Perfect Black Circles on ALL light sources!

[hawkdrivermtp]

I had an eye injury a year ago this past February that damaged my cornea. After it initially was almost healed, I began to have multiple conjunctivitis episodes. I was in Iraq at the time. During this time I began to notice black circles on all light sources. This only occurred at night or in low light conditions. Occasionally these circles can be seen in the light when viewing a small light such as a LED. This only occurs in my right eye. It looks like a "black hole", completely blocking all light. It could even be described as a miniature solar eclipse. If I am looking at city lights, each light has its own black spot covering that light. This is extremely nauseating. I cannot drive at night at all. Even being a passenger at night makes me sick unless I close my eyes or avoid looking out the windows or looking at the lights inside the vehicle. Even dimming the lights down is an issue. Oncoming traffic is a huge issue as the headlights of vehicles look like two "black holes" coming towards me at an unknown amount of speed and distance. I have lost my depth perception or at least it has been greatly affected. I have even had two PTK eye surgeries since November 2010. But those black spots are still present. These are not floaters. My ophthalmologist is unsure what could be causing this a was my previous ophthalmologist.  My pressures are usually somewhat hight but overall, besides my corneal erosion syndrome, the rest of my eye appears normal. The bad thing about this is that I am a pilot...a pilot who cant fly until this is cleared up....if ever. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Adam

[IO540]

Update to anyone reading this:

The halos and black spots on the lights went away a couple of months after I started noticing them. My eyesight has been normal for the past 2 and a half years.

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

I would see a neuro-ophthalmologist. They are the Sherlock Holmes of ophthalmology. Find one near you at www.aao.org or ask the ophthalmologists you've seen to recommend one.
JCH MD

[Concerneyepatient999]

I have the same problem but it only happens for a split second. As soon as I blink my eyes, it will be gone. Unsure if is due to the difference of my eye degree? (One perfect eyesight, one 250). I have went to check with the eye doctors twice (two different professional). They claimed nth wrong with my eyes and ask me to see brain doctor?

[JohnHaganMD]

It is unlikely that if you have hand two normal eye exams by an Eye MD ophthalmologist (not a Lenscrafters type exam) and those are your only symptoms that it is a sign of anything serious. If something  new or different develops that is alarming then you might see a neuro-ophthalmologist.

[Concerneyepatient999]

Yes I have a full eye check up by 2 ophthalmologists. I forgot to mention that this happened with a fixed condition:

1. When I drive (at night or early in the morning when the sky is dark)
2. Only at small light source when driving, staring at the lamp post or car light.

Normally I drive without spec as I can see perfectly without spec. It doesnt happen when I drive at daylight.

Also, I have found out coincidentally that when I cover my right eye (seeing with left eye) theres some irregular dark circle forming at the light source. But when I wear my spec. It doesnt appear.

So I was wondering if this black spot occurred was it because I didnt wear spec when I drive so my eye sight shifted from my right eye (100 degree) to my left eye (250 degree).

[Concerneyepatient999]

The black dot doesnt happen immediately. It happened in the middle of my driving but as soon as I saw the black dots , it will be gone immediately when my eyes just blink once.

[JohnHaganMD]

There are many posts and many discussions about similar observations. Rarely is it ever due to some dread disease.  No way I can give precise diagnosis.

[Concerneyepatient999]

So in what scenario should I then visit neuro-ophthalmologist?

[JohnHaganMD]

My suggestions would be to discuss with the eye doctors that have examined you.  Hopefully at least one is an Eye MD ophthalmologist. If you have only seen non-MD optometrists then see an Eye MD.  If you have see two Eye MDs then ask the one you feel most confident in.  If the Eye MD feels you need to see an neuro-ophthalmologist he/she can help arrange.  I suspect they might just say unless nothing changes or new symptoms appear you can do 'watchful' waiting.

[Mmichel87]

I do have same problem - black dots in all lights. I was diagnosed with Cogan dystrophy.  

[Mmichel87]

https://www.*************.com/encyclopedia/cogans-dystrophy

[JohnHaganMD]

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[Concerneyepatient999]

I have the same problem but it only happens for a split second. As soon as I blink my eyes, it will be gone. Unsure if is due to the difference of my eye degree? (One perfect eyesight, one 250). I have went to check with the eye doctors twice (two different professional). They claimed nth wrong with my eyes and ask me to see brain doctor?

