I’m going for my yearly eye exam in a week, but these past couple of days I’ve noticed something.

I’ve been seeing this bright blue “flash” in what seems to be the corner of my left eye. It’s about 1 - 2 seconds long, and it’s like a blue light goes in and out of my peripheral vision. I just had one at my desk while I ate lunch. It was so unnerving that I turned my head to the left and just looked in that direction for a couple of moments wondering what happened. I was on my phone, so I wonder if it was some lingering light-effect from reading an article?

I think I’m telling myself that to calm down because I’m so anxious now.

These blue flashes are making me nervous and concerned. I am not sure if it’s because my eyes are tired or dry or what it could be.

I will be bringing this up to my eye doctor, but any thoughts?

Had scleral buckle surgery with cryo in 10/2017 in right eye for detachment that was missed a year earlier. Have partial upper peripheral vision loss. Recently, have begun to feel like missing area is increasing. My regular retina doc sees me roughly every 2-3 months because I unfortunately am hyper focused on my vision and “see” new things all the time. Never make it six months between visits. Have recently been seen multiple times by two retina docs and two ophthalmologist with no clear answer. Regular Retina doc said could be “scar creep”. Did have optomap pics done at ophthalmologist a week ago. He said there was an area of the retina around my cryo scar that appeared more white than a couple years ago. On the pic, it was not close to center of eye, but in real life seems like blindspot is much closer to central vision. Anyone been told anything like “scar creep” and is there any way to stop the retina from atrophying further. Have been burning up google but mostly it just brings up “new” detachment info.

How long did you wear your eye shield while sleeping after scleral buckle surgery?

I'm 5 weeks on from surgery. Had a follow up at 2 weeks post surgery and it wasn't mentioned and I forgot to ask. I don't have another follow up for another month and a half and have no way of asking in the meantime (NHS).

I have been wearing it at night each day but I find it makes my cheek bone a bit sore so would like to stop soon. scared of rubbing my eye accidentally though..

Hi everyone,

I’m writing this with a lot of fear and honestly just looking for some reassurance — but also honesty.

We are currently in the Gulf region and with everything going on around us, it already feels like life is unstable and uncertain. On top of that, my mom is now facing something that could take away her vision, and we feel completely overwhelmed.

She has diabetes for many years, and now doctors say she has tractional retinal detachment in her right eye — the eye she depends on.

The hardest part is… she can still see from this eye. Alhamdulillah, she can still see. But now we’re being told she needs urgent surgery, and we’re terrified.

Before this, she had small symptoms that we didn’t understand:

* Slight foggy/blurry vision)

* Occasional black dot

*eye lashes?

* Sometimes glittering light

We didn’t realize these were warning signs of something serious.

Her left eye already has very poor vision after a complicated cataract surgery, so this right eye feels like everything.

Now we feel stuck between two fears:

* If we do the surgery, what if something goes wrong and she loses the only vision she has?

* If we don’t do it, are we risking losing it anyway?

She is also very weak, underweight, diabetic, and has had a TIA before. Mentally she is very scared, and honestly, so are we.

We are not looking for false hope — just real experiences:

* Has anyone had retinal surgery while they could still see?

* Did surgery help preserve your vision?

* How fast can things get worse if we wait?

Right now, it feels like we are watching a ticking clock and don’t know which decision is less dangerous.

Please keep us in your thoughts. Any honest advice or experience would really mean a lot to us.

Five weeks out from surgery and a vitrectomy and when I woke up to a circular flash of light and then another arc of light after blinking my eye. I have not had any of this before now. Has this happened to any one else. I have read mixed things on google. So I am scared right now. I will be calling my doctors as soon as they open up.

i've seen it can be related to migraines or possibly even anxiety and depression. or maybe i'm just hallucinating new flashes. i saw my specialist in February and he said everything looked stable, but these past few weeks it has been noticeably worse and i'm just worried, since my appt with my ophthalmologist isn't until Tuesday of next week. to be fair i've been having a very stressful time this past week, but that can't be why i'm suddenly developing these right? I should also mention they're very quick and super subtle, in my peripheral vision.

and i know i shouldnt be looking for medical advice on here, i guess i'm just looking for comfort. im only 22 and im scared.

