Flashes of light

[tixem]

Hi, I hit my head against the wall 3 weeks ago and since then I have been experiencing flashes of light and a strange feeling on my right eye, something like a heaviness in it. I went to ER when I saw that after a whole week there wasn´t any improvement. An ophthalmologist dilated my pupils and said I had retinal bleeding, and he suspected there was a tear. I was sent to another eye clinic where they did an OCT scan on my eye and other eye exams and they said everything was perfectly fine, and that my retina is healthy. I also went for a follow-up exam a week after and they confirmed that my eye is healthy.
But the flashes haven´t stopped yet, and I am really worried. I also have floaters in both of my eyes but I am used to them. I don't have a curtain effect which would be a symptom of retinal detachment, but I do have a weird heavy feeling in my right eye. My doctors said that flashes could be from a head injury and that they should be gone soon, but they still haven´t even though the injury was three weeks ago. My question is do you think that flashes of light that last so long indicate retinal detachment?

[tixem]

Thank you for your response. The second doctor I went to for an exam was a retinal specialist in one of the best eye clinic in my country, and they did check my retina with scleral depression, and said there is no retinal bleeding, tear or detachment. I will have another appointment  in two weeks, and I will also see a neurologist because I have other problems like migraine, and other types of headache. I have also been under lots of stress in the last few weeks and have not been sleeping well, and have a very low blood pressure.

Could you also tell me what do flashes of light that are symptom of RD look like? Because mine are very small, brief dots that are sometimes black and sometimes bright, and there is only one at a time, so there aren´t many of them at the same time. They also happen when I am very tired, or when I am climbing upstairs.

[Doreen Fazio, M.D.]

See a retinal specialist for a second opinion. Flashes of light can indicate a retinal tear/detachment, and these are easily detected on a careful dilated exam of the retina with scleral depression.  An OCT is mainly used for macular evaluations and does not rule out a retinal detachment.