[Blackholes556]

Has anyone given a definitive answer for this? I experienced this yesterday. Today I’m not seeing the black holes. Why would it happen one day but not the next? What causes it?

[JohnHaganMD]

Do year wear contact lens?

[charmedwith3]

I am wondering myself what causes this as I went from blurry double vision trying to look at street lights and any light for that matter at night without glasses to them looking like a kaleidoscope with black holes and light. From a distance they look like fireworks in the sky. I have always measured a little high on pressure, severely nearsighted since birth. Has anyone gotten answers on this?

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

This is 4 year old post. If you want current information start a new posting.

[JazzZ_76]

I see circles of light everywhere there is light.  It is not a fuzzy circle like a halo but bright perfect circles of color wherever I see light.  It's pretty trippy and kind of beautiful but a distraction when driving.  It was caused from a contact lens that was cut incorrectly and damaged the eye.  I took Ibuprofen for the pain.  By morning the pain is gone and the circles are a bit smaller.  I'm hoping by tomorrow to see normal again.

[JamesGregory]

If you see this, my eyes don't hurt and I've had my contacts in for a while, maybe a Monday or so. And earlier today they were seriously irritated but it went away in the middle of the day. Right as I was about to go to bed, I took out my contacts and it was blurry (kind of was all day) like a liquid was in it. I went to my room and my monitor had a light, with a black circle with light. If you do see this, please respond and give some clues on how to get rid of it

[JohnHaganMD]

99% of the time its the contacts. Leave them out and call the optometrist or ophthalmologist that fit them and get in for an exam. Do not put them back in till you are examined.

[Jonesy99]

I am 16, slightly nearsighted, and I have never really had any problems with my eyes. I have been under a lot of stress and had a fair share of breakdowns from anxiety the past few months. Twice i have seen what the original poster is describing. One time was a couple months ago after having a few back to back breakdowns. It was night and I looked at the streetlights and they all had perfectly circular tiny black holes inside of them. I could still see the light from the lamps but the black holes were kind of interrupting or in the way of the light. This only happened when my eyes felt funny and my vision was slightly blurred like there was some sort of liquid covering my eye. I blinked and rubbed my eyes after about 8 seconds of seeing the blackness and it went away along with the weird feeling. Now, 2 days ago I was riding my bike outside in the cold for around 5 minutes when I saw the same blackness on the lamps outside again. My eyes water a lot when I ride my bike outside from the wind so I dont know if the two are connected but the blackness only happened during those 2 times. Note that I still have a lot of anxiety and stress and that might also be a factor. The first time I saw the blackness I was absolutely horrified because it was almost blacker than black, like pure black and perfectly circular.

[isashisha]

my right has just started doing this!!! i cant find anything online about it...just about floaters, squiggles and halos. I described it the exact same way...like looking at a bunch of eclipses in a row. Its maddening! Mine happened super fast...like over a month time. First it felt like i had something in my eye and i would wipe it alot. Next i noticed my eye would make a weird 'pop' sound when i wiped it...not the normally squishy sound. Everything went blurred and now ive got the eclipses. I cant imagine driving like this.

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

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[IO540]

I have the exact same issue in my right eye plus I also see halos around lights. It all started after a very nasty case of conjunctivitis (ie pink eye). Acording to my eye doctor, the swelling and abrassion to the eye was so severe during the infection that tiny scars were left on the cornea. Aparently these scars are whats causing me to see halos around lights. He said those scars can take up to 6 months to heal, and maybe even up to two years. After I saw him for the last time I started noticing relatively small black spots on top of distant green lights. A month after that I realized the spots were also showing on other light colors (white for example). This triggered me to google again about this issue since ive always thought the black spots were caused by the corneal scars and did not pay that much attention to them, but now im not 100% sure. This seems to be a very rare condition since theres almost no information online... please contact me at m.palou(at)hot/mail.com (the forward slash is not part of the email)

ps. im also a pilot, civilian CFI.