White flickering light after laser for retinal tear
Posted , 76 users are following.
I posted on here a few weeks ago about a black/gray spot I kept seeing after the retinal tear laser surgery. I saw on the doctor's notes it was the photocoagulation. I also saw that I have lattice degeneration which I'm assuming contributed to the tear. I am not seeing the black spot so much anymore, unless I blink or change rooms with different lightings, but now in its place I am constantly seeing a flashing light that looks white especially in dim lighting. It extends to the side of my eye as well, which I'm assuming is from where the laser was also done. I went to the retinal specialist and said everything looked fine and this could be a side effect of the laser and it generally goes away within a couple months. I'm just wondering if anyone else has experienced this with the laser and if it went away? this has been very disorienting for me and I have been fearing losing my peripheral vision. I'm not sure if I am actually losing peripheral vision or if it just feels that way since I have this constant flickering now on the side. I know it's better to be safe than sorry, but a part of me wishes I never did this laser bc its been causing so many issues for me and supposedly the tear had scar tissue from healing itself. If anyone has had any experience with this and would like to share I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.
4 likes, 186 replies
amer67202 rose912910
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Hi All,
it is good to share info. I had laser treatment to fix a tear in my retina and having the same symptoms of shimmering/flickering light where the laser is done . It is scary and happened after 3 weeks after treatment. I don't know if it will go away by itself with time can you please advice ,,,,,,
cheers
ali
rose912910 amer67202
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aqsa05947 rose912910
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how frequent did you see flashes? i had my laser a week ago and im currently seeing flashes after every 15 minutes if I move if i don't move they stop too.
mar15908 rose912910
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I really appreciate your help, believe me, you are helping to a lot of patients with this symtoms.
rose912910 mar15908
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mar15908 rose912910
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joe74416 rose912910
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anne47267 joe74416
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hollyvm428 mar15908
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how are you doing ? Dan Crenshaw, Texas representative, has undergone so many surgerys After being blown up in Afghanistan. I came across his book and he talked about his detached retina and I’ve been keeping up with his most recent surgery. His outlook and his positivity has helped me with my minor issue of retinal tear with laser surgery.
I have faith and I pray and I believe that things will get better as I do hope they do for you too. keep consulting A good ophthalmologist
bernard11330 rose912910
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Posted 4 minutes ago
My retinal detachment was caused by eye trauma from car accident, optical services and more specifically retina specialists are very rare in Kenya and Africa, after the trauma my left eye was covered 70% by a big bloody floater, on first hospital visit the inexperienced doctor saw nothing wrong he offered to give me some eye drops but i insisted my eye is more serious i needed further examination. I went to a different which was recommended to me by some friends, at the hospital and found a retina specialist who after examination prescribed me with some drugs and reassured me after some time the floaters will clear. I was dissatisfied and went to the internet to search for answers, i found out that the floater was due to retinal tear and i may develop retinal detachment. When i woke up the following day i saw a black curtain covering 20% of the lower part of my eye, i got very depressed, i rushed to the same retina specialist and after examination he told me i had developed retinal detachment and i needed urgent surgery the cost was 2000 US Dollars. Since i am a police officer i am covered by government sponsored insurance but it took 2 weeks to approve my case because of corruption and the doctor could not do the vitrectomy without the approval, by then my eye was 80% covered by the black curtain. I had the surgery which took about 3 hours, since they use old equipment in the hospital i had be sutured and i went through a lot of pain for one week after the surgery. Since i had a gas bubble put in my eye it took 6 weeks for the gas to disappear then i started gaining some sight but my acuity was 20/80, the vision continued improving but i could not read with the eye alone because even when letters are visible but they are distorted, wavy and collapsing at the middle. Vision continued improving but the distortion and waviness not changing. 1 Month ago my vision started getting worse things looks blurry and also vision had black small curtain at the lower part of the eye but i see it only when i look up, i also saw infrequent light flashes. I went back to my doctor and he told me the retina is doing well but still weak, he also told me i had started developing cataract which is normal after injury, he said he has to do laser treatment to strengthen the retina. I had laser photo coagulation 2 weeks ago, since then nothing has changed but the light flashes are becoming more frequent which move around from my far right side of the vision. He said i will go back to see him after one Month to evaluate the progress and determine whether to do cataract surgery. The eye is almost useless due poor vision distortion and waviness when reading, it also important to note i have never been given any eye glasses to use which i keep thinking might help to improve the situation
rita5155 rose912910
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Hi guys,
I just did my laser surgery for a retinal tear 3 weeks ago. I'm from Singapore.
I woke up 1 morning with large black floaters in my right eye. I quickly went to the hospital and was told my floaters are blood clots that seeped into my eye cavity due to a retina tear. I did the laser surgery immediately to seal the tear.
