Aa
Questions about PVD and Flashes
I tried to post this in the Ophthalmologist Forum, but the board was full. I would appreciate any responses. Thank you!
I am 27 years old and have been recently diagnosed with a Posterior Vitreous Detachment in one eye. I am quite near-sighted in that particular eye and the Dr. (Ophthalmologist) said that my near-sightedness most likely contributed to the problem. He had me come back for a follow-up appointment about 2 weeks after the first one and did not see any evidence of any sort of tear. I have another appointment coming up, too. My first question is: Is my risk of a retinal detachment decreasing as time goes by? I think my Dr. mentioned that most detachments occur in the first few weeks, but I'm not sure.
My second question is related to the flashes of light. The flashes normally come when I close my eyes, but I have gotten a few when I go from one room that has lights on into a dark hallway or another room that isn't lit. At first the flashes were as if someone shined some sort of bright light on my eye. It was a very solid block of light. Now, the flashes seem more "blobby" and smaller. Is this an indication that they are going away? Will they ever go away? I've also noticed that the flashes tend to come either right before I go to bed or right after I wake up. Does the fact that I am tired/sleepy contribute to their appearance?
One last question, I have stopped my exercise program because I was afraid of somehow causing a retinal detachment. (I don't actually miss the exercise!) Would it be alright to begin walking on a treadmill (or outside when the weather actually cools down!)? My Dr. said to avoid anything strenuous or too rigorous. Walking should be okay, shouldn't it?
Thank you so much! :-)
I am 27 years old and have been recently diagnosed with a Posterior Vitreous Detachment in one eye. I am quite near-sighted in that particular eye and the Dr. (Ophthalmologist) said that my near-sightedness most likely contributed to the problem. He had me come back for a follow-up appointment about 2 weeks after the first one and did not see any evidence of any sort of tear. I have another appointment coming up, too. My first question is: Is my risk of a retinal detachment decreasing as time goes by? I think my Dr. mentioned that most detachments occur in the first few weeks, but I'm not sure.
My second question is related to the flashes of light. The flashes normally come when I close my eyes, but I have gotten a few when I go from one room that has lights on into a dark hallway or another room that isn't lit. At first the flashes were as if someone shined some sort of bright light on my eye. It was a very solid block of light. Now, the flashes seem more "blobby" and smaller. Is this an indication that they are going away? Will they ever go away? I've also noticed that the flashes tend to come either right before I go to bed or right after I wake up. Does the fact that I am tired/sleepy contribute to their appearance?
One last question, I have stopped my exercise program because I was afraid of somehow causing a retinal detachment. (I don't actually miss the exercise!) Would it be alright to begin walking on a treadmill (or outside when the weather actually cools down!)? My Dr. said to avoid anything strenuous or too rigorous. Walking should be okay, shouldn't it?
Thank you so much! :-)
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
The first exam should be adequate if you are not symptomatic in the "good" eye.
JCH MD
JCH MD
Thank you for responding again :-)
1. My Dr. dilated and examined both of my eyes at the initial appointment. At the follow-up, he only dilated and checked the "problem" eye. Should I request another check of the "good" eye or was the first examine sufficient seeing as how I am not currently experiencing any problems with it?
2. It's good to know that they disappear eventually. I hope I do not experience symptoms lasting as long as your patient's. We still aren't sure what caused my problem, I have not had any sort of injury to my eye. The best we can guess is that it is related to my near-sightedness.
I am happy to say that I did not have any flashes at all last night. I only had a few tonight, but that was right after I sneezed so I assume the sudden movement affected it.
Thank you again :-)
1. My Dr. dilated and examined both of my eyes at the initial appointment. At the follow-up, he only dilated and checked the "problem" eye. Should I request another check of the "good" eye or was the first examine sufficient seeing as how I am not currently experiencing any problems with it?
2. It's good to know that they disappear eventually. I hope I do not experience symptoms lasting as long as your patient's. We still aren't sure what caused my problem, I have not had any sort of injury to my eye. The best we can guess is that it is related to my near-sightedness.
I am happy to say that I did not have any flashes at all last night. I only had a few tonight, but that was right after I sneezed so I assume the sudden movement affected it.
Thank you again :-)
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
1. If you have any problems in "the other eye" be sure and tell your ophthalmologist, it may need to be dilated for an examination. In fact, if other problems develop "in the other eye" I would not wait till the next scheduled examination but would call and go in quickly to look at the symptomatic eye.
2. Flashes from posterior vitreous detachment almost always stop although it may be weeks to months. In very unusual cases I have had my patients compain for years. In fact a physician's wife hit in the eye with a tennis ball has complained for 10 years of flashes at night. I have had her seen by two other consultants that do retinal exclusively and none of us see holes, tears, traction, etc. That's one out of tens of thousands so your chances are good.
