is it serious

[mcb07]

I've had a problem with my eyes the whole time I was growing up.  I guess it has never really bothered me.  But I wanted to make sure I didn't have anything serious.  Through my little bit of research I guess I have eye floaters.  But I have another vision problem that I haven't been able to put a name to.  My eyes are semi sensitive to bright light. If i'm in a bright room and I close my eyes I can see whatever I just saw in silhettes of bright pinks,purples,reds and yellows.  Sometimes I don't even need to close my eyes just turn my head.  But the what really worries me sometimes is if I wake up to a bright light all I will be able to see is those colors and thats all I will be able to see for at least five seconds and on top of that my eyes feel tingley.  I don't know if this is odd or normal or what.  All I'm really concerned about is, is any of this really serious?  Like I said I grew up with this and thought it to be pretty normal til now.  My eye doctor always said my eyes were extremely healthy.  My vision isn't that bad either I'm only a little far sighted and my near sight is more than perfect.  If you could shed some light on this problem that would be great.  Thank you for your time

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

One of the things that bothers you (seeing whatever I just saw in silloettes ) are after-images. Some people are able to appreciate them longer than others. There's one floating around the internet where you stare for a couple minutes at a black and green pattern then close your eyes and you see a red/white/blue American flag.

Given that you've had it a long time and nothing serious has developed it's unlikely to represent some dread disease. Most likely these are variants of entoptic phenomena.

JCH III MD Eye Physician & Surgeon

[TomSelleck]

Everything you described I have, and had when growing up.  It never bothered me also, I though it was normal.  I've recently realized that it isn't as normal as I thought.