One thing my doc told me to do to expedite the clearing of floaters is by sleeping at 45° every night as gravity is the only thing that can help bring the floaters down.I have been doing so since my surgery and i must say my floaters have slowly dissipated. It is uncomfortable but worth a try
. I hope this infor might help some of you. I now see flashes of light by the side of my eye too so am going to drop by the doc later to do a checkup.
ham62338 rose912910
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I have undergone a laser for an asymptomatic retinal tear in my left eye after a prevention check, the surgeon treated my two eyes. After the laser treatment, i have all the symptoms that you are describing. In addition, i developed a Cataract after the Laser, and i suspect that is related to it, since i have only 27 !!! Any other similar case ?
terrence_11664 rose912910
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TiffanyNOLA terrence_11664
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dana35538 rose912910
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hi, has anyone on here have had improvement with the shimmering flickering white area in their peripheral vision after their surgery? has anyones dr been able to tell them what this is? thank you
TiffanyNOLA dana35538
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my shimmering/flickering got better after a year or so. I still see it but not as much. its very pronounced when i close my eyes, squint, read, or walk into a dark room. i am getting lattice in my other eye lasered next month and i am so anxious.
dana35538 TiffanyNOLA
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thank you tiffany for replying im so sorry you have to have another surgery, i will keep you in my prayers! happy to hear though the flickering has somewhat improved has your doctor been able to tell you what caused the flickering? ive searched the internet and cant find any answers this is the only message board ive found so i guess it isnt common at all to have what we are going through
TiffanyNOLA dana35538
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Thanks Dana, I am anxious about this next surgery. My doctor did not say it word for word but my understanding is that the flickering is a a side effect of the scarring caused by the laser. One doctor mentioned it is likely the traction caused by the scarring which is interpreted as light.
dana35538 TiffanyNOLA
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i guess it could be the traction thats causing the flickering if it didnt flicker i think i could cope with it better hopefully in time it just gets better im thankful i found this board because i know there are other people who are going through the same exact thing. you are in my prayers for a successful surgery! please post an update if you can thank you
caitlin58672 dana35538
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Hi dana, must not be common at all because this is the only board I can find on it also. I had my laser retinoplexy done for a horseshoe tear on my left eye last week. They said it was old and had some pigment around it already. I really do regret having the procedure done but they made me feel like I had no other options. Anyway, I am experiencing tons of flickering in my left peripheral vision. I certainly hope someone has some good news soon 😦
dana35538 caitlin58672
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caitlyn, i am so sorry you are going through this too im going on 4 months now i feel like in different lighting it becomes brighter like when i come inside from the outside do you feel like it becomes brighter too when you change lighting? its pretty awful i was really depressed at first because its hard to cope with but my spirits are getting better as im just getting more used to it being there im so sorry and i will keep you in my prayers please keep in touch and let me know if you get any improvement
mar15908 caitlin58672
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Hi, Caitlin, the symptoms will disappear; I had the same flickering symptoms after applying laser; it was a year ago, currently it symptoms disappear a 95%. I hope you get better soon.
dana35538 mar15908
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hi mar, how long did it take after surgery for those flickering lights to start to fade? thank you
mar15908 dana35538
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Hi, Dana; after 10 months I improve; however after 12 months I improve more than 95%; now I have sporadic flickering and most of the time I do not remember it.
Mi surgery was for retinal tear and 360 laser were applied on all sides of my retinal; I asked about my flickering symptoms more than 3 doctors and nobody told me how long would it disappear; afther 3 months one doctor told me that it would disappear in about 10-12 months, I was happy with that news; and now I can say for sure that it disappear; It was a difficult year however I am happy because right now the flickering disappeared.
dana35538 mar15908
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i am so happy for you that yours is practically gone!! yours is the first post that is actually bringing me hope. was your dr able to tell you definately what caused the flickering?
mar15908 dana35538
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Hi, Dana; Nobody could tell me what was the cause of Flickering; most of the time the Doctors reacted as it were a strange symptom.
After review this patient-blog last year, I understood that there were many cases as mine.
dana35538 mar15908
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thank you mar, since yours is gone, i have hope that mine will go away too
mar15908 dana35538
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Hi; Dana; sure I thing that yours also will go away too; be patient and optimistic. Good luck.
caitlin58672 TiffanyNOLA
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curious if anyone has had terrible tension migraines and light sensitivity also?
caitlin58672
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just checking in again. its been over 6 months now and still have a terrible headache from the laser. anyone else? my flickering has improved though not gone
katherine73943 caitlin58672
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I also have a flickering/shimmering in my peripheral vision where my laser procedure was done. I've been assuming it's the laser scar they gave me in order to barricade my detachment. I didn't know it would be quite so visible. Like everyone else here, mine in dark in bright light and then bright when I come into darker light, like when I come inside or pass through a shadow while driving. It usually is just shimmery. I'm having a really hard time getting used to it, even 2 years later, and reading is especially difficult.
hollyvm428 dana35538
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what is your outcome now after 2 years? i just happened on this site when i "asked" siri about a dark circle spot in my periphial vision about 11:00 in my left eye.
This happened 7 months after laser treatment surgery. UGH!
anybody experienced this?
The flashes in my eye after being outside have somewhat subcided, but there always seems to be something strange since the tear and treatment--but i CAN see!!