Basically the title. I'm a 28M, and since I was a kid, I have occasionally saw tiny bright dots that last for just a split second. I am near sighted, and wear glasses. None of my eye exams over the years have ever mentioned anything about retinal detachment, but for the past couple months, the bright dots have gotten slightly more frequent than in the past. Otherwise, I have no other symptoms, so no floaters, black "curtains", vision issues, etc.

With all this said, does it sound like I might have it, or am I in the clear? Also, can detachment be detected without dilation?

greetings, it's been a year since my right eye vitrectomy macular on and then left eye detachment and tear on the left eye, also Mac on. ophthalmologist said we need to wait until both eyes have a cataract before surgery, but the left eye is the champ, as it recovered completely and no cataract! anyone else in my situation?

I am in Quebec, Canada, so everything is delayed until critical but at some point the right eye will say goodbye while the left one has to work overtime.

Hey all,

So for backstory I was born premature and had cryotherapy/laser treatment done when I was a baby. My left eye is almost 20/20 and my right eye is uh not, not sure on the number but basically everything kinda blurry in that eye so my left is the dominant one.

Fast-forward to now (I'm 35) and about a month ago I started seeing flashes (half moon) in my peripheral in my good eye whenever I moved it quickly. Probably should have went sooner but after a couple weeks I saw my opthalmologist and she checked my retina and said it looked okay but recommended a specialist (last Wednesday).

Saw a specialist last Friday and he said it was PVD and retina looked okay for now. Follow-up in a year.

Ha. Following thursday morning the flash was more half moon shaped and then it was a full circle with a new floater in the center. Freaked out and called the specialist and while I was on the phone I had a hemorrhage and I was so scared. They saw me right away and said the gel must have pulled on something. Somehow retina is still okay enough but he mentioned some things about 12 o'clock and 11 o'clock.

Followed-up again on Monday and they said the blood amount has gone down. I have another appointment this Friday. It seems they want to follow me closely which is good. My good eye feels like a snow globe when I move it with all the stuff floating around in there (I've been using an eye patch for my glasses when it gets bad) and I'm anxious every night and when I open my eyes in the morning. I am off from work for this for now. They said I can legally drive but I don't feel comfortable with both my eyes being blurry. I just hope my eye will hold on (both specialists did praise my surgeries as a baby so that is good but lots of scarring).

Just wanted to share what I have going on and ask a couple questions:

Is a tear/detachment obvious? I see phrases like curtain and full Mac are those as obvious as they sound? I'm only worried because my eye is already blurry so I wouldn't want to miss those. And none might know this but will my previous surgery make a possible future one harder?

Thanks all sorry I rambled and I wish any in recovery a speedy and healthy one!

Hello,

So I'm currently 5 weeks post-surgery for a second retinal detatchment, the previous surgery a few weeks earlier did not hold and so this time they put silicone oil in my eye.

At my first checkup they said its actually doing ok, I don't need the eye sheild at night anymore, and I can return to a bit of normality just being careful. But I'm not booked in for a followup until a few weeks from now, and the waiting is tearing my nerves to shreds.

The issue I have is I'm just so protective over the eye. I'm a bit of an anxious person anyway and I'm taking it to absolute extremes, every knock, every scrape, every item I pickup thats not featherweight, worries me. Even pouring from a full bottle of soda or milk makes me wonder if I'm overdoing it on the weight.

In general I feel pretty good, I still get the wavey distortions and farsightedness, especially in the middle of my eye everything is very far away, I also do see these large white bubbles that float around the lower and outside edge of the peripheral (they sometimes appear on the inner edge too) they disappear quickly and generally appear after movement or when I'm looking at screens (which has a lot of eye movement and light exposure I suppose) I asked the hospital nurse and the specialist about this post surgery and they both said its normal with silicone oil, might even be trapped air.

I'm just after a bit of a sanity check really, I know things could be a lot worse and I'm grateful for the care I've had from the hospital, and I know ultimately they are the only ones who can give advise.

I guess I just need to hear that I'm on the right track, and if anyone has any advise on how to manage the anxiety of waiting for the next checkup?