Best of luck,
JCH Eye Physician & Surgeon (Eye MD)
2. Flashes from posterior vitreous detachment almost always stop although it may be weeks to months. In very unusual cases I have had my patients compain for years. In fact a physician's wife hit in the eye with a tennis ball has complained for 10 years of flashes at night. I have had her seen by two other consultants that do retinal exclusively and none of us see holes, tears, traction, etc. That's one out of tens of thousands so your chances are good.
Best of luck,
JCH Eye Physician & Surgeon (Eye MD)
AAOMD-JH
Thank you for responding. :-)
1. It's good to know that my risk is decreasing. My Dr. did not seem to think I was at risk in my other eye because it is my "good eye", so to speak and is not really near-sighted at all. He checked it thoroughly at my initial appointment and did not see anything. He did not check it again at the second appointment however since I have not had any problems with it. Should he check it again at my next appointment?
2. Most of my flashes do occur at night right before I go to sleep. They all tend to come when I close my eyes, except in a few cases where I go from one room to a dark room. I only get one flash at a time and it leaves as quickly as it comes. I have noticed that the frequency of the flashes has diminished and as I said before, the light portion is not quite as large as it used to be. I am quite hypersensitive to everything that is going on with my eyes now. It is such a scary feeling to not know what is going on and why things are happening. Will these flashes eventually go away completely?
Memahafey
Thank you for sharing your story with me :-)
My flashes tend to be from the upper right corner of my right eye. It's almost a swooping motion that is just as fast as another car's headlights hitting your window. It's there and then gone. At first it was a very solid block of light, but now it's more blobby and less of a defined shape. I don't have a lightning bug trail like you described and I have been lucky in that I haven't had any sort of the Christmas lights you described. I googled the Amsler grid and luckily, none of the lines appeared to be moving. Good luck with your surgery, I hope it is successful.
I had problems with the first doctor I saw as well. The first Dr. I saw was not an Ophthalmologist and he said he could not find anything wrong with my eye. He then started suggesting other medical conditions that I might have and really just suceeded in scaring me. I knew I didn't have those problems, so I called another Dr. It was a great relief when I saw the Ophthalmologist and he could actually see the floater in my eye. Although my Dr. is not a Retinal Specialist, he is an Ophthalmologist and a Surgeon. He has experience with my sort of problem and said he has no hesitation about referring me out to the Retinal expert if it looks like I need it. Right now, I think we are in the "wait and see" time. I am to keep going back every couple of weeks, but as for right now, I don't appear to have any retinal involvement, just the PVD (floater and flashes).
Thank you both very much for your thoughtful responses and advice. I appreciate it! :-)
Thank you for responding. :-)
1. It's good to know that my risk is decreasing. My Dr. did not seem to think I was at risk in my other eye because it is my "good eye", so to speak and is not really near-sighted at all. He checked it thoroughly at my initial appointment and did not see anything. He did not check it again at the second appointment however since I have not had any problems with it. Should he check it again at my next appointment?
2. Most of my flashes do occur at night right before I go to sleep. They all tend to come when I close my eyes, except in a few cases where I go from one room to a dark room. I only get one flash at a time and it leaves as quickly as it comes. I have noticed that the frequency of the flashes has diminished and as I said before, the light portion is not quite as large as it used to be. I am quite hypersensitive to everything that is going on with my eyes now. It is such a scary feeling to not know what is going on and why things are happening. Will these flashes eventually go away completely?
Memahafey
Thank you for sharing your story with me :-)
My flashes tend to be from the upper right corner of my right eye. It's almost a swooping motion that is just as fast as another car's headlights hitting your window. It's there and then gone. At first it was a very solid block of light, but now it's more blobby and less of a defined shape. I don't have a lightning bug trail like you described and I have been lucky in that I haven't had any sort of the Christmas lights you described. I googled the Amsler grid and luckily, none of the lines appeared to be moving. Good luck with your surgery, I hope it is successful.
I had problems with the first doctor I saw as well. The first Dr. I saw was not an Ophthalmologist and he said he could not find anything wrong with my eye. He then started suggesting other medical conditions that I might have and really just suceeded in scaring me. I knew I didn't have those problems, so I called another Dr. It was a great relief when I saw the Ophthalmologist and he could actually see the floater in my eye. Although my Dr. is not a Retinal Specialist, he is an Ophthalmologist and a Surgeon. He has experience with my sort of problem and said he has no hesitation about referring me out to the Retinal expert if it looks like I need it. Right now, I think we are in the "wait and see" time. I am to keep going back every couple of weeks, but as for right now, I don't appear to have any retinal involvement, just the PVD (floater and flashes).
