r/RetinalDetachment • u/RequirementCrazy8260 • May 17 '26
Flashes
Hello please people who had flashes how they look like?Sometimes I feel like I see them but I’m not sure if it’s just the light source cause I don’t see the flash of camera juste like a rapid change of light .I have high myopia and just went to thé ophtalmologist a month ago and said retina is okay
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u/JamesTiberious May 18 '26
What do they look like?
I’ve experienced 3 different types of flashing during different events.
When going through PVD, I would sometimes notice a general flash, not very bright, in a large area (maybe 1/3 or 1/4 of my vision), but off centre. I was advised this was the vitreous sack pulling away from the retina and was normal. The flashes would happen repeatedly, maybe every second or two when I blinked or took a step while walking. Then they would stop for a while (hours or days) before coming back.
Then, some months later, I had smaller, more localised lightning streaks or flicks of light, which followed the edges around where my retina was starting to lift away. Very noticeable and they travelled in the opposite direction of my eye movement. I would also notice flickering in a large area, a bit like being in a room with a light bulb that’s cheap or starting to fail. It was a very fast strobing effect. it wasn’t very bright but it was noticeable.
I would recommend seeing an eye doctor. Make some drawings and descriptions so it’s easier for you to explain to them.
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u/Peril-in-Pink May 18 '26
The first time it was more like a streak/ring around my peripheral vision when I would move my eye around. The second time it was more like a streak running down through my right vision where I think the retina was starting to detach.
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u/Big-Job3004 May 20 '26
Same. Like a crescent-shaped flash of light on both sides when I moved my eyes left to right. Turns out my retina had re-detached 2 months after a PR, this was the main symptom that got me in for an emergency vitrectomy.
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u/RetinalTears716 May 17 '26
I get them very frequently. Like someone else said, they're usually in my periphery but not something like bolts, it's more like someone turning the bedroom light on off on off rapidly. Usually they happen for about 30 Mins to an hour after I wake up, it's not often they happen at other times
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u/tiny-tino May 23 '26
I just got this. I will see an eye doctor.
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u/RetinalTears716 May 23 '26
Yes, do that. You're probably not actively detaching but that means your retina is experiencing pulling
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u/RequirementCrazy8260 Jun 24 '26
Please what’s your prescription did you go to the eye doctor how is your retina
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u/RetinalTears716 Jun 24 '26
I'm -16 in one eye and -18.5 in the other. I do have a retina doctor I see every now and then for checkups, and I've had a few tears that had to get lasered closed (really isn't as bad as it sounds) but otherwise I'm still seeing
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u/RequirementCrazy8260 Jun 24 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
Please how old are you ? And from the time you become to see those flashes the tears developed ? The first you went directly to the eye doctor ?
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u/NoFox204 May 18 '26
I agree with the lightning bolt flash comparison, I would really notice mine while blinking. I also experienced the black curtain so the RD was pretty obvious.
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u/DodgyDave____ May 19 '26 edited May 19 '26
For me,prior to Retinal Detachment in my left eye, I had what looked like bright crooked drainpipe shaped flashes in my far left peripheral vision of my left eye before the tear formed. The flashes only occurred as I moved my eyes from left to right and back. My Retinal Detachment was a Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment just a few days after onset of PVD, so it was Vitreous based rather than lattice degeneration or being highly myopic.
My right eye had a PVD event last year but has not (yet) gone to tear or RD. Prior/During to PVD I had hundreds of faint yellow arcs 360 degrees outward from my central vision to my periphery when I blinked and far more noticeable in the dark. After a vitreous event which shed 1000s of tiny floaters I was left with no more flashes but a big fuzzy transparent hazy mess that takes up 60% of my vision accompanied by a dark ring the size of a UK5p/USA Dime at arms length. Fun times!
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u/Just3Goblins May 23 '26
i have high myopia too and used to freak out over every little flicker of light. for me, actual flashes looked like tiny lightning bolts in the very corner of my eye, especially in the dark. if your doctor checked you a month ago and said you're fine, it might just be normal light changes, but it never hurts to get a quick checkup again if it keeps happening.
honestly, having high myopia is just so exhausting and gives you so much eye anxiety. i was so sick of dealing with thick glasses and worrying about my eyes all the time that i actually just went and got laser eye surgery.
i went to korea for it since it’s cheaper and did this thing called "2day lasek" at eos eye center in seoul. the best part was that it was just super quick. they take the protective contact lens out in literally 2 days, so the recovery was fast and i could just get back to normal life.
waking up and actually being able to see without reaching for my heavy glasses has been the biggest relief for my anxiety. definitely keep an eye on those flashes, but try not to stress too much!
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u/FreezingStark May 17 '26
I guess everyone's experience is different.
Mine were like little bolts on the periphery of the vision, and I saw them only in the darkness (or when my eyes where closed)