If you can recall a time when you bumped your head or your head was hit by a baseball, you likely remember seeing stars. The same way they add it to cartoon characters when something bonks them on the head stars around them appear. There is a reason for that and it has nothing to do with your imagination.
When you see those streaks of light or specks, those are known to be flashes and you will experience that when you either get hit in the eye or get hit hard on the head. There is another reason that flashes appear that do not have anything to do with that, which is when the gel in your eyeball pulls your retina. If you see flashes at the odd time, especially after you get hit in the head or eye and it remains isolated, then you don’t need to worry. However, if none of those things are happening and you are experiencing flashes often, then you need to take it seriously.
Why Do You See Flashes?
As you know the causes for them are often when you hit your head or your eye gets hit, and that causes your nerve signals in your brain to become scattered which has a temporary effect on your vision. However, other things that affect your vision this way are also noted to happen as well. For instance, pregnant women can see those stars or flashes if they have hypertension or high blood pressure. Others can call these floaters and that is when tiny clusters of vitreous gel are floating in the eye.
Are There Other Causes For These Flashes?
Yes, there are other causes for the flashes to happen and that is when you need to take it seriously, and not ignore the symptoms. That is when the retina is affected. Situations were seeing flashes constantly that you do not want to neglect can result from uncontrolled hypertension, holes in the retina, diabetic retinopathy which will, in the end, cause blindness if not taken care of, and viral infections in the eye. Other concerning conditions that can cause flashes are blot clots in the retinal blood vessels, autoimmune disorders such as lupus, ocular tumors, or it can result from having eye surgery which is to be expected. And another common cause for seeing these stars are migraines.
How Do Migraines Cause Flashes?
Not every migraine sufferer ends up with flashes but many of them do as those who see those stars are known as auras. Sometimes you may not end up with a migraine headache if you have this condition as well. You could have an ocular migraine which is very different from a migraine headache. That is when you see these streaks or stars but you don’t have pain, and you don’t have a headache. However, even if that is being the case, it is quite distressing to experience. You can get proper treatment by the optometrist or ophthalmologist for ocular migraines.
However, the fact of the matter is, the older you become, the risk also increases that you will end up seeing stars in your eyes. That is because the chances of vision and retina problems increase, and as you get older, you will see more floaters. If you already experienced having one detached retina, then you are more likely to have the same problem in the other eye. That is why it is important as you age to make it a habit of going to the eye specialist each year. The older you become, a lot does end up happening in a year, and you want to take good care of your eyes and your general health.
