Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Warning

Very unsporting to leave a floater unresolved

Pete & Howard, for info the NHS define Floaters and accompanying Flashes and offer advice as follows:

"Dots and lines (floaters) or flashes of light in the eyes are common. They're not usually serious."
"If you sometimes see:
floaters – such as small dark dots, squiggly lines, rings or cobwebs
flashes of light
in your vision, it's not usually a sign of anything serious, especially if:
you have had them for a long time
they're not getting worse
your vision is not affected
Flashes may stop by themselves, and floaters often become less noticeable as you get used to them."

Get advice from 111 now or from your nearest eye hospital if:
floaters or flashes appear suddenly
floaters or flashes suddenly increase in number
you have a dark "curtain" or shadow moving across your vision
you also have blurred vision
you also have eye pain
floaters start after eye surgery or an eye injury
These could be signs of a serious problem with the back of your eye, which could permanently affect your vision if it's not treated quickly.
111 will tell you what to do. They can tell you the right place to get help if you need to see someone.

NHS 111 - Ask a (proper) Doctor what they think of this taxpayer-funded advice lottery!

Contact a GP or Casualty Dept if you really value your health.

Or you could always get one of these...

Go appointments can be up to 3 weeks wait here where over-building has led to a ratio of 2600 patients per GP. Casualty departments are a very long and unpleasant wait - especially at weekends. Sometimes 111 gets you an appointment with a real Doctor much quicker than any other route.

I rang Plymouth royal eye infirmary Wednesday morning, appointment 12:40 Thursday, surgery 17:30 Thursday, I was lucky one of the few retinal surgeons in SW has a list on Thursday. Vision in impacted eye was less than 50 % when seen. If you get sudden changes get seen an optician can also refer

Pete

I’ve been a practicing ophthalmologist in the U.S. for the past 33 years.

Long term stable “floaters” in your vision are common but regular eye exams are important to rule out ocular pathology.

The concern here is the onset of sudden new floaters in one eye sometimes accompanied with very transient bursts of flashes of light in the peripheral vision called photopsia. The most common cause of this is a posterior vitreous detachment whereby the vitreous gel that fills the middle of the eye behind the lens separates from its normal attachment to the macula (central retina) and optic nerve head in the back of the eye. No treatment is needed for a posterior vitreous detachment other than activity precautions to minimize the risk of retinal tear or detachment . A small percentage of these leads to a retinal tear or detachment. These do require surgical correction.

The symptoms above can also indicate retinal tear or detachment without a posterior vitreous detachment and having an associated defect or blurred area of your peripheral vision would suggest a retinal detachment.

The bottom line is if you experience a sudden onset of new floaters and/or flashes of light usually in one eye you should have an exam with pupil dilation to examine the peripheral retina within a couple days by an ophthalmologist. If you experience any decrease in the clarity of your vision or defects in your peripheral vision with the above symptoms you should be examined as soon as possible.

Waiting weeks for an appt. is not recommended.