Eye floaters and flashes

[ThePhoenix]

I thought I would post this incase anyone else has the same thing.

I have seen flashes ever since I was a kid and it never really worried me but then lately I was seeing floaters which freaked me out because I didnt know anything about them, the stupid thing is I dont even know if they were always there or if one day I just decided to follow it around my eye and now I cant tune it out again!

I was reading they are more common in people with anxiety due to their hypersensitivity to everything. I am not super concerned about them anymore since I learned what they were and I went had my eyes checked anyway and they couldnt see anything too wrong although I have to have another check just to make sure.

Just wondering if anyone else had any experience with it and for everyone else, if you see them in your vision just forget about them. Its not worth the stress!

[LemmycautioN]

I've been through that before. I got my first floater about 8 years ago, but 2 years ago I looked up to the sky one day to see over a dozen floaters. I went to an ophthalmologist and like you, they didn't see anything wrong. They're no cause for alarm by themselves. If one floater is in your line of vision, just quickly look from side to side and the floaters will move, sometimes out of your line of vision.

[derwalrus]

Yeah floaters are pretty common. I have them pretty bad and my eye doctor confirmed it, but he also said that if I started seeing flashes of light that I should come in right away. Have you told the eye doctor about the flashes?

[niq]

I started seeing floaters a few months ago. I went to the optometrist. He couldn't find any floaters, but noticed some 'abnormalities' on my maculars. Not sure what that means yet. I've been referred on to a specialist, but still waiting for my appointment.

[ThePhoenix]

Yeah floaters are pretty common. I have them pretty bad and my eye doctor confirmed it, but he also said that if I started seeing flashes of light that I should come in right away. Have you told the eye doctor about the flashes?

Yeah I mentioned the flashes to them as well but I have seen them since I was like 7 so it never really worried me too much. They said to me its quite normal to see flashes and its only a concern if it happens for minutes rather than seconds.

[Southside]

I wouldn't worry to much about the flashes. They could also be an ocular migraine. I started getting weird flashes one day and immediately went to the doctor, I thought I was having a stroke. He told me it's an ocular migraine, which is pretty common. Sometimes they just happen, sometimes they are followed by a bad headache. He was right, about 1/2 hour later I got the mother of all migraines.