Flickering in the eyes: causes, diagnosis, treatment

Many have experienced an unpleasant flicker in their eyes. This phenomenon can occur only once, but in some cases it becomes regular, periodically reminding itself. The causes of flicker in the eyes often lie in the development of serious diseases that everyone should know about. Knowledge of how certain diseases associated with flicker manifest themselves will help determine what exactly could cause such a symptom.

Flicker Features

Flickering can appear in various forms. An accurate description of the picture that the patient sees makes it possible to narrow the range of possible diseases, because Many of them are characterized by special forms of flickering. Before visiting a doctor, it is very important to analyze all the features of the phenomenon and remember everything that you can see during the next attack.

The most common forms:

Zigzag objects. Very often they occur with a sudden change in position, coughing or sneezing. Most often they go away on their own, but if they appear regularly, you need to consult a doctor. May include blurred vision, haze, rainbow spots or glows around light sources, and pain inside various areas of the head. Age-related physiological changes, vascular damage, the presence of a foreign body in the eye, incorrect selection of glasses, migraine, iron deficiency, pregnancy are the main reasons for the appearance of flicker in the form of a snake or zigzag.
Rainbow circles. A colored halo that appears before the eyes often appears when they are tired or overstrained. Sometimes accompanied by redness of the eyeball, lacrimation or pain. May indicate developing cataracts or glaucoma. Instead of circles, a long arc may sometimes appear.
Laser glare. Like rainbow circles, glare on the eyes is formed when they are very tired or overexerted. They may also mean that a person has serious problems with the retina. This is possible provided that the phenomenon is periodic and short-term in nature. Corneal edema, cataracts, prolonged exposure to bright light sources, and the use of low-quality eye lenses are the most common causes of glare.
Bunnies. Bright flashes of light or glowing spots are often accompanied by painful sensations inside the head. They may indicate either simple eye fatigue or problems with the spine, blood pressure, blood vessels or brain.
Ripple. The appearance of ripples in the eyes is associated with ophthalmological diseases or osteochondrosis. During an attack, it is difficult for a person to see small objects, because... he is hampered by gaps and blurriness of the picture.

Most people can pinpoint exactly what they are seeing. For some it is very difficult to do this, because... the phenomenon can be specific, which makes it difficult to catch those very visual defects and tell the doctor about them.

Flicker in the eyes can appear in the form of various jagged lightning bolts, dots, stripes, zigzags, spots, circles, spirals and other geometric shapes. They come in rainbow, colored, white, black or translucent.

What happens with myopia?

In myopic people, as a rule, the axial length of the eye is more than 24 mm (the average statistical parameter, the measurement of which tells us about the progression of myopia). The eye goes from being shaped like a soccer ball to being a rugby ball. In this case, the posterior pole of the eye stretches, but if this is not dangerous for the outer sclera (it is quite elastic), then the middle (choroid) and inner sclera (retina) do not stretch. Therefore, in the posterior pole, the nutrition of the retina deteriorates, and dystrophic zones of stretching and ruptures appear along the periphery. The vitreous body plays a big role in this. At the attachment points, it pulls on the retina and holes are formed.

Causes

Flickering can be completely harmless. It occurs in healthy people due to poor diet, alcohol abuse, wearing incorrectly selected vision correction products, taking certain medications, emotional exhaustion, poisoning, overheating or sunstroke. But the reasons may be much more serious.

