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May 30, 2023 · Seeing stars happens when pressure is applied to your eye while your eyes are closed. Illusions of bright light, sparks, or various colors may appear. Seeing stars is common and is included as a ...
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- Overview
- Why you’re seeing stars in your vision
- Flashes and floaters as symptoms
- Risk factors for seeing stars in your vision
- What to expect when visiting your doctor
- Treatment
- Outlook
- The takeaway
If you’ve ever been hit on your head and “seen stars,” those lights weren’t in your imagination.
Streaks or specks of light in your vision are described as flashes. They can happen when you bang your head or get hit in the eye. They can also appear in your vision because your retina is being pulled by the gel in your eyeball.
There are several causes of seeing stars in your vision. One is the result of a blow to your head. This type of injury can scatter nerve signals in your brain and affect your vision temporarily.
Something else may be happening inside the eye besides injury. When you see stars inside the eye, you may be experiencing what’s called an entoptic phenomenon. There are various causes for these visual events.
In some cases, pregnant women may experience an increased number of floaters, possibly due to high blood pressure or elevated glucose levels. Floaters are tiny, cloudy spots that seem to drift in and out of your field of vision. They’re actually little clumps of vitreous gel floating inside your eye. Sometimes they can be caused by other conditions, including:
•tears or holes on the retina
•poorly controlled blood pressure
•diabetic retinopathy
Traditional migraine headaches, as well as a blow to the head, can give you a lingering pain in your head to go with your starry visions.
If a retinal detachment is to blame, you may see floaters along with flashes.
Floaters don’t always indicate a problem with your eye health. If you notice that you’re seeing them more often, tell your eye doctor.
A detached retina can also make it seem as though a curtain is being drawn over your vision in the affected eye. If you experience this, it’s an emergency, and you must see an eye doctor immediately.
As you get older, your risk of retina problems and vision impairment increases. You tend to see more floaters as you age too.
Your odds of having a detached retina in one eye go up if you’ve had a detached retina in your other eye. A family history of detached retinas also increases the chances you’ll have the same problem.
See your doctor if you’ve had a serious blow to the head that produces stars in your vision, confusion, and a headache. That means you’ve had a concussion. Even a mild concussion should be evaluated by a doctor.
If you’ve hit your head, your doctor will likely test your:
•vision
•hearing
•reflexes
•balance
Treating a concussion usually includes rest and possibly acetaminophen (Tylenol). Other types of pain relievers should be avoided unless your doctor recommends one of them.
While you’re recovering, your doctor may advise you to avoid TV, video games, and bright lights. Relaxing activities that don’t require a lot of mental concentration may also be helpful.
Occasional flashes may be a nuisance, but they aren’t always a sign that something is wrong, although it’s best you discuss them with your eye doctor. If they’re caused by retina problems, surgery can usually help restore clear vision and eliminate flashes. You may need to take extra precautions to avoid activities or situations in which an eye or head injury is possible. But none of these should hurt your quality of life.
If you’re seeing the flashes after a blow to your head, and the injury was minor and the stars were temporary, you shouldn’t have any lingering problems.
If you see stars in your vision, be sure to tell your doctor. The sooner an eye problem is diagnosed, the greater the chances of preserving your eyesight.
Pay attention to other changes in your vision. Some eye problems develop slowly, so it may take a while for you to notice any changes.
Here are some tips for eye health:
•Test your vision in each eye at home. If your eyesight isn’t clear in both eyes, make a doctor’s appointment right away.
•Plan to have a thorough eye exam once a year unless otherwise directed by your doctor.
•Use protective eyewear for any activity that poses a risk to your eye health. This includes working with power tools, playing high-speed sports, and working with chemicals.
- James Roland
May 25, 2022 · seeing stars or flashes of light. sudden blurry vision. partial loss of vision, as if a curtain is being pulled down over your eye. floaters. Retinal tears are also a possible cause of seeing stars. Causes include head trauma, being hit in the eye, PVD, and bleeding under the retina.
Rubbing your eyes increases the pressure within the eyeball and this pressure activates ganglion cells in the retina in the same way as light does. Your brain doesn’t know the difference and so interprets the activation as though you were seeing light from the world outside. Most common phosphenes are diffuse blobs of different colours that ...
Sometimes "we see light that actually comes from inside our eyes or from electric stimulation of the brain rather than from the outside world," Wen says. "These bursts of seemingly random intense and colorful lights are called phosphenes, and appear due to electrical discharges from the cells inside our eyes that are a normal part of cellular function."
May 1, 2008 · The seeming ease of perceiving the two color extremes hides a formidable challenge confronting the brain every time we look at a surface. For instance, under the same illumination, white reflects ...
May 2, 2023 · When white blood cells stretch to pass through the blood vessels in your eyes, you may see dots that look like little worms moving around in your vision. This is most noticeable when staring at a wide, clear area—like a blue sky. Speed of the moving dots vary in time with your pulse, accelerating with your heartbeat.
