'Static' or 'Speckles' over entire field of vision - ongoing for many years

For as long as I can remember, I've been experiencing frequent eye problems that I thought were normal. I was shocked to find out that no one I know has the same experience as me! I AM scheduled to see an optometrist in a month's time, but I am very worried and any guidance as to what is happening to me would be great.

The symptoms are appearing more often, and are possibly always present to some degree. What I experience is a lot like TV static (when you turn to a station you don't get and the black and white 'static' appears). I'm not talking about floaters. I have floaters occasionally, and they are very very different. This 'static' is a very fine, dense mass of spots over my entire field of vision.

The best way to describe it is like taking the TV static screen and turning down the opacity (transparency) so that the spots are grey. It is very hard to describe it better than that... I don't even notice the spots some of the time, I've learned to ignore them. But I have noticed that they get worse/darker when I am in low light, bright light and when I feel faint/dizzy (I feel at least a little dizzy for periods of time almost every day). I can actually induce them by turning my neck as far as I can to the side (so my nose is over my shoulder). This will almost instantly increase the darkness and size of the spots, and this also makes me extremely dizzy within a few seconds. Can anyone help me figure out what's wrong??

[nolow]

Search visual snow. Unfortunately, there isn't a cure. I experience the same thing.

[Ray T Oyakawa, MD]

Turning the neck decreases the circulation in the posterior circulation.  I would suggest you see a neuro-ophthalmologist.

Dr. O.

[TheCatSpeaks]

Ok, visual snow - that sounds exactly like the problem. I kept thinking of it as static instead of snow, so every time I searched in google nothing came up. Now that I have the correct serch term, I read a bit about it, and it seems that often there isn't anything that can be medically linked to the snow but on occasion it can be a symptom of a larger problem...

I do wonder if I might fall into the latter category because of the neck-turning dizziness and the commonness of dizziness in my everyday life - which is why I'm very glad for Dr. Oyakawa's suggestion. At my appointment I will for sure speak to the eye specialist about a local neuro-ophthalmologist. I found a yellowpages listing for one in a neighboring city, so worse come to worse I could go there.

I'm glad I now know what the symptom is called and who to see about it! Thanks guys!