white ziz zag lightning bolts around cornea when eyes closed

I have been seeing multiple white lightning ziz zag lines patterns coming from the left and right side of the cornea of each eye when there is pressure applied to my closed eyelid for about 2 months now. I have been to two different opthamologists in the mean time. Neither has been able to tell me what may be causing this. Any Ideas?

[Sandra M Brown, MD]

Given the information  you provided, you are experiencing a normal entopic phenomenon.  When you push on your eyes the retina is stimulated in a random fashion, and it signals your brain with the vision equivalent of "white noise".

Just stop doing this.  You are not helping your eyes.  If you are nearsighted, you may cause a retinal detachment.  Are you sure you saw an EyeMD for your first evaluation?  S/he could have given you the exact same opinion, thus eliminating the need for another exam.

[yarrow]

Um, how (and why) has pressure been applied to the corneas for two months?

[rholbert1]

While rubbing the eyes. Or just rolling my eyes into my tightly closed eyelids.

[yarrow]

Don't do it no mo'.  it serves no useful purpose.  As the doc says, eyes are programmed to see light.  That's all they can do.  If they're stimulated by anything else, like you mashing your eyeballs, they (and the brain) respond by telling you you're seeing light.

[rholbert1]

RE: I have been seeing multiple white lightning ziz zag lines patterns coming from the left and right side of the cornea of each eye when there is pressure applied to my closed eyelid for about 2 months now. I have been to two different opthamologists in the mean time. Neither has been able to tell me what may be causing this. Any Ideas?

You Responded: Given the information  you provided, you are experiencing a normal entopic phenomenon.  When you push on your eyes the retina is stimulated in a random fashion, and it signals your brain with the vision equivalent of "white noise".

Just stop doing this.  You are not helping your eyes.  If you are nearsighted, you may cause a retinal detachment.  Are you sure you saw an EyeMD for your first evaluation?  S/he could have given you the exact same opinion, thus eliminating the need for another exam.  

Thanks for answering my original question. I hope that you will allow me to bother you with some more details, and maybe answer some questions that I have failed to ask, or get answered by the professionals that I have seen thus far.  

My left eye is lazy. At the beginning of the year it seemed like my left eye started trying to take on a more dominate role in my vision.(At least this is how I perceive it) Some how my vision had become less clear and my left eye, it seemed, was trying to take up the slack for my right eye (if that makes any sense). I also noticed the previously mentioned zig-zag patterns in my closed eyes when even a little pressure was applied to my closed eyelids. The pressure didn't have to be much, it could be just from closing my eyelids tightly. The patterns were always the same. The three to four zig-zag lines  started at the top of the what I guessed to be a circle caused by pressure on the cornea, and radiated out and down to the left and right of the circle. Their length was probably about half the diameter of the circles themselves. Also my right eye started hurting around that time, i would get sensations of pain that would shoot back along what i perceived as my optic nerve, and into my brain. I was also having pain in the orbital region above my right eye, with headaches, and occasional dizziness.    

I went to an optometrist (with some kind of certificate in opthalmology?) on 02/18/09, he found that the prescription I was wearing was stronger ( OD: +5.00 OS: +5.50 prescribed on 07/13/09 by a different O.D.) than the prescription that he found(OD: +4.50, OS: +5.00, cyl -.75, axis 110). He glossed over my question about the Zig-Zag lines with accompanying illustration. Asked me if my symptoms increased with exposure to heat, suggesting M.S.. He also found bilateral scotoma during my visual field test. He suggested that I get the new prescription lenses and see if my eye pain and headaches were due to eye strain before going any further.

I told my family practitioner about this and he set me up an appointment with an ophthalmologist. During my first visit the ophthalmologist saw no problems, and couldn't find the scotoma. He did reassure me, that the difference in the two optometrist's prescriptions was very subtle. His own findings were somewhere in the middle of the two. He glossed over the question about the Zig-Zag lines as well. A day or two later I remembered having poked myself in the right eye late last year, it hadn't bothered me at the time so I forgot about it. I went back to see him and he found Recurrent Corneal Abrasion, and give me Prednesolone and Muro 128 5%. I am scheduled to go back on April 5th for follow up.

I thank you for answering my original question so quickly, but here lies one of my problems, I have trouble getting anything out of the two eye care professionals that I have seen. The optometrist that I visited didn't explain whether my eyes had gotten better or worse, I assumed they had gotten worse. I didn't know what the OD and OS numbers mean. It looked to me like my vision had decreased by 10%. The ophthalmologist didn't give me the diagnosis of RCE in person. He handed me a prescription with directions, told me to not rub my eyes, and left the room. I had to ask one of his assistants, what my diagnosis was, as I was paying my co-pay. I am not saying it's all the doctor's fault, I can be a little intimidated by doctors, and don't always know or remember what questions to ask.

Could I please get you to answer a few of the questions that I have come up with since seeing these doctors?

I haul bisulfites in bulk for a living bisulfites are quite corrosive. Sometimes when unloading the truck fumes from the chemicals get into my eyes through the vents in my goggles.(I mentioned this to both of the professionals I have seen, they just kind of dismissed it.) Could this have been a culprit in my RCE?

Can RCE cause orbital pain? The pain seems to have subsided since the eye drops, but I have also started taking Naproxen 500 mg 2 times per day, and Claritin D during the course of the eye drops. The Naproxen is for inflammation in my chest cavity, and my family practitioner suggested the antihistamine for the orbital pain possibly due to allergy.

The zig-zag lines that were present in both eyes have since disappeared. I suspect that my having stopped rubbing them has helped, but I have been only applying the eye drops to my right eye. Could I also have RCE in my left eye? Sometimes my left eye has orbital pain similar to my right eye, just to a lesser degree.

When the optometrist did the visual field test I wasn't wearing my prescription eye wear. When the ophthalmologist did my visual field test I was wearing shaded prescription safety glasses. Who is right? Could the shaded lenses have skewed the results of the ophthalmologist's test?

I am still having the same perceived dominance problems with my left and right eyes, albeit much of the pain is gone. Could the RCE be the cause of this? Or given the possibility of a bilateral scotoma, could this be a symptom of a pituitary tumor? I am thinking of getting a third opinion on the bilateral scotoma.

Thanks for your time, I know it is very valuable, I do appreciate it.
rholbert1