Don’t Ignore Flashing Lights in Your Eyes

This past week, I have been dealing with a semi age-related issue, but it’s important, so I thought I would share.

On Tuesday, I started seeing flashes in the periphery of my vision.  I thought they were the onset of a migraine, which I have had happen before, but by evening the flashes were near constant, and I called an eye specialist and spoke with an after hours ophthalmologist.

Turns out I was having a Posterior Vitreous Detachment, where the goo in your eye separates from the back of the eye.  This is Very Common and is age related.  But they suggested I get my vision checked and my retina scanned for any problems. JUST IN CASE.

The next day, I woke up with a new “Floater” in my vision.  I have always had them.  This one was different.  It was HUGE.  As I drove to the eye doctor,  little black spots started to appear.  Once in the chair, the Dr tells me my retina has been torn during the detachment, and I need laser surgery to seal the hole.  If I had ignored the signs, it would have led to a retina detachment, which is much more involved surgery!

I had the laser surgery the next day, and it was as quick and totally painless!  In fact, nothing in the whole thing ever hurt, I never had any pain at all.  The floater is annoying, but doesn’t hurt.

They tell me the floater will eventually dissipate, which I am glad, because this is what my vision looks like right now:

Please don’t ignore the warning signs!