sparkle vision

[OBK!]

Hello fellow ppruners!

I have a little query, and I am worried that I am the only person suffering from this annoying effect.

Quite recently I have noticed that when I am reading in natural light, or on the computer at any time of the day, I get this kind of tingly vision. It's as though there a little particles floating around what I am trying to look at. I can still read what i am reading but it's not as clear.

Since first recognising this, I haven't been able to surpass it and everytime I look at something I notice it. Is this from using the computer too much? or running my monitor at too low a refresh rate. I have just this second reduced the resolution to 800x600 an increased the refresh rate to 100hz. I have heard 80 was the minimum, where as before I was viewing the screen running at 75hz...for the past few years!

Is it just me, or is this absolutley human like? Another example is looking at the sky and I tend to get sparkle vision quite bad and have to squint my eyes, but that's always been the case. I've only just started to notice the little "tingly spots" as I am studying for my ATPLs and doing a heck of a lot of reading.

Cheers
obk:\

[EvilTwinRating]

Hi OBK

I ve had the very same thing since i was 12 I first noticed it when I was working with cell samples on a microscope and thought i could see cells moving, when in fact there was no slide in the microscope!!!!!

Lately when I look into a blue sky I get the same thing. I would love an explanation as I'm reluctant to ask the CAA or my AME ( see my previous postings on the medical forum for exactly why!!) and as I'm in Ireland a trip to my GP ain't cheap, just to be told i m imagining it!!

Anyone else in the same boat or anyone have a clue what it is?

[OBK!]

Hi EvilTwinRating,

Thank god! It's nice to know someone else has the 'sparkle vision'. What you describe sounds exactly the same as I too notice it alot when looking through binoculars. When I first actually 'discovered' it I thought I could see particles of air moving! or some form of ghost :uhoh:

I daren't mention it either. It doesn't affect my flying as I tend to forget it's 'there'. It's only when I am concentrating on reading a piece of text or when I remind myself of it, that's when it bothers me. I passed my class 1 knowing I had this thing, and got 20/20 vision but when I was doing the eye test it was there, I could just read around the little specs of sparkling stuff and read the letters on the board at the far end! I'm not colour blind either.

Maybe it's a superhuman feature! We have special powers in our eyes, but we obviously don't know how to use them! (hmm, could it be Xray vision! :E )

Cheers
obk

[BOAC]

From the way you describe this, it SOUNDS like a perfectly NORMAL case of 'floaters' (no, not those :p ) Tiny particles of .... medical expert please fill in..... in the viscous jelly in the eye. I think just about EVERYONE has them.

However - usual HEALTH warning (like the pun?) - as with all on ANY forum - see the Doc to be safe.

[iainpoll]

I think they are caused by tiny drops of blood seeping into the aqueous humour. They are harmless, and everyone has them, its just when you notice it, you can't ignore it!

If you think its getting worse, or just generally bad, I would go and see your GP as previously mentioned!

Cheers

Iain.

[OBK!]

:( So no xray vision?

Cheers anyway. At least I have one cause down in the book!

Thanks
obk

[Mac the Knife]

Yeh, got lots of 'em. Had 'em since childhood. More noticeable as I age:{ Irritating at times. But doesn't interfere with my work, not even microsurgery.

My eye lady checks me out yearly but says there's nothing to be done and not to worry.

True "flashes" (as opposed to floaters) may be a sign of vitreous separation and retinal tears that can lead to retinal detachment. This needs to be sorted pronto.

Browse Google for "eye + floaters"

[kobus]

Floaters are caused when the vitreous gel behind your eyeball liquefys, and small clumps are left behind. What you are actually seeing is the shadow they cast on the retina. The other type of floaters is caused when blood cells enter the vitreous gel, usually from people suffering of postular hypotension (get dizzy after changing position quickly due to low blood pressure)

Are they harmful?
No. Most people get them, usually middle-aged people, but it's nothing to worry about. If your floaters obscure your vision such that you have difficulty reading, then laser treatment is possible.

Eye floaters due to blood cells typically dissappear, but I'm not sure after how long. I've had them for about 4 weeks now, still no improvement. Any doctors here?

[Loose rivets]

Again unqualified advice, but just some info I picked up while studying Migraine.

Just for the moment, forget floaters. The ‘shadows' that these cast, are very leisurely in their movement, but I'm guessing the sparkles are fairly rapid. If this is true, don't worry...but yes, have it checked out.

Check to see if they vanish for a while when you blink, then build up again. This is important.

Check that the symptom is roughly even in both eyes.

The blood supply to the retina is, like the rest of the eye, utterly miraculous. It has to be conveyed in a manner that allows many hundreds of tiny movements (that's how the cells reset) and sometimes hundreds of large movements a minute. ( Scanning instruments for instance.) all without constricting the flow...and then do it for up to a hundred years.

It seems that if there is long term heavy use, like long drives when tired and / or studying, the entire system will occasionally become "noisy", as in the white spots on a T/V with a weak signal. Your doctor might want to check various other factors, in particular diabetes. Don't be alarmed though, thousands of people have this symptom for no apparent reason at all. But then it goes away with time.

