flash of Light in Right Eye When I Blink

Found this on a medical site. 

 

 

What Are Flashing Lights?

When flashing lights occur you may think that you see lights going on and off, especially to one side. These tend to happen in only one eye at a time, even when your eye is closed.

What Causes Flashing Lights?

The vitreous sometimes pulls on the retina. This may cause you to see flashing lights or lightning streaks, even though there aren't any such lights present. This is the same thing that occurs when you get hit in the eye and "see stars" or when you rub your eye. When the vitreous separates from the retina, you may see flashing lights once in a while, for a few weeks.

If you see jagged lines of light that last 10 to 20 minutes and happen in one or both eyes, this is probably a migraine caused by the spasm of blood vessels in the brain. If you develop a headache after, it is called a "migraine headache." If you don't develop a headache after, the light flashes are called "ophthalmic migraine," or "migraine without headache.

How Do I Know If The Flashing Lights Are Signs Of A Problem?

Most of the time the vitreous separates from the retina without causing any symptoms. Sometimes, however, there is a sudden occurrence of flashing lights with many new floaters or even with a blacking out of part of the field of vision. If this happens, you should see your ophthalmologist right away to find out if you have a retinal tear or retinal detachment

If There Is A Problem, What Treatment Will I Need?

Retinal tears require treatment to prevent the retina from detaching. Retinal detachment is a serious problem that often requires surgery.

© Copyright by the Canadian Ophthalmological Society

Hey, your symptoms are exactly the same as mine. Can I get an update on how your vision is doing? I have advanced glaucoma in my left eye and now this problem in my right one. As you can expect I am freaking out, Thanks in advance.

Hi,

In some ways I was reassured to read the postings on this site.

When I blink I get a circular image in my right eye that fades spontaneously. This eye feels strained and the vision not as acute as in my left eye, though the optician still confirms that I have 20:20 vision. When I am satressed it seems worse, so if there is some sort of psychological issue.... I don't know!

He implied that people do suffer with this and that I should not be concerned, but to get concrete peace of mind he has referred me to my GP and the Hospital to see and optometrist and undergo an appropriate scan.

I see it two but im 11 its on the top of my eye? And it's a straight white line! Im really scared, do you think i should see someone?

Hi,
What symptoms are particular to glaucoma?
My vision is 20:20 but the stress of my work causes such eye strain, which, if I relax goes away, as do the circular images when I blink.
I am referred to an eye specialist on the NHS.... soon I hope for a scan!
Sarah

Guys all the flashes of light.... I think its entoptic phenomena... As far as i know it is really common and normal.. Specially looking at the e bright light.. Just dont pay attention on them..or else they will drive you to nuts. ... Except when the flash looks like a lightning streak that is an emergency Cause of retinal tear y..the brain can ignore them if you don't look at them or paying attention to them for a week or even for a month.. .remember the brain is the problem not your eyes hahaha peace guys :)

Hi all, I thought I'd add my personal story here. I'm 42, female, no health problems, not overweight, no high blood pressure, migraines with visual aura about 2x year, nearsighted with floaters, on the computer many hours a day. About a week ago I started noticing a black flashing line in my right eye in the upper left field of vision when I blink. Only when I blink. And only in a well-lit place, never in the dark, and not every single time I blink, maybe 50% of the time I'd check.

I got freaked out enough that I went to the opthamologist yesterday. He ran a battery of tests: retinal scan, macular scan, dilation with thorough manual eye check. Everything came back normal. He said I definitely wasn't having a stroke and it wasn't coming from my brain. If it's coming from your brain it'll be in both eyes. I know that's on some of your minds with this, so just wanted to reassure you about that.

He suspected a vitreous gel problem, which is goo that attaches to the retina and then pulls and can cause the flashing, and sometimes worst case retinal detachment. But he didn't see a single thing and in fact said my eyes looked good. So I was deemed a "mystery case" and sent to a retinal specialist, which I will see this coming week.

So after a week I'm still seeing the flashes, but not all of the time, and now I'm more relaxed about it since I know it isn't an acute health issue. Won't be happy if it lingers for the rest of my life, but at least it's not dangerous.

Hope this helps some of you - will report back after retinal specialist if there's any new news.

