes and that I just have to continue living with it. It does effect my vision, since I never see anything clearly with all of the pink dots in my vision. Sometimes, I can ignore them, but not always. It does seem that it gets worse as I get older. And my vision isn't as good either.