It is almost as though you can see the blood movement as it reaches a certain curved point in its travel, and I would be interested to know the precise mechanism that takes place if anyone knows or finds a good site.

I'm not sure if anything this small falls into the category of Photopsias, but whatever the term, they can be in the form of tadpole like black images (negative ) or scintillating white (Poitive).

I recall going to my GP fifty years ago, with some of these displayed as negative They went away in about 3 days.

Good readers–or prescription glasses, good sunglasses, and periods of total relaxation of the visual system will do nothing but good while you are studying. Make an effort not to tense up while soaking up all this bumph. Easier said than done!!

[7120]

You are describing an entoptic pheneomenon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_field_entoptic_phenomenon

[iloveplanes]

oh i have that all the time, its usually when im in the sun or reading and i think, like someone mentioned earlier, that everyone has it its just once u notice it you cant ignore it. I mean i just got my eyes tested and i have 20/25 vision so the doctor would have noticed anything else abnormal so yeah...

[Loose rivets]

Thanks so much for the link.

I had long assumed that it was due to an occurrence at that point, but I have looked for, and never been able to detect, any synchronization with the heartbeat. Neither can I guess what causes it to be insignificant most of the time now I'm older.

Just lately I had wondered if it was some kind of "cross talk" from the blood vessels where they run--in what also might be compared with electronics–as a twisted pair with the nerves, on their route to the eye. This is why I wondered if excessive flexing was contributory.

I too found it very tedious while staring into a microscope. But only on some days...I wonder if it was due to the occasional use of a lower colour-temperature in the light source.

I can't explain my ‘negative' symptoms all those years ago, except by a the brain's temporary reluctance to mask the signal. I recall being very concerned about it. One of those things that just go away.

[gingernut]

.... medical expert please fill in.....

Debris ? (medical term for "I'm not quite sure")

" Floaters" are usually pretty innocent, but should be checked out if accompanied by sudden flashing lights. I think there was a thread o
n this forum only recently about the subject. I remember Chuck Yeager describing them in his autobigraphy !

The sparkly bits seem like a different symptom. It could be related to migraine-perhaps worth a chat with your GP. Your symptoms may respond to a change in diet-the usual culprits being cheese, red wine and coffee.

[7120]

"The sparkly bits seem like a different symptom. It could be related to migraine-perhaps worth a chat with your GP. Your symptoms may respond to a change in diet-the usual culprits being cheese, red wine and coffee"
Most unlikely. Gingernut. OBK, EvilTwinRating and Lose Rivets are giving a textbook descriptionof an entoptic phenomenon - vide supra. Its a natural phenonemon of little concern. Don't tell your AME of these visual sensations - he'll be flummoxed as well.

[gingernut]

I live and learn (again).

Back to the red wine and cheese then!

[Smirnoff Ice]

OBK!
Thought sparkle vision only happened after a night out drinking with me in MAN!!!
p.s it's about time we arranged a night out!

PM me!
S I:ok:

[Quincy M.E.]

Has anyone tried this:?

Edited to remove commercial link. BM

[shgsaint]

Very interesting post.

I had this just the other day. I was at home in Bristol and was messing about on Flight Sim. I was flying over to KIAD and was replicating BA's actual scheduled flight. I took off first but kept an eye out Northwards to see if I would catch a glimpse of the real aircraft using FBOs' tracking service.

Long story short I never saw the real plane but whilst staring up into the cloudless Blue sky I had the same experience. I saw all these little white, ameoba (spelling?) type dots whizzing across my sight. Was a bit disturbing at the time as its the worst i've ever noticed it. I only notice it once in a blue moon.

More interestingly its colour related.

I'm pretty servely colour blind too. :{

[Johe02]

Hey I got something like this yesterday just dozing on the sofa and when I opened my eyes I was looking at the sky and there it was for a couple of mins.

Not Floaters - I have them already.

[Squawk 2650]

What happens when you blink lots then should they go away??

I have noticed them over the last few months and now i know they are there i cant help but notice??

Surely they would pick any major probs with your eyes up on the class one medical when the doc shines the light in your eyes!!

S
;)

[Loose rivets]

I don't think that blinking alot, will give you an aggregate score of improvement! What I mentioned earlier is just one of the minor effects of a single blink. Often it seems that the ‘sparkles' vanish for a moment after blinking.

A lot happens when you blink. Even ignoring the amazing servicing of the external surface, the visual circuits use the opportunity to ‘reset'. Each and every movement gives another kind of refresher, indeed, if you could hold your eyes perfectly still, in theory, you would suddenly not be able to see. However, you can't achieve this, and the greying effect sometimes achieved while staring at one tiny spot, is yet another type of reaction: all perfectly normal.

While I certainly would not worry about a phenomenon that affects almost everybody, any worsening or changes should prompt you to have a check-up.

[Squawk 2650]

I take it though they would pick any serious probs up on the class 1? I dont get my eyes checked by an optician but then i renew my medical he shines a light in my eyes.

I dont get sparkle vision just these annoying floater things that I've notice in the last few months??

S
;)

[Loose rivets]

Plenty of threads about floaters, almost all of which are nothing more than slightly tedious. Any sudden increase, esp. with flashing in that eye should be confirmed as PVD, again not usually serious, but must be checked.