Flickering may be caused by the following health problems:

Migraine. Shortly before the attack, the patient may experience sparkles, sparkling patterns, or bright white zigzags in front of the eyes. They are present in one eye or in both eyes at once, and most of them accumulate on the side in peripheral vision. May increase when eyes are closed or in the dark.
Damage to blood vessels. With chronic vascular diseases that destroy the structure of arteries and veins, bunnies may appear in the field of view. This is caused by spasms and poor circulation. The symptoms are most noticeable when the eyes are closed.
Hypertension. With increased pressure, different figures may flicker before the eyes, which is accompanied by headache, dizziness, decreased performance and increased fatigue.
Hypotension. With a decrease in pressure, the vessels experience a lack of blood, which can cause different patterns to flicker before the eyes.
Diabetes. The disease, left untreated, leads to serious damage to the blood vessels of the brain and eyes. There may be glare in front of both eyes, bright flashes, floaters, temporarily blurred parts of the visible image, as well as a feeling of constant coldness.
Anemia. A decrease in hemoglobin levels is always combined with dizziness, weakness, shortness of breath, dry skin, general pallor of the body, trembling of the limbs, and tinnitus. Often, spirals, stripes or dots appear in front of the eyes.
Brain tumor. As tumors grow, compression of blood vessels and nerves occurs, which causes flashing of various figures before the eyes, which can be black, white or even colored. The phenomenon is permanent and can cause difficulty focusing.
Head or eye injuries. In most cases, even minor injuries cause flashes of bright light, confusion, weakness and headaches.
Inflammation of the retina. Against the background of the inflammatory process, the image begins to blur, and an unpleasant flickering of flies or dots is formed.
Vitreous detachment. This almost always happens as the body ages. When the vitreous peels off, it causes flashes of light, sparks, and discolored spots that make the entire picture turn white. Symptoms intensify with eye movement and are localized laterally.
Retinal tear or detachment. With ruptures and detachments of the retina, flashes may appear before the eyes, which are often accompanied by haze and sudden blurred vision. This is most pronounced in the morning after sleep.
Oscillopsia. With this disease, it may seem to a person that when he turns his head, some objects begin to fly or jump to another place. This is accompanied by flickering in the eyes, the appearance of white spots, as well as a short-term decrease in vision up to its complete absence.
Cervical osteochondrosis. Bunnies appear in the eyes when the vertebrae are displaced, which causes pinching of nerve endings and blood vessels. Patients almost always experience unpleasant pain that comes in the form of a wave.
Hormonal changes. They occur during pregnancy, menopause, and puberty. They are almost always accompanied by short-term blinking of jagged threads, dots, and shiny spots in front of the eyes in the area of peripheral vision.
Eclampsia. With late toxicosis, sunbeams, bright stripes or dots may appear that will glow and slowly fly before the eyes.

With any of the listed diseases, flickering can become a permanent phenomenon, because Without treatment, no positive changes can occur. If there is a suspicion that the disease has developed, then a person has a serious reason to consult a doctor.

You can catch large bunnies and spots in the form of bright light simply by looking at the welding process. Unpleasant sensations after even one glance will remain for several minutes. To get rid of them, you need to blink a lot.

Where is the vitreous body?

The eye is a ball, most of which is occupied by the vitreous body (as much as 2/3 of the volume).
It is clearly visible in the diagram above - this is the space between the lens and the retina in the eye cavity. In a normal eye, the vitreous humor is so transparent that when the eye is scanned, it appears empty. The vitreous body is a jelly-like, viscous and well-stretchable liquid, like jelly or jelly. Only transparent. This “jelly” consists of water, colloids and microelements - collagen fibers, reminiscent of intertwined ropes, soaked in hyaluronic acid. Unlike the cornea, which consists of the same matrix, the density of the filaments in the vitreous body is lower, so the cornea is dense and rigid (by the standards of what is in the eye), but here a viscous medium awaits us.

This environment is heterogeneous; there are voids and “cisterns”, various lacunae. You can inject a special solution into the eye, which will color the vitreous body, and all this beauty will be visible. For example:

The vitreous body is adjacent to the posterior surface of the lens; throughout the rest of its length it is in contact with the internal limiting membrane of the retina. A special hyaloid canal passes from the optic disc to the lens through the vitreous body, and the frame of the vitreous body is formed by a thin network of intertwined fibers of various forms of collagen protein. And the gaps are filled with liquid - this structure gives it the appearance of a gelatinous mass.