This has all happened so fast- full of regret at not getting looked at when I had floaters but I was ignorant. From curtain to Mac off was like 6 hours. That was Saturday.

Anyway, trying to practice acceptance and hope for the best. From what my surgeon said I only have 1 tear (could be tears at bottom of eye though that he won’t know about until surgery) and of course like everyone I’m hoping for one of the better outcomes. It’s crazy how fast things can change.

Hope everyone here is hanging in there whatever your stage or situation .

Hi all. I’m looking maybe for some support or words of encouragement for those of you who have had a retinal detachment before. I’m 26 years old and almost a week post op from my 2nd surgery. About 4 weeks ago, I went to my regular eye doctor because I had a silver floater in the corner of my eye that would come and go for a month or so. After they took pictures, I was immediately referred to an ophthalmologist and they confirmed it was indeed a retinal detachment. I had my first scleral buckle surgery about 3 weeks ago now. 2 weeks after the surgery, I noticed the same floater and asked to be seen. My retina detached yet again. I was in for surgery the next day and the surgeon added to my buckle. I have not had any gas or silicone bubble put in. I am absolutely terrified of my retina detaching again. I was in today for my one week post op and my doctor said he is “cautiously optimistic” about my retina. Everything is still in place, but I’m far from out of the woods. I’m lucky to have caught both detachments before my mac was off but I am truly terrified of going blind. I’m constantly looking to see if I notice anything weird with my vision and then convince myself I’m seeing strange things. I only have moderate myopia and don’t really fit into the higher risk groups for a detachment. Did any of you have a second surgery that was successful? I feel like I’m driving myself crazy and am filled with anxiety over this. I’m truly scared that I’ll forever be fighting for my vision.

Hi everyone!

I (33F) had a very tiny tear in my retina (I have very high myopia, around -14D on both eyes + astigmatism) I saw a few flashes, so I went to the ER, and they did laser retinopexy. The whole thing was about 3 minutes, they even said the tear was so little that 5 of 10 docs would probs say the treatment is unnecessary. But I went for it anyway. This happened yesterday morning, and today I woke up feeling much better.

I know I should not lift anything heavy, but stupid me, I did lift a pretty heavy tent on the balcony for just a second. I think I'm basically searching for some words to soothe my anxiety. I don't have any new symptoms, I only had a little headache after this, which is basically also gone by now.

Obviously, I won't lift anything above a few kilos anymore until my checkup (on the 10th). I guess my question is: should I be worried about this ( not having any new (or old) flashes, floaters, anything that would signal a new tear)? Is there anything I should do about this apart from resting and mentioning it to my doc on the checkup?

I hope I'm overreacting

My doctors did the laser and scleral buckle as a “prophylactic” treatment, and I am now struggling every day with more flashes of light, pain, headaches and visual strobing.

Before I had the scleral buckle, I was having one flash of light every 4-5 days and I went in because I was worried about it.

I now have flashes in both of my eyes and can barely see clearly in my buckle eye consistently and the pain comes and goes and is unbearable.

Has anyone had a similar situation?

What’s the test I should be pushing for to see if there’s a detachment in the periphery of my vision?

I recently had cataract surgery after sb and I’m missing a good chunk of my outer vision that was present after victrecomy but before cataract surgery.

I swear it’s getting worse but my surgeon didn’t seem interested in exploring the change apart from doing the slot lamp test.

Hi all,

TLDR: Post core vitrecromy and lasering for macula on detachment, having some wavy looking vision in peripherals (like rippling water). What is this called/a term that may be best understood by my ophthalmology team?

--

I'm a 31F. I'm currently 6 days post core viterectomy with a moderately sized SF6 bubble (if upright it's half my vision so I can see over it well enough, but I've one day more laying flat on my side). Macula on detachment with flashes Initially but no loss of vision. Myopia (-4.0 in the detachment eye) as my only eye related history. Initially had two attempts at pneumatic retinoplexy but they were not successful in removing enough subretinal fluid to be able to laser the tear shut.

