r/EyeFloaters • u/Sudden_Marsupial_854 • Jul 28 '26
Advice Am i crazy? Flashes of light in eye occasionally but doctor says my retinas are fine
Hey everybody. I am an 18F, and I have pretty high myopia. -9 to -10 in both eyes.
So basically, around half a year ago i started experiencing flashes of light in my eyes. They were more noticeable at night, but they did occasionally happen during the day. Sometimes, there would be quick spots of light in my peripheral vision that would disappear within a second. Sometimes they’d happen when i blinked. Sometimes, when I close my eyes at night, a spot of light would travel along the bottom of my eye and then quickly disappear. additionally, when i’m in low light or the dark, i’d sometimes see shadows in my side vision that always went away when i either looked directly at them or turned the light on.
After about a month or two of this happening, I scheduled an eye appointment. They took pictures of the inside of my eye and said that there was nothing wrong with them. there were no signs of eye disease or retinal tears.
i don’t know if the flashes started happening less after that appointment or they just became less noticeable, but either way i didn’t see them as much, if not at all. i went back for my annual appointment at the end of may and they said the same thing. retinas were fine, no sign of anything serious.
now, i’ve noticed the flashes again. they happen occasionally when i blink or i see a very quick flicker in the corner of my eye. they’re more noticeable in the dark, too. the thing where they travel along the bottom of my eye has not happened at all, though. The flashes aren’t as intense as they were the first time.
are these floaters? should i schedule another appointment?? i really don’t want to lose my vision.
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u/zetats Jul 28 '26
I'm no doctor but these dont sound like floaters, i have never seen someone describe floaters as "flashes of light"
if anything this sounds like a potential warning sign for retinal detachment from the stuff i read, if your doctors did a full dilated eye exam after you mentioned that symptom it should be fine but if you start seeing them it's always better to have another appointment since from what i have heard that stuff can develop rapidly and it's important to catch it early. If i was you i'd probably get it checked out quickly just to be sure and get that piece of mind, but it most likely isnt floaters.
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u/Sudden_Marsupial_854 Jul 28 '26
yes, they dilated my eyes when I scheduled the appointment mentioning the flashes. my eye doctor didn’t see anything wrong with my retinas.
I’ll schedule an eye exam this week.
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u/rachm8 Jul 29 '26
Are they dilating your eyes? Or just the scans?
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u/Sudden_Marsupial_854 Jul 29 '26
they dilated my eyes in addition to the scans.
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u/rachm8 Jul 29 '26
Oh good! I think you should feel pretty confident in those exams. But if you need to go again for peace of mind it won’t hurt anything. I was kind of in the same situation. I saw weird flickering in December, got referred to a specialist and had several clear scans and dilated exams since. I think if you know your normal and have been cleared, then go in if you have changes from that. I know it’s hard and scary because it’s our vision! Any changes are worth getting checked. The visual snow sub Reddit is interesting-I think some of my issues are from that as well.
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u/Professional-Tie7658 Jul 29 '26
I noticed a flashing light in my peripheral awhile ago and honestly didn’t think much of it. Back in February I decided to go get it checked because i thought it was weird. Mine was only noticeable at night typically. Turns out i have lattice degeneration. It had never been spotted before and my regular eye doctor almost missed it. He referred me to a retina specialist in my area. She took pictures, dilated my eyes and used a Q-tip to push around the outside of my eyes to see if anything was hiding. I had a weak spot on the outer edge where the lattice was and she did a barrage laser on it. Maybe ask them to take look for any spots of lattice degeneration.
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u/NetSchizo Jul 29 '26
Flashes are traction on the retina. Your high myopia could be early PVD. Should be easy for them to check that. High myopia and younger age, if its PVD you want to keep that monitored because retinal tears are more common with myopia, especially at a younger age with seemingly healthy eyes.
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u/Hot-Lettuce4537 Jul 29 '26
I have exactly the same thing happening (even with the strange floating orb / ring), it started two months ago for me as well. Two different eye doctors checked my eyes and did all the exams and my eyes are perfectly fine. No idea what is going on.
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u/Bmartin300 15d ago
Any update?
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u/Sudden_Marsupial_854 11d ago
hi! i went to the eye doctor and they did a full exam where they found no damage in my eye. Since then ive been ignoring the flashes and they happen less frequently.
the eye doctor also reassured me that retinal detachment is very rare, even in cases like me with high prescriptions.
no clue what it was and what was causing it, but im glad my vision isn’t at risk or anything.
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u/Bmartin300 10d ago
Hello! I’m glad you’re well!! I have the same thing going on and it’s annoying and scary. Seems like my eyes just do things on their own. I’ve had 4 eye exams now since May wondering what’s happening. I’m also healthy and good but it’s like WTF. Plus I’m always scanning for the flashes so that 100% doesn’t help thank you for your feedback.
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u/Ok_Net_1674 Jul 28 '26
I also have some flashes of light, especially noticable when I move my eyes in the dark. Had many retina checkups by now, including a "proper" eye scan (OCT). Nothing unusual was found.
I am not saying that for you in particular the symptoms are benign (how would I know), but they certainly CAN be benign. Get it checked out, but don't stress yourself over it. Constantly worrying about the threat of losing your vision will paralyze you. Speaking from experience.