Terrified of retinal tear or detachment

[Jordan85]

Hey there,

Earlier this year I had concerns about ghosted vision in my eyes and during a bout of Googling I read about retinal detachment and that floaters were a key sign of this happening.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about the floaters I've had for over 20 years now, they seem to take different stringy shapes and arrangements on a daily basis. Yesterday I thought I noticed a flash in my peripheral vision and worried I was experiencing a tear or detachment.

I've had no deterioration in my vision, no curtain effect, no increase in floaters (that I can notice anyway) and that flash was the only occurrence. I'm fed up of worrying about my eyes, it seems when I get over one thing another thing comes along.

Today I felt like I had an eyelash in my eye and noticed what looked like one near my iris - I tried and tried to remove it but couldn't even get it to budge. THEN I worried this was another sign that something is wrong.

Please help.

[.Poppy.]

Do you get regular eye exams? They can tell you that your eyes are healthy as well as answer any questions you may have.

Floaters are very common - I get them all the time! I get "ghosted" vision type stuff too; it's worse the more you notice it.

I just had an eye exam a couple of weeks ago and my eyes are perfectly healthy!

For what it's worth, though, my father had retinal detachment. I'm not sure what his symptoms were but they were able to fix it completely and he's all back to normal now.

[Jordan85]

Thanks for your response!

I got one two weeks ago actually and they said my retinas looked healthy although this was before I saw that flash yesterday :( I hope I'm just overreacting. I've developed an eyelid twitch in the affected eye today and noticed a dark vein near my iris - not sure if it's always been there or just me being anxious.

Your comment has really reassured me particularly about the ghost of - it is most definitely worse when I notice and pay attention to it.

[Mugs]

Flashes are normal, just old blood vessels being replaced with new ones.
Not to worry.

[Jordan85]

Phew, thanks for your response Mugs! I'm calming down now, I'm just worried about this new vein which has appeared close to my iris seemingly today. It's always something :(

[countrygirl]

I'm the member with severe sight problems who has had a lifetime of having dangerous sight symptoms drummed into me!

As has been said , everyone has floaters they are debris in the eye. The more short sighted you are the more you notice them and they can flash as well:)

If your retinas were healthy a few weeks ago then they will still be healthy.

It's well known that once you notice something in your eyes then your brain latches on to it and you notice it more.

I can tell you what red flag symptoms are if you want to pm me for furure reference but you def do not have any now.