In this case there will be a sudden obvious increase in the number of floaters. They are more common in those who are short-sighted, those who have had eye surgery and those who have diabetic eye disease.įloaters can also occur after posterior vitreous detachment. After a while you will find them less noticeable. They also tend to 'settle' at the bottom of the eye, below the line of sight. These kinds of floater are not associated with flashes or reduction in your vision and they tend to come on gradually. Most commonly this is due to normal ageing of the eye, when opacities form in the clear jelly and drift around. Most floaters are also caused by changes in the vitreous humour. They tend to be more obvious when bright objects, such as a blue sky, are being viewed. They drift about inside the eye rather than staying still. They move as you move your eye and can seem to dart away when you try to look at them. They may look like spots, threads, spiders or cobwebs. People who are extremely short-sighted (correction more than -6.00D - your optician can tell you what your correction is) are at higher risk, as the globe of their eye tends to be longer so that the vitreous is more likely to pull away.įloaters are shapes (opacities) floating in the field of vision. Some people are at greater risk of retinal detachment than others, including those who have already had a retinal detachment in the other eye, those with inflammatory eye disorders such as uveitis, or degenerative conditions of the retina, those who have had significant eye trauma or surgery, and those with a family history of retinal detachment. Flashes accompanied by a shadow coming down over your vision is suggestive of retinal detachment.įor further detail see the separate leaflet called Retinal Detachment. Increasing, persistent or constant flashes all suggest strong pulling on the retina and may mean that you are at risk of retinal damage. Occasionally flashes can be a sign that the retina is at risk of being torn or detached. Most flashes are caused by changes in the vitreous humour which are related to age and which are harmless. Patients may sometimes see flashes, although more frequently they see complex visual images like children or animals, which can look very real. The brain, deprived of real visual information, can make things up instead, particularly in conditions of low light. They can last up to an hour and tend to increase to a maximum before fading away and being replaced by a headache, which is typically one-sided and which may or may not be severe.Ĭharles Bonnet syndrome is a condition experienced by people, usually elderly people, whose vision is deteriorating. Usually, in migraine, these occur in both eyes simultaneously. Some people with migraine experience flashing lights. Again, these can affect one or both eyes.įlashes can also relate to migraines. These include diabetic eye disease and sickle cell disease. However, most vitreous detachment does not harm the retina.Ĭonditions which affect the retina may also cause flashes. Sometimes, as the vitreous pulls on the retina, it can tear it, causing a retinal tear or a retinal detachment. If they occur in both eyes this is because the same thing is happening in each eye separately (but since your eyes are usually very similar this is not unlikely to occur at the same time). The flashes of vitreous detachment may occur in one or both eyes. The vitreous is detached from the retina in 75% of people aged over 65 and this is usually harmless. This condition is harmless in itself, and in fact it happens to almost everyone eventually. Eventually the vitreous membrane tends to pull right off the retina, a condition called posterior vitreous detachment. This can cause flashes because the pulling triggers nerves in the retina and they send signals to the seeing nerve (optic nerve). As we age, the vitreous humour shrinks and as it does so it can pull on the retina.
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