Thanks to the vitreous body, our eyes have the correct spherical shape, it provides incompressibility and ocular tone, absorbs shocks, and nutrients move through the channels. But its light refractive function is very small.

If we need to deliver a medicinal substance to the deep parts of the eye, then we inject it directly into the vitreous cavity with a microneedle, because the eye is such an organ quite isolated from the body as a whole, and not everything that enters the blood reaches the internal contents of the eye . The blood-ophthalmic barrier interferes.

It happens like this:

Diagnostics

If flickering has become regular or is accompanied by serious symptoms, then you cannot do without visiting a doctor. First you need to visit an ophthalmologist. After an examination and a short conversation, the doctor will determine whether there is a need to consult with other specialists, and will also prescribe several important examinations.

You will need:

Blood and urine tests;
Ophthalmoscopy;
Ultrasound;
CT.

You need to undergo examinations as soon as possible, because... Some diseases require the fastest possible therapeutic intervention. If you delay, there is a risk of encountering complications that will be very difficult to treat.

Internal hemorrhages

When internal hemorrhage begins in the human body, symptoms immediately appear. When the hemorrhage is internal, it is often invisible to ordinary people. The doctor will be able to determine this almost immediately based on some symptoms. These symptoms are quite obvious - twinkling stars before the eyes of a sick person. Often glare appears when a person begins to weaken from loss of blood inside the body. When a person already faints, the symptoms are more obvious.

These glares in this condition are explained by the fact that when a living organism begins to lose blood, which is necessary for the continued functioning of the entire organism, then all any functions begin to turn off, as the person becomes weaker. Vision is also a function of the human body, and therefore vision sometimes disappears on its own if you do not call a doctor for a long time.

Treatment

When the causes of glare in the eyes are accurately determined, the doctor will prescribe the necessary treatment. It may include drugs of a different spectrum, depending on the type of disease. The following types of drugs may be prescribed:

Eye drops.
Antibacterial and antiviral tablets.
Medicines aimed at normalizing blood pressure.
Means for lowering glucose levels.
Vitamin complexes.

In most cases, patients are prescribed Emoxipine or Wobenzym. Both drugs are intended for the eyes. The first improves their health and strengthens blood vessels, and the second relieves inflammation and pain. They show high effectiveness in combating most diseases associated with the organs of vision.

If there are no contraindications, you can do a light massage of the eyeballs. This will improve blood flow and relieve tension. With its help, you can remove flickering zigzags that appear before your eyes in just 5 minutes.

Additionally, homeopathic remedies can be prescribed: Teridion, Crocus, Ignacia. The effectiveness of their use has not been proven, but some doctors are inclined to believe that such drugs are quite effective.

Forecast and prevention of ocular migraine

Patients diagnosed with atrial scotoma must carefully observe the daily routine, work and rest. Harmonious distribution of the load on the physical body and psyche helps reduce the risk of an attack by 2-3 times. Nutrition also plays a role - some foods provoke constriction or dilation of blood vessels. These include:

red tomatoes and products made from them;
milk;
red grape wines;
celery;
cocoa and chocolate.

All these products contain tyramine, a complex organic polypeptide that affects vascular tone and excitation processes in brain cells.

It is advisable to avoid stressful situations and increased physical activity. To relax the nervous system, swimming, massage, acupuncture, hydrotherapy, and rational psychotherapy are recommended. If preventive measures are taken, ocular migraine does not pose a threat to health and life, although it can periodically reduce their quality.

