Seeing Flashes of Light
Free Symptom Checker
with Physician-supervised AI

Seek professional care if you experience any of the following symptoms

• Seeing flashes of light

• Cataracts

  Degeneration of the lens inside the eye causes it to become opaque. As a result, lights appear glaring and vision becomes blurred. In older adults, cataracts are usually caused by aging. In children, however, they may be due to genetic conditions, drugs, or viral infections while in the womb.

• Diabetic retinopathy

  Diabetic retinopathy is a condition that causes vision loss in patients with diabetes due to damage to the blood vessels in the retina. Your retina is a thin layer of tissue that lines the back of your eyes and is responsible for turning the light signals your eyes receive into images in your brain. These damaged vessels in the retina result in blurred vision or even vision loss.

• Macular edema

  Macular edema is the accumulation of fluid in the macula, the part of your retina responsible for central vision. It occurs when fluid leads to swelling in the macula, causing blurred vision and vision loss in severe cases. Common causes of macular edema include blockages in retinal arteries or veins and diabetes.

• Pathologic myopia

• Diabetic macular edema (DME)

• Severe myopia
• Central retinal vein occlusion
• Age-related macular degeneration
• Multiple sclerosis (MS)

• Retinal detachment

  An eye condition causing holes in vision when looking at objects. It is due to the retina (sensing layer of the eye) peeling off, usually because of aging, eye injury, or diabetes.