Flashers

[JAN149]

I started having vertical temporal left eye flashers about 2 weeks ago, went to an Opth MD and he found a small retinal hole in the location of my light flashers. He used a laser to make concentric burns around the small hole to keep the retina from becoming detached. He did tell me that he did not see any signs of PRD at that time but was concerned about the flashers. I had severe eye discomfort after the laser treatment until the next day. It was like I had a hair inside my eyelid? I had blurred vision and returned to see the doctor after 4 days as I was concerned about the blur and the flashers were still apparent. I was told that he did not see anything that could be causing the blurring and my eye does seem to have have cleared from this condition. I will have the eye tested when I return in 3 weeks.
I am very concerned that the flashers are still present day and night sometimes very hour or so. Sometimes just one flash and sometimes several in succession. I have been told it can take some time for these to go away.
Is this normal or could ther be something else happening to me. The Dr. did say w/out the flashers that he would not have treated the retinal hole alone because it appeared benign and very small.
Can tooth decay, root canal infection or sinusitis cause similar simptons with vertical flashers???

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

NO

JCH MD

[Xena971]

I had to get a root canal done and prior to it the dentist had to take an x-ray, but because he could not get the position right, 6 x-rays were taken in succession. Also, following the root canal I had a nose bleed on that side for almost a day which settled. After this I have had flashes in the eye on that side (at the base of the eye). I already have lattice degeneration with floaters in both eyes (preventive laser done about 4 years ago). Got my eyes checked but no holes or tears were found, but am living in constant fear. Cannot help thinking that this may all be due to the number of X-rays and the root canal. Is this possible?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

The flashes usually stop over a period of 6-8 weeeks although on occassion they can persist longer. Also laser RX does not make the floaters go away. Hopefuly they'll settle down.

JCH MD

[JAN149]

I had my return visit after having a retinal hole repaired. The Dr. said it looked good. I mentioned I was concerned that the Flashers were about the same. He said it could take 6 months or be permanent. He said that he would have expected that if they were going to go away, they would probably already have cleared.

Do you agree with this or should I still be concerned?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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[JAN149]

That is interesting. I have been having some discomfort from an old root canal and have had a filling come out of another tooth which I have not gotten fixed yet (this happened almost exactly the same time as the flashers started). Also I have been having severe sinusitis with itchy eyes. I have also had some mild front lobe headaches and I have never had headaches before.
I was sure that the lights only were happening randomly. I then found a way to reproduce the flash. I was successful in doing it 5 times before I stopped. I would look into the well lit mirror in my bathroom, turn my head to the right towards the door and then turn the light out. each time a light flashed from the bottom to top vertically.
What does this tell about the symptoms?

[dukey]

hahaha ah I see, so anything prior to 1990 is invalid huh? Have you read it? This is a classic paper and is probably the most detailed study on flashes ever done so I think it is extremely relevant. Not all cases of flashes are an RD and, in fact, almost all of them are not. They are labelled as "entoptic phenomenon" by most docs. But there is still a cause, so what is it? This paper is the only one that I have found that even attempts to answer this question. It is a huge mistake to write it off as invalid because of the date. Take it from me, I made that error in my PhD defense! Go and read it and then we can discuss it if you like, it's actually a very interesting study (whether you believe it or not!).

It's not beyond the realm of possibility that flashes can be caused by local inflammation and/or dental problems. Come on, medicine is still a science!!    

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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[berrywoo]

You're research is not very current. So I question its current validity and reliabilty, especially as medicine has changed tremendously in the past 50 plus years since the article you are referring to.

[dukey]

"No sinus and dental problems will not cause flashes"

Well according the early papers by Moore et al. a number of conditions can cause flashes........specifically ethmoiditis and dental problems. See Berens et al. (1954). Seems logical to me.  

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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[JAN149]

Thank you for taking the time to respond. I will hope the flashers are going away by my return visit in 3 weeks :-)

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

No sinus and dental problems will not cause flashes. Often the flashes take several weeks to resolve.

JCH MD