# Visual Snow **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 12, 2017, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visual-snow/786426 "2017-05-12T04:59:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AlienVessels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@AlienVessels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienVessels)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visual-snow/786426/1 "2017-05-12T04:59:59Z")
Anyone else here have this condition? [Visual snow syndrome - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_snow) ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visual-snow/786426/2 "2017-05-12T06:54:47Z")
I think everyone can see the effect described if they specifically look for it in the dark, or on a uniform white surface, but most people probably don’t actually notice it or give it a name. “Visual Snow” refers to the condition where this effect is intrusive and bothersome. It has never been clear to me what fraction of Visual Snow sufferers are just people who noticed this perfectly normal effect in their vision and became obsessed with it, versus people for whom the effect is actually stronger in intensity and more distracting. The first time I noticed it at night and really paid attention to it was pretty surprising. In a dark room, most of the features I see is what would be called “Visual Snow”. As far as I know this is completely normal. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2017, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visual-snow/786426/3 "2017-05-12T10:15:44Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > The first time I noticed it at night and really paid attention to it was pretty surprising. In a dark room, most of the features I see is what would be called “Visual Snow”. As far as I know this is completely normal. Yes, I think everyone gets it in low light. It’s basically the same effect you get when shooting on fast film or (nowadays) cranking up the ISO on a digital camera. The more you push the sensitivity by “dark adapting”, the more the noise dominates. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visual-snow/786426/4 "2017-05-13T13:31:27Z")
While I had Lyme disease the visual snow got really severe. I was trying to explain how it had changed while lying in bed looking at the dark ceiling and my wife had no idea what I was talking about it. We discussed the phenomenon at length and concluded she simply doesn’t see what I see. That was the first time it ever occurred to me that everybody didn’t see the same visual snow as me, and just ignore it. ---
**Author:** ![AlienVessels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@AlienVessels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlienVessels)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visual-snow/786426/5 "2017-05-16T02:03:38Z")
I guess what I was looking for were people who had some of the concurrent symptoms as wel, i.e. tinnitis etc. In most conditions there’s a spectrum. Although I’ve been talking to eye doctors and researchers in the visual field for about 35 years and it’s always been attributed to floaters or the like. Apparently it is starting to be recognized but it’s not a “thing” yet. > **[Visual Snow: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment (2022)](https://axonoptics.com/blogs/post/visual-snow-guide)** > > Visual snow is a rare condition that causes a person to see static or snow in their vision field. Learn about visual snow, treatment, symptoms, and more. > **[Accelerating a cure for Visual Snow Syndrome](https://www.eyeonvision.org/index.html)** > > Raising Awareness, > ​Providing Support, Collaborating with Researchers > & Searching for > a Cure for Visual > ​Snow Syndrome, and its related symptoms. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [May 16, 2017, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visual-snow/786426/6 "2017-05-16T11:31:25Z")
> [@AlienVessels](#): > > I guess what I was looking for were people who had some of the concurrent symptoms as wel, i.e. tinnitis etc. > > In most conditions there’s a spectrum. > > Although I’ve been talking to eye doctors and researchers in the visual field for about 35 years and it’s always been attributed to floaters or the like. > > Apparently it is starting to be recognized but it’s not a “thing” yet. > > [https://www.axonoptics.com/2017/03/visual-snow-guide/](https://www.axonoptics.com/2017/03/visual-snow-guide/) > > [Eye on Vision Foundation - Accelerating a cure for Visual Snow Syndrome](http://www.eyeonvision.org/visual-snow.html) For about a year after I had Lyme disease I had much more noticeable visual snow, photophobia (initially very severe, then after a few months just light sensitivity), Palinopsia (after images and visual trailing), and some photopsia. I’ve never had migraines or MS or a brain injury, But I have done plenty of hallucinogenic drugs. That said I distinctly remember the visual snow as a youth long before I tried drugs. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2017, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/visual-snow/786426/7 "2017-05-17T07:21:55Z")
I see it in just the right light. It has to be quite dim, but enough that I can still see vague shades of gray. It makes things appear to flicker. I encounter it when I go to bed in a nearly dark room. I haven’t seen it in a while, as I generally sleep with a night light. Not out of fear of the dark, but because I find it disorienting to wake up in darkness, and I tend to wake up a couple times in the night.