Lightning
May 12, 2013 | 15,00 EUR | answered by Dr. med. Frauke Gehring
Hello,
last night I was lying in bed, so it was dark in the room, then I got up again after about ten minutes and turned on the light. Then, with every blink of my eyes, I saw flashes or flickering before my eyes. I had to blink at least 10 to 20 times until it went away, but as I said, it only happened when I blinked, not when my eyes were closed or open. Prior to that, I was sitting at the PC for two hours and then read a book for another hour. What was that, should I be worried?
I am female and 32 years old.
Good morning,
"We don't like" flashes when they appear out of the blue, as they are often a sign of retinal detachment. However, this typically occurs in old age or after an injury (e.g. getting hit by a squash ball in the eye).
Your flashes, as they were associated with blinking, seem to have been caused by nerve irritation, possibly due to strain.
I see no reason to worry, but I would use this event as an opportunity to have your eyesight checked. If there is uncorrected (or poorly corrected) vision impairment, reading or working on the computer may be more straining than usual. In any case, you should have an eye examination if this phenomenon occurs again.
Best regards,
Dr. Frauke Höllering
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