Traditional methods

You can get rid of flicker at home. Folk remedies that have worked well in the past will help you cope with the problem. The wide variety of methods can be confusing and the effectiveness of such treatment will suffer. Therefore, it is recommended to give preference to the following methods:

Honey with aloe juice. Mix them in equal quantities to achieve a homogeneous consistency. Place 2 drops into eyes morning, afternoon and evening. The course of treatment is 2 weeks.
Cucumber juice. Grate the cucumber and squeeze out all its juice through cheesecloth. Mix with water in equal quantities, blot a cloth in the mixture and place on your eyes.
Chamomile decoction. Pour 250 ml of boiling water over 3 tablespoons of flowers, leave covered until completely cool, strain. Rinse your eyes with the mixture once daily.

After using such products, flickering spots in front of the eyes should stop forming. However, you should consult your doctor in advance, because... in some cases, traditional methods may be contraindicated.

When surgery is indicated

Let’s agree that we are talking specifically about degenerative changes in the vitreous body, and not about the other above-mentioned conditions.
That is, when it is reliably known that from a medical point of view there are no risks, but something floating in front of the eyes still greatly interferes with vision. Option 1. Laser vitreolysis.

Any work in a closed vitreous cavity is potentially dangerous. It must be performed very accurately, since there are such sensitive structures nearby as the retina (especially its central zone) and the lens.

Ellex has recently proposed a new minimally invasive method for the treatment of vitreous pathology: Weiss rings, intravitreal opacities and adhesions, vitreous degeneration. This is a YAG laser device for treating the anterior and posterior parts of the eye using a targeted red diode laser. Since the structures adjacent to the vitreous body are very delicate, they came up with a reduction in the total energy due to the ultra-Gaussian profile of the laser beam. The small spot size and low optical breakdown energy (less than 1.8 mJ in air) perform photodestruction of inclusions in the vitreous body.

In practice, the effectiveness is 50%, because if the opacification is located close to the retina or close to the posterior capsule of the lens, or is too dense, etc., then application is impossible. Often one large fragment turns into several smaller ones; they can shift from the optical axis, or they can increase. In general, only after examination by a specialist with experience in laser surgery using this installation will you be able to find out whether this is your method.

Option 2. Vitrectomy.

This is a full-fledged abdominal operation with all the ensuing consequences. That is, it doesn’t matter whether a small “midge” swims or a “big spider” - the technology involves the work of a vitreoretinal surgeon. A vitrectomy—an operation to remove the vitreous—is performed as follows:

3 small punctures are made into the cavity of the eyeball in the projection of the plane of the ciliary body, that is, 3.5–4 mm from the limbus - the border of the transparent and opaque parts. The size of the piercing is measured in G units (Imperial radius unit). The standard 3-port sutureless technique is 23 G. Nowadays, most operations are performed using the 25 G technique - this is 0.445 millimeters. The dependence is this: the larger the G, the smaller the puncture size. The most gentle technique is 27G (0.361 mm). By the way, the smaller the puncture, the more expensive the cost of a set of consumables. For removing floaters, 27 G is ideal.

A solution balanced in salt and pH composition is supplied through one port to maintain the tone of the eye and maintain its volume during surgery, so that when the vitreous is removed, the eye does not begin to “collapse.” The second incision is needed to shine light into this “cave,” that is, the cavity inside the eye where the vitreous humor is located. In the third, the instrument itself is inserted - a vitreotome, a small guillotine with a tube. It looks like a micro-meat grinder, with the help of which the surgeon grinds the fibers of the vitreous body and sucks them into the cavity of the tube.

At the end of the operation, a balanced solution remains in the eye, which is then replaced with intraocular fluid. The ports are removed from the self-sealing sutures and a bandage is applied for a couple of hours.

In experienced hands, this operation takes 20 minutes under local anesthesia and the result is no gross floaters in front of the eyes, but any operation that opens the eyeball has a wide range of potential risks, posterior segment surgery doubles these risks.

In any case, I always make it clear to the patient that this is a very serious intervention with a minimal problem from a medical point of view.

From time to time, in case of severe clouding that reduces vision, it is necessary to perform such an operation for drivers, pilots, etc. - in cases where even slight short-term “fogging” can affect safety.