 

Hi again everybody. I was the last poster (42, black flashing line in right eye upon blinking.) Wanted to follow up by saying that I went to see a retinal specialist last week, had my eyes dilated and checked again, and also a retinal scan with the latest and greatest eye scanner. Was again assured that it's not coming from my brain (would be in both eyes if that were the case.) He was a thoughtful doctor, meaning he asked a lot of questions to get to the bottom of it. After having a lot of light shined brightly into my eyeballs and a thorough check, he decided it was indeed a vitreous gel issue.

He said people who are nearsighted tend to get vitreous gel problems earlier than people who don't, and people who have severe nearsightedness get things like this even earlier. He suggested that things like this tend to flare when people are under stress, and that unless it became unbearable I would have to learn to live with it. He suggested that I was probably a "sensitive, meticulous individual" (the sensitive part is mostly true) and that's why I even noticed it in the first place.

So there might be an anxious/stress component for some of us. You'll have to decide whether or not that fits your personal bill.

He said more investigating would have to be done if the line upon blinking were fixed, like if it didn't move as I moved my eyeball. So if you're seeing something that stays fixed in one spot as you look around (like you're looking straight ahead, you see a dot in the middle, then you keep your head straight and raise your eye and it's still in the middle) then you should get it checked. And a black curtain falling over your vision is a reason to get checked too.

But this and what lots of you have sounds like nothing to worry about - not brain cancer, not retinal detachment, not going blind. Just natural aging of the gel in the eye.

Not one of these posts as far as I can see, mentions glaucoma. I have glaucoma and have a small area of sight loss (nerve damage in my left eye) which showed itself after I had a FIELD TEST. This nerve damaged area shows up on the field test print out and coincides with the area where I have instances of bright purple light which many posters also see. In my case ,the purple area is in the same place as my eye damage, Get field tested quickly.

And what are your exact symptoms? Is that purple area is present a very short time after you blink?

MAYBE THIS MIGHT HELP ALL OF YOU--I HAVE DIABETIC RETINOPOTHY, AND WHEN UNTREATED, WHEN I BLINK, I SEE IMAGES ON THE WALL, OR ON THE SIDEWALK, IN THE SHAPE OF THE ACTUAL "BLOTCH" OF BLOOD IN MY AFFECTED EYE. IT'S UNCANNY. ONCE I SAW IMAGES OF A DOG SHAPED BLOTCH, AND WHEN THE RETINA SPECIALIST ORDERED PICS, SURE ENOUGH I SAW A BLOTCH  OF BLOOD SHAPED LIKE A DOG IN MY RETINA.

RECENTLY, THE BLOTCH WAS SHAPED LIKE A TRIANGLE,  AND I SAW IMAGES OF A TRIANGLE WHEN I BLINKED.  MAYBE YOU GUYS SHOULD GET CHECKED OUT. I NEVER HAVE SEEN THE "LIGHT" FLASHS YOU HAVE DESCRIBED, THOUGH

that's a great band

i have the same problem-left eye, flash of lightning on left hand side uptop of eye.Went to optician, fullexam, nothing , went to A&E, blood sugar fine, but B.P. Thru the roof!!! extremely high. Had attack of fireworks in left eye before all this which has left me two black floaters and a cobweb. Such fun!!!!! Anything can trigger this phenonema, my trigger was eating alot of chocolate for some days before firework display in eye and doing hours of computer work and staying up to the small wee hours. I am sure its eye-strain and the aging process and hi b.p.does not help.love to you all , Jo

I have been reading and finally some people with the same issue. I can describe mine as being in the center of wherever I look. Its like if you were to stare at the sun for a minute and close your eyes. The spot is there every time I blink for the last 3 weeks. Its starting to freak me out a little. I feel like im going to have a beain anurism or something. Somebody has to know what this is out there. I recently sysrted taking prednisone and naproxen for my arm. I wonder if its a side effect.

What Causes Eye Flashes?

Ordinarily, light entering your eye stimulates the retina. This produces an electrical impulse, which the optic nerve transmits to the brain. The brain then interprets this impulse as light or some type of image.

If the retina is mechanically stimulated (physically touched), a similar electrical impulse is sent to the brain. This impulse is then interpreted as a "flicker" of light.

When the retina is tugged, torn or detached from the back of the eye, a flash or flicker of light commonly is noticed.