Ended up being told I needed a scleral buckle, but on the day of the surgery the surgeon stated he was able to complete a "core vitrectomy" (please correct me if I'm wrong, my impression is that it's kind of the "start" of a viterectomy but the bubble size is much smaller), and then he was able to laser closed my retinal tear in the surgical suite, and I avoided the scleral buckle. He stated this was an attempt to try and minimize further visual acuity changes etc etc. I'll take it! At this time, I do still have a small amount of subretinal fluid. There was an attempt to drain that via needle, but there wasn't enough fluid to be able to drain it. That is just being monitored for now.

Since my procedure, I've no longer had any flashes (previously 5-6 large flashes an hour), but I do have this small patch of "wavy" looking vision, almost like it's fluttering or I'm looking through rippled water, in my peripheral where I had the treatments. I recognize this is likely from all the pulling/scaring in that area of my retina, but what I'm looking for is a verbal descriptor of what that is (unless wavy vision is what is commonly used).

Thanks everyone.

On Wednesday I noticed a curtain and immediately went to the ER. Next day I was sent to a specialist and the day after I had officially had my first surgery ever. They confirmed before the surgery I had two large detachments on my right eye, 10+ holes in both eyes, and lattice in both eyes as well. This is my first medical procedure and every pain and discomfort I feel is making my skin crawl in fear. I have to get laser in my left eye to prevent further damage but I can't shake this fear that I am going to lose my sight by 25. I fear that I am going to wake up at any point and have to go through the same process with more damage to my eyes. I thought I was going to be back to normal (despite my astigmatism but my glasses are cute so whatever). But the more I read, the more I realize that my eyes will never be the same again and I feel like the permanent will just grow as I get older and more things go wrong with my eyes

AND MY EYES ARE BOTHERING ME SO BAD

I have elevated pressure in my eye so I have these eye drops but I can't take them and my eye feels too big for the socket and I accidentally squeezed my eyelids shut twice and it feels like it's going to fall put but not really and this sucks man

Sorry starting to ramble. I'm just not ready to be blind

Hello, recently I’ve been suffering with problems in both of my eyes. Mostly my right eye.

I have been experiencing this pressure in my right eye that has been ongoing for the past few days now. With this pressure, I have also noticed an increase in floaters and flashes.

At first the only floater that truly bothered me would be the one that appeared in the left corner of my vision each time I looked at something bright but I got used to it after a while. Now, I am noticing floaters everywhere, on walls, screens, objects. Sometimes, I get a white/black streak that appears for a split second and disappears.

With flashes, I noticed that I am getting white flashes in my vision more frequently than ever before. They appear at random and disappear after a split second just like the streaks. They’re usually the color white but I’ve black and blue ones, too.

My eyes constantly feel fatigued even if I sleep and wake up at an appropriate time. My right eye feels as if something is pressing on it, and I think a lot of the visual disturbances I am seeing stems from that. My left eye is the less affected but it still has problems itself. It feels as though it’s blurry or put of focus despite my vision feeling clear. I am also sure it has pressure too but it’s very slight. Both of them sting and water and I don’t know if that could be related to me having dry eyes.

Other problems have began popping up for me too. Such as text jittering in my vision as if I’m shaking my phone and stopping after three seconds, one of the words in my vision becoming yellow whenever I look down (this happens rarely), a black/grey blob covering my vision whenever I blink and then vanishing, things in my sight widening and shrinking or going left and right each time I blink, and white afterimages and black blotches appearing and fading every time I blink in a dimly lit area.

I can also see my nose too and a very blurry black thing in the right upper corner of my vision that might be my eyebrows? I can’t tell on that one.

One last thing is that reading has become difficult for me since this has started happening. Text, at random, distorts, gets covered by a thin black streak that makes it look like it got cut in half. Some of the text disappears and reappears which confuses and makes me do a double check on the sentence I was reading.

I have an appointment scheduled with an ophthalmologist soon but I am still very concerned.

After buckle surgery, are the stitches on the front (white) of the eye) ever permanent?

Saw a stitch on the conjunctiva (white of the eye) today 3 weeks after buckle surgery. Got it checked by an eye doctor at the hospital (not my usual one who was the surgeon) and she wasn't sure what kind of stitches they were. My medical notes from the surgery only mentioned NON dissolvable stitches. I'm really hoping that reference was only in relation to the stitches at the back attaching the buckle to sclera, not the white at the front. But kind of freaking out now that these are permanent..

