phosphene

[curtis221]

What causes a pressure phosphene? They just show up all of a sudden and in one eye. Very strange. Before this happened I had severe allergies in my eyes. Used Bausch and Lomb allergy eye drops. Doc said that has nothing to do with it. Well what in the world caused it? Thanks.

[mel07green]

well i see the grey arc shape all the time, but it doesn't really "flash" outside and unless i'm kinda in the shade (eg in the car) or have sunglasses on ... i don't get it ... i can only imagine that it flashes all the time when i blink, but that i conly notice it under certain lighting conditions ... all i know is that it's absolutely driving me nuts!

[Avellane360]

I have had some very wild phosphenes as a result of a retinal vein occlusion.  90% of my field of vision was covered by what I discribe as a purple snowflake.  It lasted 45 min the first time and 4 hours the second time.  Now I get it occasionally.  I am interested in whatever anyone knows about this phenomenon.  IT is very scary! I could see 20/15 between the branches of the snowflake.  I am 45.

[Belledonna]

Yes.
He is a very skilled Retina specialist (surgeon) and he performed a vitrectomy (and membranectomy)--I had a macular hole.I now have 20-25 vision in the eye and had no complications.
He goes to several locations.So you may find one closer than Chattanooga--and all the doctors in his group are well regarded.
Check into it. We have the Miller Eye Center here and they  do their surgeries there.It is housed in  the Erlanger Hospital complex.

[curtis221]

About 5 hours south of there? Did he help you? Thanks.

[Belledonna]

curtis221
How close are you to Chattanooga,TN.
I can recommed SouthEast Retina Associates--Dr.Randall Funderburk is a well known retina specialist  who may be able to give you answers.......

[Belledonna]

curtis221
How close are you to Chattanooga,TN.
I can recommed SouthEast Retina Associates--Dr.Randall Funderburk is a well known retina specialist  who may be able to give you answers.......

[curtis221]

Me and you both. LOL. Sorry that you have it. I wake up every morning hoping it will go away. Do you ever feel like the corner of your eye is tearing but isn't or you feel like something is in it?

[mel07green]

about three months now ... i'm 38, in california ....

[curtis221]

One more question? You say you don't see it outside?

[mel07green]

haha - i wrote pretty much the same thing on your other post before i read this ... WHY would a new phosphene just appear??? (I didn"t use any eye drops, btw, but i was under a lot of emotional stress at the time.)

[curtis221]

I am 35 , and this happened about a month ago. When I squint no, or look at a white surface no. Like you said , I think it has something to do with lighting. I am in Georgia. What about you, how long? and how old?

[mel07green]

i think when you are sooo focused on a symptoms like this, you are so hyperaware of everything to do with your eye that you notice stuff you probably wouldn't under normal circumstances. i find that my eyes are scratchy and tired at the end of the day from constantly squinting and checking my vision .... i wish i could just tune this out, but that's pretty tough when i am sooo obsessed with it and am reminded of it everywhere i look ... reading, for example, is eomthing i have been avoiding, simply because i find this thing sooo distracting/furstrating/anxiety-inducing ....

[curtis221]

Yes. I agree, very anxiety inducing, I feel need to start an antidepressant or something. I obsess constantly over it. But, maybe it will disappear like it appeared all of a sudden. What makes me mad is a a pressure phosphene. Where in the world is the pressure coming from, I am not doing it. I just don't won't to believe that. Oh well, good luck. Wish you were closer to Georgia, we could take our symtpoms together to another doctor.

[mel07green]

i hear you ... i wake up in the morning with a sinking feeling that it's till there ... it's really wreaking havoc on my mental health as I just cannot stop thinking about it, freaking out that's it's going to get worse or never go away ...
i keep hoping it will disappear the way it came, but i can't see that happening ...
it's just scary and frustrating ...

[curtis221]

Yeah I know , nobody seems to have an answer for a pressure phosphene. They just show up, come one there is a reason why, nobody may know but there is a cause.

[mel07green]

hmm, but you don't see it except when it flashes? if you close the other eye and then squint at a white surface or the computer screen, you don't see anything?
can i ask how old you are and how long ago this happened?

[curtis221]

definitely not stars more of a streak like blob , I don't know how to explain it. First time I noticed it was at the computer.

[mel07green]

is your flash like a streak? i mean, is it clearly defined? or is it more like stars?

[Forum-OD-MP]

by definition a pressure phosphene is caused by pressure.  not high intraocular pressure like in glaucoma, but some sort of pressure on the retina.  vitreal traction is a big one...vitreous "tuging" on your retina from the inside.  usually not dangerous or fixable.  or pressure from the outside like when you turn your eye a certain way the bones around your eye press on the musculature around your eye which slightly deform the outside of your eye, causing the retina on the inside to also be slightly and temporarily deformed or "pushed in", causing a flash.  really common.  i can even make myself have pressure phosphenes by closing my eyes and looking in certain directions.  it is totally harmless and not fixable.

occasionally people with thyroid problems complain of increased "flashes" b/c they have increased muscular bulk in their extraocular muscles.

again if you have been to a retinal specialist and there is no hole/tear/detachment, then there is no fix for your "flashes".