Flashes & Floaters

Flashes and Floaters are symptoms experienced by many people. Flashes are experienced as a lighting streak, originating within the eye, in the field of vision. Flashes are most often noticed at night or in a dark room. Floaters are perceived as freely mobile single or multiple black spots in the line of vision. Majority of times these flashes and floaters are harmless. However, these may also point towards more serious conditions of retina like retinal breaks, retinal detachment, vitreous hemorrhage etc., which if not treated promptly, may lead to severe loss of vision. Hence it is important not to ignore these symptoms and get a detailed retinal checkup to prevent serious complications.

What causes Flashes and Floaters?

The interior portion of the human eye is filled with a gelatinous substance called vitreous. With time, the vitreous gel liquefies and eventually pulls away or separates from the back of the eye where it is attached to the retina. This process is called Posterior Vitreous Detachment (PVD) and is a normal event occurring in most people somewhere between the ages of 40-70 years.

During this separation of PVD, the pull on the retina is perceived by some people as a Flash of light. These may occur anywhere in the field of vision. If the gel is abnormally adherent to the retina, or the retina is weak in a certain area, a retinal tear can occur. Once a retinal tear develops there is a significant risk of the liquid vitreous going through the break and causing retinal detachment.

Any opacity in the vitreous, which comes in the line of vision is perceived as Floaters. Even normal vitreous may contain some opacities which are perceived as floaters. During PVD, the debris generated in the vitreous may lead to sudden increase in floaters. Also sometimes, during the separation a blood vessel of the retina may rupture with or without retinal tear and can cause vitreous hemorrhage (bleeding in the vitreous) which is perceived as shower of floaters. Large hemorrhages can cause large dark blobs in the visual field or an overall decrease in vision. Please call 303-840-6268 for your yearly eye exam.

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