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
tom1966 rose912910
Posted
On the tapatalk Degenerative Vitreous site, there are posters who've also experienced the flashing/shimmering in their peripheral vision after lasering of the retina. For most, it seems the symptoms seem to subside after approximately one year. One individual's symptoms took two-and-a-half years to subside; another still has the shimmering after six years. In my case, it's been one-and-a-half years. The shimmering is worst for me under flourescent lighting.
chiccolite tom1966
Posted
Thank you , Tom. I'm very glad to hear that most improve after about a year--this has been an enormous help after reading it a few hours ago. I sincerely hope you, the six-year case, and everyone here improves soon as well.
clayton19233 tom1966
Posted
Tom
i know florescents are bad for me as well and they are everywhere it seems. Im an accountant and i dont know how ill be able to go back into an office setting. Also, can you provide the website you are referring to TOM - and im sorry you issues persist 😦
Those are great questions for Mar Chiccolite.
Has anyone considered a podcast so that we can speak ?
tom1966 clayton19233
Posted
Clayton,
Search under "shimmering." There are quite a few posters who've undergone vitrectomies and had the prophylactic 360 degree lasering of the retina. Many complained of shimmering that eventually subsided.
I've moved my desk so that I see a bookshelf in the periphery of my affected eye. The uneven pattern seems to help reduce the effects of the shimmering, even under the annoying flourescent lighting in my office. Some days I mentally cope with it better than others.
Good luck!
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clayton19233 tom1966
Posted
Tom
thank you for your reply. did people undergo the vitrectomies in order to get rid of the shimmering?
This whole thing has made me feel so angry and helpless / hopeless. So some days im better than others mentally. i wish the Drs knew how devastating it is for us especially if the procedure wasn't needed or the extent they lasered.
tom1966 clayton19233
Posted
No, the people underwent vitrectomies to remove burdensome floaters. Some of them, especially if the vitrectomies were done in Europe, it seems, had 360 degree lasering of the retina.
julie34948 rose912910
Posted
Hi, I am new to this forum so not sure how it works. 3 days ago I had laser treatment for a tiny retinal tear that needed two doctors opinions to validate it as a tear. I had gone to the opthamology dept because of flashing lights in my peripheral vision, I have had floaters for years in my right eye but the flashing was new. I have to return in 2 weeks to check the scar tissue has formed correctly. l still have the floaters and the odd teeny tiny sparkle,I just can't decide if I am even imagining it.
my vision is still fine and I can see the periphery of the room with each eye when I shut the other one. Checking info on the net and it seems that continued floaters and sparkles is normal after laser work ?
I am so scared,can anyone reassure me please ?
clayton19233 julie34948
Posted
Julie
i dont think its normal but the opthamologists will likely brush you off and tell you that "it should go away". ?The problem is that i wasnt warned this could happen from i thought was a preventative treatment.
Its been six months and my flashers are still present. However read this sits as some have had their symptoms go away - and no you are not imagining it.
tom1966 julie34948
Posted
Julie,
I had some of those small sparkles that either suddenly appeared in my vision and just as suddenly disappeared or moved across my vision like tiny raindrops. They went away after awhile. It seems that in almost all cases the shimmering does as well.
julie34948 tom1966
Posted
Thanks for your reply tom1966,my sparkles are just at the very outside of my vision,they remind me of the dots of light when you're tested for your peripheral eyesight. I have some intermittent shimmering too. I hope it does go away and soon. Take care.
julie34948 clayton19233
Posted
Thanks for your reply clayton192. I wasn't told what to expect either, just no heavy lifting or exercise. All the information I have is what I have found for myself on the internet and some of it is very scary and it's hard to decide what applies to your own situation. I hope your situation improves soon.
qwerty26685 rose912910
Posted
ive had the same symptoms after laser of a tear. its been a month now. i was so scared that it had other underlying causes. i do have an apointment at a neurologist to confirm this, especially because when i close my eyes; i still see the shimmering spot in the paracentral view of my eye. its also near my nose area. im wondering why my doctors dont recognize this symptoms. ive been like 5 times to check my retina.
im wondering if there are more people with these symptoms.
christelscott rose912910
Posted
Hi everyone. I'm impaired to work due to this problem. In my case, the peripheral visual phenomena occurred at the beginning of June, that is, 3 and a half months after the silicone oil was removed from my eye. In the same act, the doctor gave me endolaser 360. From that date until now, I see flickering, and the feeling of having a fan turned on in the lower quadrant, from my perspective. The phenomenon is activated by daylight or electric light, not in the dark. If I walk or move, it seems to get unnoticed. If I close my eyes, however, it remains like bubbles of light on the periphery for a while. But I also see kinda "heat waves" or "smoke" rising from the lower quadrant, the latter because there is still a lot of residual and emulsified silicone oil, I guess, and they move as currents of microscopic bubbles of the oil inside the eye. Does anyone else feel the latter? The phenomenon has dropped slightly since then but it is not gone. I have visited many doctors and it is the same ritual: vascular? tumor? neuronal? In the end they say the retina is perfect and they don't know what it is. One of the best retinologists in Europe told me that in his 30-year career he had not seen such a case, which obviously left me more terrified. The condescension and lack of understanding of many doctors ("don't pay attention to it") only increases discouragement. The biggest panic this causes is to stay with this for the rest of life. Only one doctor told me it could be traction or responses to laser scarring in the peripheral retina like chiccolite said. Even though it is not confirmed. It really is an absolute shame that there is not a single paragraph about it in any medical literature and that this is the only space I've found to talk about this topic (I have found it after months of searching and searching about it). One can read about these visual phenomena but associated with a specific disease of the retina, something ruled out by doctors.
dana35538 christelscott
Posted
hi, i am so sorry you are going through this too my surgery was in january and i was out of work for 3 months trying to cope with my new vision i can say now that im
9 months out my brain has adjusted to it being there so im not as bothered by it anymore when i change lighting it becomes more noticable at first but then seems to adjust to the lighting im in i also couldnt get any answers to what causes it from my doctor the only thing he would say is the scar and retina look good and to be grateful for that which i am
clayton19233 dana35538
Posted
Dana
Do you have the flashers that persist and are caused by light to dark scenarios and florescents?
You said its been 9 months - has it improved at all or just stayed the same?
clayton19233 christelscott
Posted
I too am sorry you are going through this - and sadly the profession that did this to you denies anything is wrong. I'm glad we have each other to communicate with so that we know that we are not alone.
dana35538 clayton19233
Posted
my flashes are in my lower right perpherial. it is like a white flickering spinning light, kind of like a ceiling fan shadow. mine has not gone away, but, my brain has adjusted to it being there so it doesn't bother me anymore. its there no matter what lightening im in, but, different kinds of light does make it more noticable. the brain does eventually adjust to it being there but it does take time.