Dark Shadow in Vision

[bicker]

We all know about the dark shadow you get in your vision when someone takes a flash photo of you. It goes away after a few minutes.

Is it possible for other things to cause this? Specifically, can sinus pressure cause a dark shadow like that? Is that normal?

 

[bicker]

Opto says that there is absolutely nothing wrong; that my eyes are amazingly healthy for someone my age.

Okay, well that's good, I guess. What about the dark shadow, though?

 

[legalsea]

We all know about the dark shadow you get in your vision when someone takes a flash photo of you. It goes away after a few minutes.

Is it possible for other things to cause this? Specifically, can sinus pressure cause a dark shadow like that? Is that normal?

Get to an ophthalmologist, now, and tell them of your suspicions.

For over a year my wife talked about something similiar (she called it a 'dark curtin' that would sometimes appear). Finally, her ophthalmologist had her go to a macular specialist who diagnosed my wife with the 'wet' form of macular degeneration.

I am very, very serious. During that year my wife steadily lost vision that will never be regained. Fortunately, there is a new drug available that stops wet macular degeneration in its tracks (involving a shot to the eye every few months).

 

[bicker]

I think you missed my update, posted just a half hour ago. Doctor says there is nothing wrong.

 

[bicker]

I am going to see another doctor a week from Saturday, even if this problem has gone away completely. Can't hurt to get a second opinion.

 

[legalsea]

Opto says that there is absolutely nothing wrong; that my eyes are amazingly healthy for someone my age.

Okay, well that's good, I guess. What about the dark shadow, though?

By "opto" I guess you mean optometrist? They are good for checking your visual acuity. Nothing else.

Again, my wife's ophthalmologist (a medical doctor) examined my wife's eyes on several occasions and could find nothing wrong. When she kept complaining about the dark curtin that would fall over her vision he finally sent her to another medical doctor who specializes in the macular. It was he whom discovered and diagnosed the wet-form of macular degeneration.

It is, of course, your vision.

 

[bicker]

I think different optometrists have different capabilities. This visit was (specifically) a "medical" visit. They did not check my eyesight ("visual acuity") or anything like that. They were specifically looking for things like detachted retina and macular degeneration.

 

[Frantasmic]

If it was perchance an optometrist who pronounced you clean, I second getting an opthomologist's opinion. The optometrist can look at your dilated pupils with a magnifier and see some parts of the macula. The opthomologist will look at it with a laser, not on stun, and get a better look at the macula.

It could be the beginning of macular degeneration.

Look at some graph paper and determine if you see any wavy lines. Select a central part of the graph paper and place a dot there and look with your eye that you are experiencing this situation with.

I believe an older avatar of yours shows you did/do wear glasses, no?

Are you near-sighted?

Besides macular degeneration, it could also be a macular pucker if you are extremely near-sighted with astigmatism.

You weren't hit on the head recently were you? You weren't hit in the eye?

 

[bicker]

She did the wavy line test. She also did the retina mapping thing (with that big Optos machine -- that's the laser you're talking about, right?) And two or three other tests...

I haven't been hit on the head or anything like that. Rather, on Saturday, I was bitten by mosquitoes. I'm allergic. Maybe that caused something to get inflamed or swollen? I also developed a lot of sinus pressure (not sure if it is related) which wouldn't be remarkable except it is (if you can believe it) the first time in 46 years that I have ever had any significant sinus pressure.

 

[bumbershoot]

Is it still there? Is it staying the same in your vision?

My mom had that, it turned out to be a sign of something not good. The ophth she went to (she actually left work to see him, after realizing that she'd had the same dark thing blocking her vision for a few hours) could actually see the same shape she was seeing (though upside down). That ophth wouldn't let her go home, got on the phone to another doc, sent her immediately to him. Was some sort of thing in the retina related to leukemia, and that's just the diagnosis she got a couple weeks later.

I hope that isn't what it is for you!

