Multiple Flashes

[dbb4]

Hi. I am a 48 year old female, nearsighted (not mildly) and I have floaters, which have grown increasingly worse the last 1-2 months, to the point that reading is affected. About 1 week ago I began to notice multiple flashes in my peripheral vision, left eye. I first noticed them laying awake in the morning in bed (4:30 AM, pretty dark room). They were in the far left of my peripheral vision, reminding me of cameral flashes, alternating up and down. I did think it was unusual, never having seen anything like this before, and remembered my optometrist telling me not to be concerned about floaters she saw unless I began to see other symptoms, flashes being one of them. I have waited a week, they have not dissipated, sometimes worse than others. I did notice this morning that they're noticeable to me even in daylight now. I presume a visit to the opthamalogist is necessary. Of course, I decided to research these symptoms online, and apparently I could be in a situation that could result in loss of vision in my eye. Are these symptoms classic for retinal tears? By the way, headaches are not associated with these flashes.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

Hello dbb4.  The most common thing that would cause your problem is posterior vitreous detachment (PVD). Use the search feature on this page and look at all our many previous discussions.  Very very few PVD lead to retinal detachment but most retinal detachments start from PVDs. You do need to see an Eye MD physician ophthalmologist.  By age fifty half of the population have PVDs while RDs occur in only 1 in 3,000 to 5,000 people.

JCH III MD Eye MD

[sak7]

I have something similar.  I can see a narrow arc of light in the far left of my peripheral vision and sometimes see a small rolling ball of light that goes up and down the outside periphery of my left eye.  My retinal specialist says my vitrieious (jelly like substance inside the eye) is shinking right now (a normal occurance at my age) and I have had 4 retinal tears over the last few weeks in the process which have been fixed with laser.  The flashing light is caused by the changes in my vitreious and tugging at the retina by those changes.  It sounds like your vitrieous is beginning to change also and I would get in to see your opthamalogist right away to rule out any retinal tears, which left untreated could lead to retinal detachment.  The tears are easily fixed with the laser which will prevent possible progression to retinal detachment.  Best of luck to you.

[notyet50]

I hope you get to the Dr ASAP. Last year at age 46 I suddenly had flashes and by the time I got to the eye Doctor I had a black curtain come over my vision. I had a retina detachment.

Good Luck...
Calleen

[John C Hagan]

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[LollipopGrl]

Wow am I glad that I came here. I'm going through the exact same thing and I'm 36, extremely nearsighted, and very scared. I saw an opthamologist last week who examined my eyes and said my retinas looked "great" no tears, no infections (I'd gone because of misty vision in my right eye). Now I saw the rolling ball of light in my peripheral vision in that eye, and over the last 2 days, I've seen a couple of flashes -always while in dark rooms. I'm TERRIFIED of losing my sight in that eye (it's my weak one). Looks like I'll be heading back to the doc asap.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

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[dbb4]

Thank you so much for your prompt response. And thanks to all who shared their experiences. I worry about over-reacting to symptoms, and tend to go to the other extreme, not getting medical treatment unless it's an absolute necessity or emergency.  I will not wait any longer to have my eyes checked - again, thanks.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

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