Flashing streak in my eye

[Dilbertian]

I am very short-sighted and for the past 20y have been warned at every eye test that if I see flashes I must contact my optician immediately. It can be a sign of retinal or vitreous detachment, and can lead to permanent loss of vision if it's not treated urgently.

Last night I started seeing flashes streaking downward in the outside edge of my left eye, and they are still there now. I have emailed Specsavers, but I am very worried - this may be exactly the sort of thing that will be deprioritised by Covid.

Any words of advice?

Glad you have gone OP.

I was going to say you should go to hospital rather than optician. I remember when I had something
similar my opticians refused to see me and told me to go to the emergency eye department in the hospital. It turned out it wasn’t anything nasty, so hopefully the same for you.

I have been seen. It is PVD, not serious.

I'm still shaking though. Having been warned about this for so long, and having family members who are losing their sight, I felt as if...I don't know how to express it... that something terrible was catching up with me.

@Dilbertian - about 15-17 years ago, I had 3 or 4 bouts of PVD and floaters over a period of 2-3 years. I was in my early 30s, abd my prescription is -8.5 and -6. I had some laxer surgery to repair it in the end - very quick, painless, out patient procedure - and it has not bothered me since. I understand that this is pretty standard for PVD. I think what I am trying to say is, don’t be surprised if you get another “attack” and go straight to your eye clinic/A&E. it’s nothing to worry about, but does need to be looked at.

I am so glad you went :)
I know the sheer terror and it's good that you were seen. They will have told you about any symptoms to watch out for Im sure. If you get multiple new floaters, if you get any sense that there is a shadow in your vision don't hesitate to go back.

PVDs can take a while sometimes and you may get residual lightning effects for a while as the retina is still tugged in places. Once it all settles (hopefully without incident) you'll be able to breathe a massive sigh of relief that any further risk of retinal tears or breaks will have massively subsided.

The day I had my emergency visit to the eye hospital was the day after my DF died, I was an emotional wreck.