 

[bicker]

Not it comes and goes. Three out of the last four days. Stayed about an hour or three.

Yeah, I hope that's not what it is for me.

I'll be sure that the next doctor checks for retina problems, just like the one today did.

 

[legalsea]

Not it comes and goes. Three out of the last four days. Stayed about an hour or three.

Yeah, I hope that's not what it is for me.

I'll be sure that the next doctor checks for retina problems, just like the one today did.

Again, when my wife reported having something like a 'dark curtin' falling and impeding her vision, it (the curtin) would fade away. However, over the course of a year she simply steadily lost vision. Even her ophthalmologist was at a lose until he sent her to the macular specialist.

 

[bicker]

Yeah, regardless of whether this continues through next Saturday or not, I'll definitely ask the opto whether I should go see an optho. Thanks for the info.

 

[Inigo]

My aunt had something similar. You definitely need to see a medical doctor AKA opthamologist, and not just an optomotrist to ensure it isn't anything serious. My aunt had to have a band put around her eyeball to hold the eyeball together. The dark shadow was because her eyeball was basically disinigrating.

I don't want to sound like an alarmist, but I want you to have your eye thoroughly checked out.

 

[madaboutMickey]

You mention having sinus pressure. Is it on the same side as the eye that has the dark spot? Did the optomotrist check your eye pressure? High pressure can sometimes mimic sinus pressure.

 

[MosMom]

Have you had your blood sugar tested recently? Can't diabetes cause dark spots in vision?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I would definitely favor an immediate evaluation by an opthamologist. Vision isn't something to mess with. Mass Eye and Ear ER would be a great option.

 

[Scurvy]

I know it comes and goes. Does it always reappear in the same spot or does it move around in your field of vision? Or does it take up your entire field of vision? Is it uniform in appearance? Do you see any flickering around the edges?

I agree with the others that it could potentially be something serious and a opthamologist is better equipped to deal with it than an optomotrist would be. I would be hesitant to ask the optomotrist if you should see someone else simply because by saying yes he would be admitting he might be wrong. Hopefully yours would be honest about that but I know some who wouldn't, or who would be so sure they were right that they wouldn't intentionally mislead you but would end up doing so anyway.

Retinal damage or pressure in the eye could cause something like this. There's also matter floating in most people's eyes that you can sometimes see. Usually it's smaller pieces that float across your field of vision, but they look different depending on size, shape, and location. Maybe it's something as simple as that - although even that can cause problems if the matter is large enough. (It can damage the retina, but that's not an issue for most people.) Even migraines can cause visual issues, and I have heard of people who don't even have pain with their migraines but do have the visual symptoms.

 

[bicker]

It always was in the same spot. It hasn't happened since yesterday morning.

Relatively uniform (just difference in size, between the three different times it happened), and no flickering.

I really trust my opto... they've been in business for a very long time, they're very much top-notch AFAIC. I kind-of am puzzled about the idea that optos could actually be in a business that they're certified by the state to be in, but are unqualified to provide appropriate care. Even if the state would allow something, I'm sure that my long-term opto (the guy I'm seeing when he gets back from vacation a week from tomorrow) wouldn't run a practice offering services that they're not qualified to provide, nor would he brooke with people leading patients to believe that something is okay when they really don't know. Given that the sinus medication seems to have relieved the symptom, I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt that they wouldn't mess with me like that.

 

[WDWHound]

It sounds a lot like the a sysmptoms of a migraine called an aura. I get these from time to time. It took my doctor forever to figure out what was going on. Auras often look exactly like the after image left on your retina from a bright light. They can last anywhere from 10 minutes to 12 hours.

Migraines don't always cause actual headaches. These days, all I get is the aura. Mine tend to flicker and strobe, but not everyone experiences this. In about 1/2 an hour mine clear up, but until they do, I am unable to read or drive as the aura blocks a significant portion of my vision.