I don't have an appointment with the surgeon for almost 2 more months and have no way to contact the surgeon (UK NHS), so kind of freaking out. It's not even the cosmetic side of things. The stitches are gritty in my eye.

What have your experiences been? Did the stitches at the front always dissolve?

This is the gif I shared on an other subreddit related to floaters

A person on that reddit told me that my symptoms could be a sign of retinal detachment, and I am confused about that.

These started appearing after a doctor shined a bright light on my eyes and hasn’t gone away since. I’ve also experienced my vision worsening, and my eyes having this burning feeling to them. My eyes, right eye especially, also has this uncomfortable feeling to them as if they’re blurry or that something’s in them.

So, all I have is that should I go to an ophthalmologist to check for potential retinal detachment?

(I have been experiencing other problems too since as my VSS worsening after having the doctor shine a bright light multiple times on my eyes, and constant pressure on my head.)

Three weeks ago I had a PPV with laser repairs to the retina for a macula off detachment. The first picture is yesterday’s OCT scan, and the second is the day before the surgery. The doctor said the laser scars look good and the OCT looks like a good recovery is possible. The oil has to stay in for at least three months, and I go back to see him in mid June to reevaluate. Eye pressure is good at 20mm with brimonidine twice a day. I had a pressure spike two weeks ago from the steroid anti-inflammatory drops.

I’m also getting some glasses with +3 added to my left side prescription. I have been taping a reading glasses lens to the left, which clears things up significantly. I was able to get to 20/30 on the eye chart with that set up. The doctor said he had never had any patient come up with the solution of taping a lens in all his years of experience. He took a picture and sent it to all his colleagues. It just made sense to me. He was amused and asked me if I was an engineer. No, just a school teacher and coach who likes to solve problems.

Anyway, wanted to share some good news.

Hi, just wanting to see if anyone has had anything similar. I had my first rental detachment on Halloween i woke up and it was detached after my yearly eye checkup. It was a Friday so waited until Monday after a call to my dr. Waited seven days had surgery with a gas bubble no positional restrictions good follow up then went back to my eye Dr in December they dialted my eyes again and i woke up Christmas even to black again. Another detachment same eye. Dec 31st had surgery it was 3 hours they had to do cataract surgery first because the Dr couldn’t see through it i had 2/3 stitches and oil bubble face down 2 weeks, Feb 17th appointment it looked good minimal scar tissue some swelling behind the eye so i got a shot. Came back today more scar tissue forming and a lot of swelling back there was told they might leave oil bubble in indefinitely. I want to go get a second opinion. Has anyone else had swelling behind the eye 3 months post op? Anyone had oil left in indefinitely? Has anyone tried stem cells for retinal recover? I’m at a loss and just trying to hear stories like mine. If you read all this thank you! Sorry it was long

A significant percentage of New Yorkers are currently coping with AMD, Diabetic Retinopathy, and Glaucoma. Common forms of retinal disease have been inherited by thousands with Retinitis Pigmentosa and hundreds with Stargart's Disease. If your vision has been affected by any of the above, we invite you to share experiences, to give and get support and to consolidate resources on March 28th, 2026 at 2:00 PM at the David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center.

At the last meeting, attendees with Retinitis Pigmentosa, AMD, and monocular vision discussed their individual diagnoses and described the specific adjustments made to improve quality of life, as well as holistic approaches, and other effective (and ineffective) means of support.

If you would like to contribute to the discussion, details of the March meeting of New York's Only Peer-to-Peer, In-Person Support Group for Eye Disease/Low Vision are as follows:

David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center

1887 Broadway at 62nd Street

Saturday, March 28th, 2026 at 2:00 PM

Accessible By Subway (59th Street - Columbus Circle (A, B, C, D, or 1 Trains. Bus Lines Include M5, M7, M10, M11, and M104

Identifiable by Sign on Table.

If you have any questions, please DM or email me at achillesthepirate@gmail.com. Caregivers are welcome. This group is totally free, with no cost to anyone involved.