# bright flashes before my eyes

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bright-flashes-before-my-eyes/101334>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 2, 2002, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bright-flashes-before-my-eyes/101334 "2002-04-02T04:08:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bright-flashes-before-my-eyes/101334/1 "2002-04-02T04:08:27Z")

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at least once a day I see a very brief bright flash before my eyes. It happens just as I’m blinking, this has been happening for about 2mo now. Is this something I should worry about?

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**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bright-flashes-before-my-eyes/101334/2 "2002-04-02T04:14:24Z")

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Those bright flashes could mean eye disease. Flashes are a symptom of retinal detatchment. They could also be benign. Hie thee to an opthalmologist

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**Author:** ![jsleek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8dc957/32.png) [@jsleek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsleek)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bright-flashes-before-my-eyes/101334/3 "2002-04-02T04:26:38Z")

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choosybeggar speaks the truth. If you go to an optohomologist and say you see light flashes, you will get immediate attention.

No jive. A retinal detatchment is an emergency.

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**Author:** ![Buck\_The\_Diver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Buck\_The\_Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_The_Diver)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bright-flashes-before-my-eyes/101334/4 "2002-04-02T04:33:35Z")

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(1) avoid the papparazi  
(2) stop looking for sunspots  
(3) listen to **choosybeggar**

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**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bright-flashes-before-my-eyes/101334/5 "2002-04-02T06:16:54Z")

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I second (fourth?) the recommendation to see a doctor ASAP. As I understand, retinal detachment is usually easy to treat in its early stages (painless laser surgery, I believe). If you leave it alone you may start losing large chunks of your field of view, and then you need “real” surgery. My father went through it a few years ago - it involved sticking a needle in the middle of your eye. And that’s just the anesthetic injection.

Near-sighted people are at high risk of retinal detachment. Already I’ve been told my retina is stretched pretty thin, and I need to get annual checkups.

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**Author:** ![Tony\_Montana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/278dde/32.png) [@Tony\_Montana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tony_Montana)\
**Post date:** [April 2, 2002, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bright-flashes-before-my-eyes/101334/6 "2002-04-02T07:00:23Z")

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ok so now I’m worried, thanx for the responses. I’ll be making an app first thing tomorrow.

```
....Regards, Regards,
Regards, TM
```