Thank you both very much for your thoughtful responses and advice. I appreciate it! :-)
Hello - - Let me start by saying I am NOT a physician and I am simply offering my experience. That is EXACTLY what I had, along with lattice Degeneration - - much like you, it was due to being very myopic (near-sightedness). When I first experienced your symptoms in 2002, it turned out to be fluid leaking in the eye which was monitored, and it did eventually go away after a couple months.
However - - back in April I had the EXACT same symptoms you described. I would sit at my desk in a fairly bright light. Whenever I got up and walked down the hallway which was darker, I saw what looked like a crescent moon slowly move from the bottom left corner of my right eye to the top. Similar to a slow lightening bug trail. I also saw sparkles similar to a christmas tree with white lights that blink. IN MY CASE - - this went on and I figured it was the same as the incident in 2002. BUT I noticed a shadow slowly start from the nasal peripheral of the right eye. This started to progress quickly and within a month I had lost half my vision. My first Dr unfortunately missed this, and it wasnt until i saw a RETINAL SPECIALIST that he noticed a tear AND detachment, so keep that in mind as well, I had to tell my first Opthalmalogist to refer me to someone else because they told me to come back in 3 months!!!!! By this time the tear had disrupted the macula, and now I am on my second surgery to correct this.
I am not trying to scare you!! Just hope that if something is wrong, it can be caught early unlike mine. My prognosis is good at least. I was active, and like you, when I noticed the first shadow and lights, I was golfing, running, weights, softball, swimming, all BEFORE i saw the Dr. Try going to GOOGLE and searching AMSLER Grid, and take a self test and see if the lines are all straight. That was the first thing I noticed. They almost appeared to be moving.
Good luck to you!!! mark
However - - back in April I had the EXACT same symptoms you described. I would sit at my desk in a fairly bright light. Whenever I got up and walked down the hallway which was darker, I saw what looked like a crescent moon slowly move from the bottom left corner of my right eye to the top. Similar to a slow lightening bug trail. I also saw sparkles similar to a christmas tree with white lights that blink. IN MY CASE - - this went on and I figured it was the same as the incident in 2002. BUT I noticed a shadow slowly start from the nasal peripheral of the right eye. This started to progress quickly and within a month I had lost half my vision. My first Dr unfortunately missed this, and it wasnt until i saw a RETINAL SPECIALIST that he noticed a tear AND detachment, so keep that in mind as well, I had to tell my first Opthalmalogist to refer me to someone else because they told me to come back in 3 months!!!!! By this time the tear had disrupted the macula, and now I am on my second surgery to correct this.
I am not trying to scare you!! Just hope that if something is wrong, it can be caught early unlike mine. My prognosis is good at least. I was active, and like you, when I noticed the first shadow and lights, I was golfing, running, weights, softball, swimming, all BEFORE i saw the Dr. Try going to GOOGLE and searching AMSLER Grid, and take a self test and see if the lines are all straight. That was the first thing I noticed. They almost appeared to be moving.
Good luck to you!!! mark
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hello EyeSee27
1. Your risk of a retinal detachment decreases with time in the eye with the vitreous detachment. Once the vitreous is no longer attached to the retina it cannot try it. You can expect this to occur in your other eye sometimes soon.
2. Your description of the flashes is not typical of posterior vitreous detachement (PVD). They normally occur at night, in the dark and with head or eye movements. With the hyper awareness you have sometimes the flashes on going from one room to another can be reflections off the back surface of glasses or the edge of contact lens.
3. By all means check with your personal physician. I do not stop my patients with PVD from walking, stretching, swimming. Once the flashes stops even vigorous activities can be resumed.
JCH MD Eye Physician & Surgeon
1. Your risk of a retinal detachment decreases with time in the eye with the vitreous detachment. Once the vitreous is no longer attached to the retina it cannot try it. You can expect this to occur in your other eye sometimes soon.
2. Your description of the flashes is not typical of posterior vitreous detachement (PVD). They normally occur at night, in the dark and with head or eye movements. With the hyper awareness you have sometimes the flashes on going from one room to another can be reflections off the back surface of glasses or the edge of contact lens.
3. By all means check with your personal physician. I do not stop my patients with PVD from walking, stretching, swimming. Once the flashes stops even vigorous activities can be resumed.
JCH MD Eye Physician & Surgeon
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Eye Care Community
Top General Health Answerers
Kansas City, MO
Grand Prairie, TX
San Diego, CA
Discharge often isn't normal, and could mean an infection or an STD.
In this unique and fascinating report from Missouri Medicine, world-renowned expert Dr. Raymond Moody examines what really happens when we almost die.
Think a loved one may be experiencing hearing loss? Here are five warning signs to watch for.
When it comes to your health, timing is everything
We’ve got a crash course on metabolism basics.
Learn what you can do to avoid ski injury and other common winter sports injury.
