Eye floaters and flashes are both caused by the natural shrinking of the gel-like fluid in your eye (vitreous) that happens as you age. Floaters appear in your field of vision as small shapes, while flashes can look like lightning or camera flashes. Floaters are very common and typically don't require treatment.
When the vitreous gel inside your eye rubs or pulls on the retina, you may see what looks like flashing lights or lightening streaks. You may have experienced this sensation if you have ever been hit in the eye and see "stars." These flashes of light can appear off and on for several weeks or months.
Floaters usually happen because of normal changes in your eyes. As you age, tiny strands of your vitreous (the gel-like fluid that fills your eye) stick together and cast shadows on your retina (the light-sensitive layer of tissue at the back of the eye). Those shadows appear as floaters.
An ophthalmologist aims a special laser at the floaters in the vitreous (vitreolysis). This may break up the floaters and make them less noticeable. Some people who have this treatment report improved vision; others notice little or no difference.
Suddenly seeing new floaters and flashes could mean your retina has torn or detached. This is a very serious condition that your ophthalmologist must treat quickly to prevent blindness. There is no treatment for occasional flashes of light caused by vitreous changes from aging.
General Health Issues: Stroke. Bleeding inside the brain can also cause flashes of light. Other stroke symptoms include numbness, weakness, slurred speech, or headache.
Optic neuropathy: Hypertension can lead to reduced blood flow to the optic nerve, which damages the cells in the eyes. It can lead to permanent vision loss. Symptoms may include: Flashes in the eye.
Seeing occasional flashing lights in your eyes usually isn't an issue. But repeated flashes in the forms of bright spots, streaks of lightening, or shooting stars in the corner of your eye can indicate a serious medical condition.
Answer: Wavy lines on an Amsler grid do not always mean you have age-related macular degeneration, or AMD. A cyst or macular pucker can also cause waviness. The Amsler grid is used to monitor many conditions affecting the macula (part of the retina used for crystal clear central vision) and optic nerve.
If you frequently experience stress you might wonder, can stress cause eye floaters? The simple answer is, stress alone is not responsible for eye floaters appearing. Eye floaters are caused by deterioration of the vitreous humor which often happens as people age.
Dehydration is another cause of eye floaters. The vitreous humour in your eyes is made of 98% of water. If you're constantly dehydrated, this gel-like substance can lose shape or shrink. This can lead to the occurrence of floaters because the proteins in this substance do not remain dissolved and thus, they solidify.
Floaters and other visual disturbances.
Flashes of light or color, floaters and other visual disturbances can occur for a host of reasons, including as a side effect of a drug. Medications linked to visual disturbances include Benadryl (for allergies), Cardizem (heart disease), Elavil (depression) and Xanax (anxiety).
Flashes in retinal detachment are usually split-second or few-seconds at a time. They can be like streaks of lightning, noticeable especially in a dark room. They can occur randomly at different times of the day. They can be quite alarming.
With treatment, eye flashes should go away. It usually takes about a month, but sometimes it can take up to 6 months for them to completely disappear. While not all eye flashes are serious, you should always have a medical eye examination by an ophthalmologist to make sure there has been no damage to your retina.
For example, early signs of macular degeneration include blurry vision, trouble seeing in dim lights, and faded-looking colors. Your eye doctor isn't the only one responsible for your eye health. It's important that you know about the early signs of eye diseases.
Blurry or fuzzy vision. Difficulty recognizing familiar faces. Straight lines appear wavy. A dark, empty area or blind spot appears in the center of vision.
The first sign you may notice is a gradual or sudden change in the quality of your vision or that straight lines appear distorted to you. This may gradually turn into a dramatic loss of your central vision. Other symptoms include: Dark, blurry areas or whiteouts that appear in the center of your vision.
You can develop flashes for a few reasons, but one of the most common is when the gel-like vitreous in your eye shrinks and begins to pull on your retina. This is called posterior vitreous detachment. You're more likely to see flashes as you age and the vitreous of your eye naturally shrinks.
The most common cause of optic nerve degeneration is multiple sclerosis. Flickering lights or flashes in the field of vision, along with pain, loss of color perception, and eventual vision loss are also part of damage to the optic nerve during optic neuritis.
Flashes and floaters are common ophthalmic issues for which patients may initially present to their general practitioner. It may be a sign of benign, age-related changes of the vitreous or more serious retinal detachment.
Sudden hazy or blurred vision. Flashes of light or black spots. Halos or rainbows around light.
Heart disease and other medical conditions, like diabetes and high blood pressure, can damage the blood vessels in the eyes, making it harder for your eyes to focus, resulting in blurred or altered vision. Reduced blood supply also starves the eyes of oxygen, affecting vision.
Another set of symptoms—unexplained speech, vision or hearing problems—can occur when a tumor grows near the areas of the brain that control these functions. A tumor growing near the visual pathways can cause loss of peripheral vision on one side or cause someone to see flashing lights.
Some people will experience symptoms such as headache, numbness or tingling several days before they have a serious stroke. One study found that 43% of stroke patients experienced mini-stroke symptoms up to a week before they had a major stroke.
Call 9-1-1 immediately if any of these signs of stroke appear: Numbness or weakness in the face, arm, or leg; Confusion or trouble speaking or understanding speech; Trouble seeing in one or both eyes; Trouble walking, dizziness, or problems with balance; severe headache with no known cause.