Sudden flashes after 6 weeks of retinal tear laser surgery

[sksr_671]

I am 19 years old, with -5.25 glasses in the left eye and -6.50 in the right. I have had lattice degeneration ever since I was 11, with 3 lattices in my right eye and 3 in my left. The situation stayed the same for about 9 years, up until last month when I was diagnosed with mild retinal traction in both my eyes, as well as some retinal tears in my right eye. The tears and weak spots were immediately treated with laser. I was told that flashes and floaters would persist after the laser, however, a significant increase in both meant that I should get checked immediately. I also needed to have a follow up check with my retina doctor after 3 weeks to see if any new tears or weak spots had developed. However, since I am overly anxious and tend to overthink situations, I took 3 trips to the doctor even before my follow up appointment with him. This was mostly due to the fact that I would see a sudden increase in flashes, but each time I showed the doctor, he said there was nothing to worry about. Throughout all those trips I made to him, he explained that the sudden flashes or floaters might be because of inflammation/ the retina sticking to the underlying tissue due to the laser, causing the sudden flashes, and that I should stop worrying too much about it as my situation seemed to be pretty stable. To be precise, he said that my Post vitreous gel was not moving at all and was stable, therefore nothing to be too worried about.

Hearing this I was pretty reassured and everything was fine for about 3 weeks. No noticeable increase in flashes or floaters, maybe 2 or 3 in a day. I still had floaters, but they seem the same as they’ve been since I developed the tears.

About 2 days back though (this is the 6th week after my laser), I started seeing a sudden increase in the flashes again (about 7-8 in an hour), however my floaters seemed the same to me. I’ve been worrying a lot, but at the same time I don’t want to make unnecessary trips to the doctor. He specifically told me that if I see a sudden increase in flashes accompanied by a significant increase in floaters as well, I should come immediately.

My question is.. Is this something I should be worried about?? As this has happened before for a few days after which it subsided, and my doctor told me it was due to inflammation in my retina. This really stresses me out and takes a toll on my mental health among other things. It’s like, I get 5-8 flashes in an hour, after which it calms down for a few hours, and then again the random sudden flashes. It makes me really uneasy.

Another question.. This isn’t really related to retinal tears but.. Could watching really fast moving images on screens cause further damage to my already weakened retina?? I watch gaming and animated videos which have a lot of those.

Any advice or comments will be appreciated.

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

You are asking for assurances that I cannot give. You will need to discuss this in detail with your retina surgeon. You can also use the search feature and read the many discussions of persistence of both flashes of light and floaters post laser and cryo (freeze) treatment of holes/tears/lattice.  Watching video games or use of your eyes for any visual purpose will not damage your eye. Your should discuss with your retina surgeon avoiding contact sports and thrill rides like roller coasters that whip the head about and create a lot of centrifugal or centripetal force.